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Sir Jack Brabham passes away

19 May, 2014

 


The sad news travelled across the ditch that Sir Jack Brabham passed away on May 19, 2014.

Brabham started his racing career in 1948, competing in Australia and New Zealand before travelling to the UK where he became involved with Cooper Cars – winning the world championship for the marque in 1959 and 1960. It was during this period that Brabham mentored Bruce McLaren, also a member of the Cooper racing team. In 1962, Brabham established his own racing equipe with fellow Australian, Ron Tauranac. In 1966, Brabham became the first – and still the only – man to become F1 world champion in a racing car bearing his own name.

Brabham retired from front-line racing following the 1970 F1 season, but continued to be involved in motorsport and, latterly, becoming a much-loved and high profile ambassador for the sport.

In 2014, Brabham was the oldest surviving Grand Prix world champion.

Two engines instead of one?

13 December, 2024

Popping two motors into a car is not only complicated, it doesn’t always end well. Donn Anderson recalls early attempts, including John Cooper’s ill-fated original Twini Mini built 58 years ago

For a boost in performance, better traction, and perhaps improved handling to some, two motors seems an obvious solution. It would also eliminate the need to develop a larger engine replacement from scratch, but would that outweigh the not inconsiderable technical difficulties?
The idea of using a pair of engines dates back at least 86 years to the Alfa Romeo Bimotor single seater racing car that was officially timed at 335km/h, or 208mph. Taking a lengthened Alfa P3 chassis, the Italians fitted two supercharged straight eight 2.9-litre and 3.2-litre engines, one in front of the cockpit, and the other behind the cockpit.

NZ Classic Car magazine, January/February 2025 issue 397, on sale now

8 December, 2024

Having dominated the world motorcycle championships of the 1960s, Honda had a crucial decision to make in 1969. Would Soichiro Honda heed his engineer’s pivotal advice?
“Very few examples of the early Civic, a car that set Honda onto the path to becoming a giant of the car world, remain road registered in New Zealand.
Retired Tauranga owner of this example, Graham Inglis is thrilled with his classic little Honda Civic, the first of eleven generations built so far by the company. The Civic became a household name.
“It’s quite amazing the number of people who not only wave, but come up to me in the street and tell me how much they like the little Honda and its colour, and then they want to start talking about it. A guy in our vintage car club wants to buy it and he has been pushing me a bit. It’s not for sale,” he laughs.
Graham bought his 1977 Honda Civic from Wellington enthusiast Julian Foster, who was the instigator of its restoration.”