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Despite our efforts to be accomplished racers, a 30/- white shop coat embellished with the words 'Uncle Scrumble Himself' in glorious purple dye probably got us more PA coverage at the strip than anything else.
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| 15 Minutes of Fame |
By 1975 it was customary for crews to run around on the start line attending to their race car. We never really knew what they did but I faked it; shoving the car back and fore, squirting stuff into the carbs, wiping the tyres and generally trying to look the part. Jon did little burn-outs and due to the white coat, Brian Taylor dubbed me ‘The Flying Doctor’ over the PA. BDR&HRA newsletter editor, Keith Lee memorialized this in the cutting above. Hell, a grey coat was five bob extra!
12,900ET and 102mph
But the writing was on the wall. Despite my efforts to get the rules changed so that altereds with 4 cylinder engines could continue as a budget class it was not to be. The sport was becoming more professional and even our lowly class was beginning to see big money spent on heavier cars with bigger engines and at least one Lenko transmission worth more than our total budget.
Jon and Stuart soldiered on with a new (factory designed) Castrol red and green paint job and a 1650cc Mk 1 Cortina based engine with Thomas Engineering extractor exhaust.