Levin International

Levin, 4 Jan 1964

All cars are 2.5-litre Tasman unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT4 [IC-2-62] (Denis Hulme): 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. Cooper T70 [FL-1-64] (Tim Mayer): New for Tim Mayer to drive as a Bruce McLaren Motor Racing entry in the 1964 Tasman Cup. Mayer finished second at Levin and Teretonga, and third at Pukekohe. For Warwick Farm, he swapped cars with team leader Bruce McLaren, and McLaren then took FL-1-64 to second place at Warwick Farm and at Longford, winning the Tasman Championship by six points from his great rival Jack Brabham, Retained for the 1965 Tasman Cup to be driven by Phil Hill but raced by McLaren at Pukekohe after he damged his new T79 in the Heat. Hill toook three podium finishes in this car. Sold to Bill Patterson and entered for John McDonald in Australian Gold Star events in 1965, in the 1966 Tasman series and in Gold Star again in 1966. Sold to Don O'Sullivan prior to the Internationals in February 1967, but he failed to qualify at Lakeside or at Warwick Farm. O'Sullivan then raced it in Western Australia, primarily at Caversham, in 1967. It was sold to Gordon Stephenson (Perth, WA) in February 1968 and he raced it eight times that season. In March 1969, he sold it to Ken Jones (Hamilton Hill, WA), and it passed from Jones to Ken Barnard (Sydney, NSW). Barnard sold it to Richard Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria) in 1974. Remained with Richard Berryman until 1985 when it passed to his son Adam Berryman (Melbourne, Victoria). An extensive restoration began in 2001 which was finally completed in early 2010. Raced by Adam in the NZ Motor Racing Festival in January 2010, at Winton in August 2010, and at Phillip Island and the Australian Grand Prix historic demonstration in 2011. Now numbered FL/2/64.
3. Cooper T70 [FL-2-64] (Bruce McLaren): New for Bruce McLaren to drive as a Bruce McLaren Motor Racing entry in the 1964 Tasman Cup. Bruce won at Pukekohe, Wigram and Teretonga Park in New Zealand but for the Warwick Farm race, he swapped cars with teammate Tim Mayer. Mayer was third at Warwick Farm and retired from the next race at Lakeside. During practice for the final round, at Longford, Mayer spun and his car hit a tree, killing him instantly. The car was destroyed in the accident.
4. Brabham BT6 [FJ-18-63] (Andy Buchanan): A very late-1963 car for Andy Buchanan to race in Australian 1500cc racing with a Ford twin cam engine. Retained for 1965 then to Bill Caldwell for 1966 then to Peter Yock for 1967. Yock is known to have returned the car to England for repairs but its history after is still being researched.
5. Cooper Mk IV 'T51' [F2-4-59] (Bill Thomasen): "Works Car No. 2" according to the Cooper Register. Believed to be Jack Brabham's main car during the early part of 1959 and then became a spare car when 27-59 appeared at Zandvoort. According to Doug Nye's Cooper Cars, this would then appear to be Jack Brabham's 1960 NZ GP car.
6. Cooper Mk I 'T41' ['F2-4-56' or 'F2-P-56'] (Bruce Abernethy): The first of the Cooper Mk Is, this car was fitted with a single cam 1460cc Coventry-Climax FWB engine and raced by Roy Salvadori at the 1956 British GP support race and on three further occasions in August and September. It was then sold to Syd Jensen in New Zealand, still with its FWB engine, and later passed through the hands of Ron Frost, Tony Shelly, Bruce Abernethy and Bill Clark. The chassis number of this car is unclear. It may not have had one. (Sources: Cooper Cars, Nye; Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand, Vercoe)

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.

Individual sources for this event

There were two heats for this race.