HTCAV – First Race Cars – Pt.1
Words: Chris Ralph, with Ben Dahlstrom
Old Photos: Various
Current Photos: Phil Wisewould
Thanks to the driver profiles and race reports that have been presented in these pages for the past few years, we know what the majority of the HTCAV field are pedalling at the moment, but where did those competition roots start and what did the grid drive originally? We’ve put the question to various drivers and got some very interesting answers...
TINO LEO
First Car: Holden 48-215
Current Car: Holden Monaro 350
Tino Leo brings textbook Italian brio to Australian tin top racing. Voluble, volcanic and very fast, he waves his hands – and the tails of his racecars - to express himself.
“First time I qualify I put it on pole!” he says of his first race in the ex-Graeme Ritter 48-215 in 1969 at Calder. “I came third, shoulda got two more positions!” Fitting Webers made all the difference and he went on to score countless wins at the short Calder circuit, setting a lap record that stood for years.
Tino sold his car to arch Shepparton rival John Mann four years later and went on to race various Holdens and Fords including his fearsome Monaro Sports Sedan in the 70s and 80s.
In Historic Touring Cars he’s continued the legendary colourful driving in his 289 Mustang and 350 Monaro – but he’s also bought back his original Humpy and is restoring it for racing. “I will be back with my first car – painted gold – and I want to drive it at Baskerville!” he says. The crowds will be lined up on the fence, they know Tino will not disappoint.
ANDY CLEMPSON
First Car: Leyland Mini Clubman S
Current Car: 1969 Ford Mustang fastback
Larger-than-life Andy “Hollywood” Clempson is best known behind the wheel of his Fastback Mustang. But his first motorsport foray was in something entirely different - a 1976 Leyland Mini S he bought from his uncle.
Relentless thrashing up Bendigo’s One Tree Hill hillclimb and lack of maintenance led to a blown engine: “I learned oil does help - the whole thing seized solid at 90mph - skid marks for quarter of a mile.” Before his father found out, the smart uni student thought: “How hard can it be to build an engine? But when I finished there was a big ice cream container full of bolts and stuff.” Hmmm. He looked in the local Bendigo paper: an off-the-dial 1301cc with twin 1 ¾” SUs was just affordable. Capable of 127mph at full noise, the Mini set a couple of records – one at the hillclimb, the other a full 720 degree double circle at 75mph: “two vice grips on the driver’s side brake lines…” Remarkably both the ex-Australian Boys Choir chorister, his equally shy and retiring pit crew and the Mini survived. It was sold, Andy progressed to a Datsun 1600 with the Ford Four Club and on to the Mustangs he’s known for today. It’s been a wild ride!
MICHAEL MICELI
First Car: HQ Holden
Current Car: 1969 Ford Mustang fastback
The motorsport bug bit Michael Miceli hard at Calder in 1994. He’d sat in the passenger seat of a Holden HQ racer and ended up buying a mint HQ that happened to be at Calder that same day. In true Miceli fashion, he’d thrown himself into it.
At his first meeting later that year at Winton he qualified 20th in a field of more than 50 cars. During the race, he got tapped (“What? They hit my beautiful car – didn’t expect that!”) but still managed to finish eighth. “I learned fast that gaining racetrack positions in a HQ is very hard work,” he says, “So I bought a second-hand chassis dyno. Forty-two dyno pulls on the first day certainly taught me a thing or two.” The 88kW HQ became a 100kW HQ.
For a further five years, Michael’s immaculate car (a rarity in the category) was always among the front runners, one of the highlights being the 133-car HQ Nationals field at Bathurst where he finished 5th. No, that’s not a typo – 133 cars!
In 1999, having achieved his goal of winning the Victorian State Championship, Michael sold the car, using the funds to buy the Graham Hunt 289 Mustang; a car originally gifted to Harry Firth in the early FOMOCO days. All of the panelwork master’s Mustangs and the big red GT HO have been winners over the past 20 years. So, best memories? “Well, racing’s good. But the off-track camaraderie’s the best…”
MARK JOHNSON
First Car: Ford Cortina
Current Car: Porsche 911 2.2
Historic Porsche and Lotus Cortina driver Mark Johnson remembers his first race meeting very clearly. “Qualifying at Sandown – I was whacked in the driver’s door. Race: I looped it at the old Peters Corner (Turn 4), ending up with that same bent driver’s door jammed against the Armco. Sat there watching John Mann, Tino Leo, Marc Ducquet (Galaxie) and many more big car heroes fishtailing out the corner pointing right at me, lap after lap. Not something you forget!”
That was Historic Sandown 1995. Mark had bought a swift blue Cortina from Matt Philip, the renowned HDT mechanic from Tate Automotive. He had a great time with it for 18 months before selling it to good mate Jeremy Mantello.
For his next ride, Mark didn’t stray from the British Ford, racing the white and red ex-Collins family Cortina, then his Targa-prepared Lotus Cortina. Staying with the blue oval, the ex-Greg MacPherson 289 Mustang was next, before a change of pace – and position - in the form of a faithful replication of Jim McKeown’s 2.2-litre Porsche.
“That little Cortina started it all for me, even with that scary introduction,” he reflects. “A quarter of a century later and I still love it…”
JOHN MANN
First Car: JM Special
Current Car: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro
The ebullient John Mann, pushing 80 and still a fierce Camaro contender, couldn’t forget his first racecar – he built it!
“Measured up a Cooper (open wheeler) in the pits when no-one was watching, chalked it out on the floor, bought some tube and welded up a space frame. 1500 BMC engine, VW gearbox and Triumph Herald front end.” How was your first race? “Sh-thouse! Clutch went. Sold it to finish my house.”
Earlier this year, the JM Special (now the DR Special) was found alive and well in Albury: it hadn’t travelled very far from Shepparton.
They were the “run what you brung” days. Next, a poor Morris Major was pressed into track duties, then John ran an FJ Holden, before buying the ex-Ritter 48-215 from his longtime rival Tino Leo, resulting in a 54.3 lap record for old Holdens at Calder.
A hairy TC Cortina Sports Sedan with a F5000 Repco Holden motor brought him to prominence and four privateer drives at Bathurst ensued. Since helping to start the HTCAV in 1980, the life member was its poster boy for decades in the famous number 54 – the 289 Mustang that won more times than even John can remember.
“What a life!” he says, “I have – we all have – been very lucky…”
