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Old rally pix

26K views 84 replies 26 participants last post by  rwgraves 
#1 ·
It's time to delurk (probably kinda like delicing or deicing or debunking or whatever).

While cleaning out old file cabinets during the last week, I fired up both the print and film/slide scanners and have been busily converting old rally stuff to electronic format for your enjoyment.

The goodies are here:

http://www.futurethru.com/itemlist.asp?sqltype=rally&pagestyle=default

if that wraps, go to www.futurethru.com, click on articles and then performance rally.

Stuff you'll find up there now includes part of the 1955 Canadian Winter rule book, pix of John & Vicki in the 911, Rod Millen's RX-7, Guy Light, Scott Harvey/Wayne Zitkus, Andrew Cowan, Doug Shepard, Jim Walker, etc. Most of these are from the mid-70s with a couple from the early '70s, and a few newer.

Stuff that's on the way: a scan of the 1955 routebook for the Great American Mountain Rally, which I believe to be the very first FIA sanctioned rally in the U.S. (and maybe North America? and it even had a works entry and was sponsored by the American Automobile Association of all things), some excepts from a 1950s-era Watkins Glen Tour and Trial (You'll love this, you didn't reset penality time at each control. If you were a minute behind at one control, you had to make that minute up before the next control), and more photos.

I found a bunch of old negatives and slides from Rideau Lakes, Canadian Winter, POR, Sunriser, Sno*Drift and others, but the problem now is that I'm starting to get into photos that I don't recognize or remember who they are.

As way of introduction, I did what I think was the first U.S./Canadian book about the sport entitled Performance Rallying, published back in 1975, wrote a bunch of magazine pieces along the way, was co-clerk of course for Sunriser for a year and codrove in Datsun 510 (didn't everyone?) and a Fiat 124.

If you find errors, omissions or things to add, let me know. Where possible, I tried to give a little description of that the photo was about for those who weren't around back then. Most of this stuff was assembled from sketchy notes and a faulty memory.

Enjoy.


Eric Anderson
 
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#27 ·
awesome_rogergibson

Dick Fitzgerald was always colorful. Believe it was on the 85 POR when all the rest of us Texas folks went home after the rally and Dick got to stay a while. The police found a pistol
in the Saab. Evidently the authorities in MI did not have the same rules about guns in 85 as Texas. None.

Texas now has a permit to carry.

awesome roger gibson
Terlingua, TX
 
#29 ·
I posted another dozen or so new pictures tonight. These are mostly from the 1975 Marathon 400. Drivers (and cars) I could identify include: Tom Tolles, Scott Harvey, John Buffum, Bob Hourihan, John Smiskol, Eric Jones, Guy Light and me (I'm pretty good at identifying me. Mostly!).

There are another half dozen shots that I don't know who they are. At least a couple of them should be identifiable by someone here.

Enjoy!
 
#30 ·
Eric,

I recognize the blue BMW 2002 on the first page as Bob Schneider and Bill Bauman of Toledo. Thought for a second the Z-car might be mine but mine never quite looked like that. I don't remember whose that might have been, unless possibly John Kelly (?) from Kentucky? You've gotta love the white walls though.

Kent Gardam
 
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#31 ·
>Eric,
>
>I recognize the blue BMW 2002 on the first page as Bob
>Scneider and Bill Bauman of Toledo. Thought for a second
>the Z-car might be mine but mine never quite looked like
>that. I don't remember whose that might have been, unless
>possibly John Kelly (?) from Kentucky? You've gotta love
>the white walls though.
>


Kent,

Did you run Marathon? Do you remember? I have a bunch of negs and slides from there and these are in pretty good shape. If you think you were there, I might have a pix. Describe the car.

The progression of the negatives and slides has been interesting. I had forgotten how difficult rally photography was back in the '70s, and how much things have progressed.

Most events ran at night, often in miserable locations and with miserable weather. Daylight and spectator stages were rare. And even then, they weren't real rallying (I'm thinking here of the Belle Island stage in Detroit and the Alma dump.)

The only real film option was Tri-X (Ilford was not a big presence in the U.S. at this point) and you could only push Tri-X to 800 or maybe 1600 without having it completely fall apart. I don't remember ever pushing Tri-X past 800 because the results were so bad.

For color slides -- needed, I always wanted to sell the magazine cover which is where the real money was in freelance writing -- the situation was worse. The fastest slide film was slow, and the exposure latitude was narrow. It wasn't unusual to shoot a whole roll of slide film and only have one or two decent shots. Slide film was also expensive to buy and expensive to have processed.

