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Lake Tahoe Continental Race

Lake Tahoe, 1 Oct 1967

All cars are 3-litre FA unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT21A [4] (Lou Sell): Sold new to Lou Sell (Fullerton, CA) for US Formula B in 1967 (three Pro races only), then to his backer Dick Smothers (Woodland Hills, CA) for 1968, although Sell also raced it in one SoPac National early that year. To Fred Opert late 1968 in part-exchange for a new Chevron and from him on to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for 1969. Duclos believes he returned it to Opert at the end of 1969 when he acquired his new BT29 and it next turns up in 1971 with John Sorbello (Lafayette, MA) who widened the cockpit section into a two-seater and added a Chevron B16 body. Later to John Kauffman thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007.
2. Brabham BT6 (Charlie Adams): Charlie Adams (Manhattan Beach, CA) campaigned a Brabham Formula B car from late 1965 through to early 1968 when he replaced it with a new BT21C and it is assumed that he ran the same car throughout that period. A report on the May 1968 CDR Pro race in Finish Line identified it as a Brabham BT6 and Adams described it as a 1963 Brabham when he advertised it in CP&A in April 1968.
3. Cooper Mk IV 'T51' [F2-14-60] (Walt Mathewson): Delivered to F Armbruster (USA) according to the Cooper Register.
4. Stanguellini FJ (Don Inferrera): Don Inferrera ran a Stanguellini in Formula A from 1966 to 1968. According to the meticulous research of John de Boer, Don's car was a ex-Formula Junior Stanguellini which he had fitted with a 4-cylinder 2.6-litre Chevy II engine. John has identified 21 events for Don over a two-year period. Although Autoweek say the car ran in FB at lake Tahoe, John is confident that it would have run with its Chev engine in FA that day. Inferrera sold the car to Harold Lockhart and this is presumably the "Chevrolet V8" car that he then ran in FA. The "V8" is probably a quite understandable journalistic error.
5. Brabham BT21A (Fred Ashplant): Raced by Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) in 1967, winning the Pro race at Mont-Tremblant and finishing third in the NEDiv FB title. Retained for 1968 but used much less that season. In 1969, Ashplant ordered a Brabham BT29 and sold the BT21A to Pete LoBianco (York, PA).
6. Brabham BT18 (Bill Gubelmann): Bill Gubelmann ran a Brabham BT18 in Formula C in 1967, winning seven Nationals and setting lap records right down the east coast. He advertised the car in Autoweek on 18 November 1967 as a late 1966 BT18 chassis with 140bhp Cosworth SCC engine.
7. Brabham BT6 [FJ-16-63?] (John Hood): Although the BT6 was a Formula Junior design, FJ-16-63 was built with redesigned engine bay to take a Ford twin cam engine. The car was delivered to Betty Haig but according to Duncan Rabagliati's research, it didn't race in 1963 and only appeared twice, in the hands of Peter Richardson, in 1964. For 1965, it was sold to John Ewer who raced it in libre events, winning at Snetterton on 13 Jun 1965 and finishing second to at Brands Hatch on 4 Apr 1965. For 1966, the car was sold to Fred Opert and is believed to be the "1963 Brabham" raced by John Hood in Formula B in 1966 (in SEDiv) and in 1967 (in the new Continental series). Hood returned in 1968 but only scored a handful of points in SEDiv.
8. Brabham BT21A (Peter Gethin): Joe Grimaldi (Midland Park, NJ) raced a Brabham BT21A in Formula B events in 1967, scoring 18 pts in NEDiv. In January 1968, Fred Opert advertised the blue-and-yellow "ex-Joe Grimaldi" Brabham BT21A noting that it had only raced eight times and was the car that Peter Gethin drove at the St Jovite Pro FB race where he took pole position. Grimaldi also appeared in Pro Formula events in 1967 but in a Formula C Brabham BT21.
9. Lotus 24 (C. Deloss "De" Singleton): De Singleton (of Downey, CA) had a Lotus 24 in Formula A in 1966 and 1967. He advertised it in Autoweek in May 1969 as having a F85 engine (the 215ci Oldsmobile BOP "Rockette" engine) which implies it was the same Lotus 24 into which Rod Carveth dropped a 215ci Oldsmobile in 1964. The identity of the Lotus 24 still isn't resolved.

Sources

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' orginal results.

US information has been taken from SCCA results sheets with additional information from Autoweek race reports and from some entry lists. Thanks to David McKinney and Wolfgang Klopfer for providing these. Identifying the classes and model of some entries has proved very difficult so all new information would be welcomed.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen if you can add anything.