Custom Car April 74 Page 2

~rmed his way around Pretoria
d AlanWardropper was racing
Buddy Fuller's Wembley Stadium
Johannesburg, where the
erican-style ' fuelers " which
still runs to this day, were making
ir first big impression. And back
me near-disaster in the ranks of
BSCDAwas averted by a lastute review of the driver's pay
le just before the start of the
son-a pay scale whose structure
I exists.
ut the big event on the BriSCA
endar was the opening of Brands
tch to the big league stockers at
ter. It was a huge success.
d Mitchell won the BriSCA World
al in a two-year-old car, and
ough it had peen in many ways
ood year for Fl racing there had
o been several untidy aspects
hind the scenes. These would
e to be stamped out unless the
rt, which had just got on its feet,
to tumble down into the dirt
in.
part from the introduction of the
d lOOEengine as the basis for
mula Two, things were quieter.:
other running for the smallerined southern racers. Two or
ee more Hot Rod races were held
imbledon, and Stan Ingle won
F2 World Championship at
bledon. This trend continued
Spedeworth through the next
too as Doug and Alan
dropper both deserted the big
ue to race F2s, followed by the
zer family.
;pedeworth took over the stock
racing at Brands Hatch, and '67
their first full season running
Rods. But for both Spedeworth
BriSCA 1967 was one of the
'or breakthrough years in car
ign with the emphasis turning
e and more to the special,
ified look, and while the BriSCA
retained their tough appearance
relatively unsophisticated
acteristics, their smaller
terparts down south were
eloping into highly-modified
cars.
me say that this was the time
stock car racing died in the
, and while it's true to say
improved design and handling
ced the number of spectacular
hes always associated with the
'er, primitive saloons, the speeds
eased as did the drivers' ability.
e driver typical of the new
ern breed was Todd Sweeney
had a sensational season
.~Renault 4cv-bodied car.
was 'one of the first drivers
fat wheels and racing tyres, and
e this improved handling and
1974
looks the move was banned due to
the high cost of the tyres. Ellis Ford
was involved in a similar situation
on the BriSCA tracks. Todd Sweeney
won the World Final that year and
was doubly honoured when Corgi
toys produced a diecast model of his
car early the following year. It was
to be the beginning of a general
clean-up of stock car racing and a
reluctant, but definite, acceptance of
stock car racing as a popular,
spectacular sport. And the crowds
were coming back.
By the start of the 1968 season
Spedeworth boss Les Eaton felt the
time was right for some big steps
forward, and his activities at this
time were pretty impressive. One of
his first achievements was to take
over the stock car racing concession
at London's Walthamstow Stadium,
previously run by BriSCA. With
West Ham closed and Harringay
Above: South African driver Speedy
Kamelos came.unstuck at Brands
Hatch in 1968.
--
Above: a modern BriSCA F2 car-Dave Brown from Looe, '71 F2 champion.
Below: Midgets were introduced as an experiment in 1967. This is an early
example of the class that has gone on gaining in popularity ever since.
37