Some time around 1975, I invested in two big Spiratone flashes. These could practically light up a football field. The flashes weren't expensive (under $50, but that was still a lot in 1975) but the batteries were outrageous. They were 67.5 volts apiece, and the battery pack took four of them and could power two flashes at once. The batteries also cost about $10 each and a set of four might last one or two events. They were not recharageable.

The downside of those flashes is that a photographer had to be really careful where you were standing in relationship to the driver. Fire one of those suckers off while the driver was looking right at it, and the driver was blind for a week. This, of course, isn't really too good if the car happened to be going about 70 mph in the middle of a twisty forest road.

One of the funniest things I ever witnessed was when Mike Creech and I were running service for Rich and Linda Merritt in a rally out of Huntsville, Ala. I don't remember the name of the event. Joe Maugans was there and working service too, probably for Eric Jones.

Long about 3 a.m. Joe was frustrated that the service schedule wasn't allowing for much spectating, and he wasn't getting any good shots.

So he made up his mind that he was going to start taking pictures from across the road of cars as they came into the service area.

For those reading this who weren't around the in '70s, most of the rallies didn't have service parks the way you do today. Service crews were constantly on the move, and service areas were usually a wide spot along side the road, often a state highway.

Anyway, for Joe the other side of the road quickly became the centerline, and this was working OK. He'd snap a picture of the car coming down the highway and jump out of the way.

Mike and I were watching this from the back of our service vehicle a couple of vehicles down the service area and I remember we had a bet as to how soon something was going to happen.

Sure enough, about four or five cars after coming up with this scheme Joe happened to snap a picture of something that wasn't a rally car, but rather a sheriff's deputy who immediately put on the flashing lights. I think Joe ran halfway to Texas before slowing down. The deputy was pretty cool, but allowed as how standing in the middle of the road taking pictures probably was not a good idea.

Anyway, the earlier '70s stuff has thin, in some cases almost unprintable, negatives. The film scanner I'm using won't pick up detail in some of the negs, although you can see it with a loupe. The later stuff, ala Marathon 400, has better exposure, but often isn't taken from quite as good of an angle.

The Hourihan/Smiskol shots from Marathon illustrates this. The better place to have been would have been on the right side of the car. But the driver would have been looking right into the flash, so we didn't do that. If you look at the shot, you'll see that we're getting a ton of light all the way across a fairly wide stretch of road.

Today, of course, film speeds are better. Grain structure is better, and Photoshop can solve a lot of problems.

That's a lot of babbling to say that if you think you were at Marathon, describe the car and I'll see if I can find you.
 
#32 ·
Okay, for a convoluted question here's a convoluted answer. Did I run Marathon 400 in 1975? Well, probably. I did run the Marathon 400 at least once. Which year(s)? I'm no longer positive. (I also remember running the Sunoco 400 out of Traverse City). Which car? I'm no longer positive. We progressed (?) somewhere in that time frame from our 510 (ex-Smiskol car) to our 240Z. Can't remember exactly when that occurred though. The 510 ended up the same green as Eric's cars (no black hood though). The Z was blue with red eyebrows over the wheel arches and then it was carnival orange with a black hood (Much like the unidentified Z in your pics but I don't remember having an antenna at the top of the rear hatch like the one pictured). I'm foggy on when the color change took place too. How's that for a rock solid old fart memory?

On the issues of flashes in driver's eyes: My buddy and I were servicing once for Smiskol's 510 at Canadian Winter ('73 I think) and were using my 510. We were be-bopping down the road from one service point to another on what turned out to be a transit on the rally route. The transits were only marginally slower than the stages. We crested a yump when there was a sudden brilliant flash from dead ahead. Seems someone was out taking pics of rally cars on that road and caught a service crew by mistake. Guess you can't blame them since it was a rally prepped 510 but it sure shocked the hell out of me when I wasn't expecting it.

Kent Gardam
 
#33 ·
>Eric,
>
>I recognize the blue BMW 2002 on the first page as Bob
>Scneider and Bill Bauman of Toledo. Thought for a second
>the Z-car might be mine but mine never quite looked like
>that. I don't remember whose that might have been, unless
>possibly John Kelly (?) from Kentucky? You've gotta love
>the white walls though.
>
>Kent Gardam

Those names from the Beemer ring a bell. I do believe I have the shortwave radio out of that car...I remember oohing and aahing over it in the Chillicothe hills in the late 70's...made 'em promise that if they ever ditched the car, they'd save the radio for me. They did...and it still works!

Charlie KA8OQF
 
#34 ·
>Doug, just a question...Where exactly did the rally run out
>to? I think it started in Smith falls, ya? so where did it
>go?

