Australian Gold Star Race

Mallala, 12 Oct 1964

All cars are 2.5-litre Tasman unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT4 [IC-2-62] (Lex Davison): New for Jack Brabham to drive in the Australian Internationals in February 1963. Then left with Repco over the Australian winter and used by Denny Hulme in the 1964 Tasman series. Sold to veteran Australian Lex Davison for the 1964 Australian Gold Star but heavily damaged in the accident that took Davison's life at Sandown Park early 1965. Sold with all Davison's equipment to Wally Mitchell and some parts used in the RM1 sports car in which Mitchell was later killed. The frame of the Brabham was not used in the RM1 and this was sold to Fred Wheelhouse and rebuilt as a complete car. Owned by David Sternberg in Tasmania in 1968 and probably the "rebuilt Brabham Climax" that Dave Powell Jnr raced in Tasmania in 1969. Then unknown until reported to be owned by Austin Miller (Launceston, Tasmania) in 1983. Still with Miller in 1995 but by 2000 it had moved to the UK and was owned by John Coombs, who sold it to Frank Sytner. Raced by Sytner from 2001 to 2008 and then sold to David Jacobs (Boulder, CO) and raced in the US until sold to Terry Rush in New Zealand in February 2011.
2. Brabham BT4 [IC-3-62] (Bib Stillwell): New to Bib Stillwell for the Australian Internationals in February 1963. Used by Stillwell to win the 1963 Australian Gold Star and then, having acquired the 2.7-litre engine from Jack Brabham's BT4, he won the Gold Star again in 1964. Sold to Bill Thomasen in New Zealand and used in NZ Gold Star in 1964/65 before it was sold to Ecurie Palm Court who ran it for Ian Green and John Riley in late-season 1964/65 races and in Australian Gold Star races in August 1965. To Robbie Francevic in time for the 1965/66 NZ season and then quickly sold again, this time to Syd Jensen. Jenson leased it to Jim Boyd for the 1967 Internationals and then sold it to Bryan Faloon in March 1967. Raced and crashed many times by Faloon before he joined the Rorstan team for 1969/70 and the BT4 was finally retired. Sold by Faloon's estate to David Manton in 1981, then to Richard Hook (Auckland, NZ), who restored the car to its original Tasman specification and used it in historic racing in 1990. Then through four other historic racers until bought by the Minshaw family in 2005. Raced by Jason Minshaw from 2005 onwards.
3. Brabham BT6 [FJ-15-63] (Greg Cusack): Sold to Greg Cusack for Australian Formula Junior in 1963, probably via Brabham's new Australian agent Alec Mildren Pty Ltd. Fitted with a 1500cc Ford engine for Australian national racing in 1964 then sold to Kurt Keller near the end of the year. Next seen early 1966,raced by Paul Bolton. Reappeared again in mid-1967 now back in 1100cc form for ANF2 and raced by Henk Woelders. Sold to Jon Davison, son of the late Lex Davison, for 1969 and raced by him for two more seasons. According to John Blanden's 'Historic Racing Cars in Australia, it was sold in 1970 to Harry and Val Forde and retained by them until 1999 when it was sold to Peter Johnson (Sydney, NSW). Raced by Johnson in historic FJ racing in Australia. Sold in 2010 to Tony Simmons (Sydney, NSW) and taken to the UK in 2011 for HSCC events and the Goodwood Revival.
4. Cooper T53 [F1-2-61] (Geoff Vercoe): Built for 1961 season. Yeoman Credit Racing (Reg Parnell Racing) 1961 for Roy Salvadori in F1. To Lex Davison (Australia) 1962 and crashed at Longford. Replaced by Jack Brabham's spare car 'F2-17-60'. F1-2-61 was sold damaged to Don Fraser (Australia) 1963, who rebuilt it with a 2.5-litre BRM engine and raced it from 1965 onwards. To Tony Osborne (Australia) 1976. To Don Thallon (Brisbane, Australia) May 1999 and used in historic racing. Raced by Thallon at Zandvoort in 2014 alongside Wulf Goetze's 'F1-1-61' and then returned to Australia.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.