The '74 Rideau Lakes (the World Championship round) went over as far as Bancroft (running stages that are now staples in the Tall Pines) and came back via Desert Lake (south of Sharbot Lake and spitting distance from my parent's cottage).

Adrian
 
#35 ·
>Eric,
>
>You've gotta love
>the white walls though.
>
>Kent Gardam

Anyone who ran Cooper Weathermasters in the old days will likely recall that running with the whitewallls out was a typical consequence of leaving your wheels at the local tire store to have them mounted. Even with a specific request to have the black walls out the tires tended to come home the other way and, of course, it was always too late to rectify the problem before rally time.

Halley ...
http://www.realautosport.com
 
#36 ·
>>Eric,
>>
>>You've gotta love
>>the white walls though.
>>
>>Kent Gardam
>
>Anyone who ran Cooper Weathermasters in the old days will
>likely recall that running with the whitewallls out was a
>typical consequence of leaving your wheels at the local tire
>store to have them mounted. Even with a specific request to
>have the black walls out the tires tended to come home the
>other way and, of course, it was always too late to rectify
>the problem before rally time.
>
>Halley ...
>http://www.realautosport.com
I beleave the Red 240Z was Daryl Holder out of Huntsville, Alabama. They ran a MGB about 1972 in the POR and other events and then moved up to the Z. They deliberately had the Coopers mounted that way. The Z's last rally was on one of the Happiness is Sunrise rallies (maybe 75 or 76) They rolled the car badly somewhere north of Renova. They didn't have a service crew and I volunteered to drive them out to try to retrieve the car. When I left them they were getting a tow truck to get it out of the woods and arranging to fly home.


Paul Jaeger
PRIMO Stage Crews
For a Good Time, Call PRIMO!
 
#37 ·
>I beleave the Red 240Z was Daryl Holder out of Huntsville,
>Alabama. They ran a MGB about 1972 in the POR and other
>events and then moved up to the Z. They deliberately had
>the Coopers mounted that way.
<snip>
>Paul Jaeger
>PRIMO Stage Crews
>For a Good Time, Call PRIMO!

I was always nervous any time I took to a stage with white walls showing since that always increased your chances of a rollover!!!

:+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+ :+

Halley ...
http://www.realautosport.com
 
#38 ·
>
>Anyone who ran Cooper Weathermasters in the old days will



At one point, someone (I don't remember who, but Eric Jones, maybe, it sounds like something he might do) carefully cut apart the Cooper tire decals and was running Copper Tires.

And someone (Jones again maybe?) at one point was running Pooper Tires.

Bob Edds was not amused.

I don't know if I have this on film, but I'll keep an eye out for it.
 
#40 ·
RE: Old habits ...

When I returned to rallysport with the Stage Fright Rallye Team RallyeTruck I saw no reason to spend huge bucks on purpose-built rally tires when I had no idea how I might stack up after a dozen years of rally inactivity, so I visited Danny's Auto & Tire in Mannford, Oklahoma and went with what I knew - Coopers! They weren't Weathermasters and they weren't bias plies, but they turned out to be competent, reasonably-priced tires that carried a road hazard guarantee and gave me precious little trouble! I'm still running Coopers on the SORT ...

Mad Mike on Coopers in 1978:

http://www.realautosport.com/pics/Vega/sunr78-1.jpg

Mad Mike on Coopers in 1998 (sort of):

http://www.realautosport.com/pics/pbn99/32799-A2.jpg

Halley ...
http://www.realautosport.com
 
#41 ·
>
>>
>>Anyone who ran Cooper Weathermasters in the old days will
>
>
>
>At one point, someone (I don't remember who, but Eric Jones,
>maybe, it sounds like something he might do) carefully cut
>apart the Cooper tire decals and was running Copper Tires.
>
>And someone (Jones again maybe?) at one point was running
>Pooper Tires.
>
>Bob Edds was not amused.
>
>I don't know if I have this on film, but I'll keep an eye
>out for it.

And of course, let us not forget those brave individuals whose names were emblazoned on the doors of those green Datsuns...Rex Karrs, Mogen David, U.G. Rection...(yes, I fell for it at the '75 POR, in the parking lot of the multi-level Sands Speedway first stage)...

And for all those real old timers out there, extraspecial bonus points if you can reel off the license numbers of Eric's rally car and service vehicle from those daze...
 
#42 ·
He still has the plates in his name: TRUCK on his Suburban and DATSUN but it's on some other furrin thang. Another one of his navvie's names from those days: TERRY FIDE

And wasn't Sands Speedway a cool thing, an oval track built on a hilside so that it had a climbing turn and a diving turn with the back straight significantly lower than the front straight. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. I remember watching from the upper straightaway outside wall with Guy Light coming by at full speed within literally a couple of inches of the wall and getting covered with the dust and dirt he stirred up.

Kent Gardam
 
#43 ·
>And for all those real old timers out there, extraspecial
>bonus points if you can reel off the license numbers of
>Eric's rally car and service vehicle from those daze...



Those are too easy.

I know the one he kept threatening to apply for which he seemed to think he could get by BMV: 4 NICK 8. (Say it out loud... with a slight Southern Ohio twang.)
 
#45 ·
>
>>And for all those real old timers out there, extraspecial
>>bonus points if you can reel off the license numbers of
>>Eric's rally car and service vehicle from those daze...
>
>
>
>Those are too easy.
>
>I know the one he kept threatening to apply for which he
>seemed to think he could get by BMV: 4 NICK 8. (Say it out
>loud... with a slight Southern Ohio twang.)

Another of the old Columbus Rally Club crew, Al Mandel (AKA Frodo Baggins)briefly had Ohio Plate PHUQUE until he was followed by a BMV staffer one day and the plate recalled.

Paul Jaeger
PRIMO Stage Crews
For a Good Time, Call PRIMO!
 
#46 ·
>>Doug, just a question...Where exactly did the rally run out
>>to? I think it started in Smith falls, ya? so where did it
>>go?
>
>The '74 Rideau Lakes (the World Championship round) went
>over as far as Bancroft (running stages that are now staples
>in the Tall Pines) and came back via Desert Lake (south of
>Sharbot Lake and spitting distance from my parent's
>cottage).
>
>Adrian

Adrian,

Thanks for answering for me. I am currently down in the Dominican Republic and managed to log onto the internet by the beach!

I am about to go golfing and then come back and down a few cold beers at the beach while I watch the scenery. Unfortunately, some of the women on the beach must be poor, because they seem to be able to afford only the bottom half of a bikini!

When I get back and have more time, I will write something about the 1973 Rideau Lakes and the rally route. The FIA Observer for WRC status was Bo Hellberg, who was then the SAAB competition manager. He and I spent an entire day together in the car as I showed him the rally route for 1973 and the roads we would use in 1974, if we achieved WRC status.

Doug Woods
 
#48 ·
I just recalled another Navvie's name that was rattling around in the back of my brain and finally fell out: Phil O'Dendron

Kent Gardam
 
#49 ·
Sands Speedway is still there, and still doing its Sunday afternoon thing...
It's a short track, I'm guessing 1/8 mi oval, but turns 1+2 are downhill and 3+4 are uphill -- it's gotta be 20 feet or better of a drop from the front to the back straight. And the grandstands just follow the contour of the hillside. I get the idea someone had some land they didn't quite know what to do with, until that drunken evening...

I went to the roundy-rounds there all the time. When they'd run Street Stock (run your street car, at your own risk), the heavy winner was an Olds Toronado...you could hear those front tires shrieking half a mile away...

Had a chance to drive there one time, but the weather didn't cooperate...

Ya shoulda seen the rally cars doin' their thing on timed laps around that mess...who was it that blew the motor there in '75, Harvey or Henderson? Can't quite recall...
 
#50 ·
Another dozen or so new pictures are now available.

I have moved the pix from my corporate site to their own site.

Eventually, I'll get some search options on the site so you'll be able to see shots by driver or by event.

There's more than 60 pix on the site now, and the total will be more than a hundred when I finally get them all scanned and uploaded.

This new batch includes a BGDR retrospective, Bill Dodd, Scott Harvey, Jim Walker, Jim Beatty, John Buffum and some shots from 1974 Happiness Is Sunrise and the 1973 Rally of the Rideau Lakes.

Anyway, the new site is:

http://www.rallyalmanac.com

(I haven't spent a lot of time debugging the software, so if you encounter problems, let me know.)

Enjoy!
 
#51 ·
Eric, I have identified some of your newly posted photographs. I looked through my 1972 POR program and matched up car numbers. On BGDR, car 142 is Bill Braund and Rod Natho in a 1971 Toyota Corona, car 173 is Dale McAlister and Joe Le Beau in a Dart Performance 72 Subaru, and i think the last car is a Saab 99. The only Sabb 99 in the rally was David Birdsall & John Crawford in #161 Saab 99. I think I might have even been taking pictures at this corner also in 1972.

The Corvair on Beele Isle is also from 1972. It is Dean Walker and Jerry Rosegger of Cleveland in a Yenko Corvair. The pictures of Bill Doadd and Jim Beatty were also from 1972.

Paul Jaeger
PRIMO Stage Crews
For a Good Time, Call PRIMO!
 
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