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) and first seen in the Pro Formula B race at War Bonnet in late June where Sell qualified on pole and finished second. Then raced in SCCA Regionals and occasional Nationals in California, and in the pro races at Mont-Tremblant and Lake Tahoe at the end of the season. Sold to Sell's 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. However, it is possible that the dates of this are wrong and that Bob Isnor (Newton, MA) raced it as a FB before it went to Sorbello. Later to John Kauffman who thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria (White Plains, NY) in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007. To Bob Lima (Meadowbrook, PA) by October 2009 and later repainted in Sell's colours.
2. Brabham BT21 (Mike Hiss): To Mike Hiss (Laurel, MD) to replace the earlier Brabham that he "demolished" in practice for the Bridgehampton National in July 1967. He raced the BT21A for the last two Pro races, finished third at Lake Tahoe. Retained for 1968, finishing third at Palm Beach in February and then winning at Marlboro in March. Second in Bridgehampton National and won a Regional at Marlboro but less successful in the Pro series. Last seen when crashed at Lime Rock in September 1968 following a suspension failure. Hiss had by that time moved up to Formula A with a Lola T140 and it is not known whether the Brabham was rebuilt.
3. Brabham BT15 (Oliver Grant): Oliver Grant (Norfolk, VA/Wheaton, MD) raced a Brabham in Formula B in late 1967 and the first half of 1968. A Revs Institute photograph shows that it had a 1966 bodywork section but short rear uprights, implying that it was a 1966 Brabham BT15. Nothing more known.
4. Brabham BT6 (Charlie Adams): Charlie Adams (Hermosa Beach, CA) bought a 1963 Formula Junior Brabham from Ian Raby (Brighton) in August 1965, and had it updated to 1965 rear magnesium uprights and driveshafts, and shipped to the US. In correspondence that Adams has retained, Raby described the car as a "practically brand new" Brabham FJ, having been "completely rebuilt, with a new chassis". Adams campaigned the car in Formula B and in Formula C from late 1965 through to early 1968 when he replaced it with a new BT21C. When he advertised the BT6 in March 1968, it had a Hewland Mk 5 gearbox and a Ford twin cam engine prepared by Frank Monise. Subsequent history unknown.
5. Cooper Mk IV 'T51' [F2-14-60] (Walt Mathewson): Delivered to F Armbruster (USA) according to the Cooper Register.
6. 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.
7. Brabham BT21A (Fred Ashplant): Raced by Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) and first seen at Lime Rock in early July where Racing Magazine called it "his new Brabham FB". Won the SCCA National at Bridgehampton two weeks later and the Pro race at Mont-Tremblant in September. Finished 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). However, the BT21A was in Fred Opert's stock during the summer of 1969 and as the car had last been raced as #47, it seems likely that this was the #47 FB Brabham that Opert raced a couple of times before his BT29 arrived.
8. Brabham BT6 (Steve Harris): Steve Harris (Salt Lake City, UT) raced a Brabham in Formula B in 1967. Salt Lake City's Deseret News published a photograph of it in June 1967, and although it is not possible to identify the model of car with confidence, the shape of the bodywork around the front suspension suggests a BT2 or a BT6. As there had been three BT6s running in Formula B in 1966, that is more likely. Subsequent history unknown.
9. Brabham BT21A [7] (David Webster): New to Dave Webster (Newport Beach, CA) for Formula B in 1967, finishing second in SPDiv division. To Joe Alves (Sherman Oaks, CA), who raced it from the start of 1968 to mid-1969, finishing fourth in SoPac FB in 1968 and fifth in 1969. Then to John Coolick (Wilmington, CA) who raced it in local Formula B, generally at Riverside, from 1970 to 1975. Advertised by Coolick with a big valve twin cam engine in October 1975. Subsequently to Eric Stromwall 1977, then Todd Bishop 1979, and then John Dixon 1989. Bought by Tim Kuchel (Adelaide, Australia) in early 2006, then sold to Frank Arronis (Sydney, Australia) in 2020.
10. Brabham BT18 (Bill Gubelmann): Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) ran a red Brabham BT18 with 1.1-litre Cosworth SCC engine 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, and it then went to Fred Opert, presumably traded on Gubelmann's new BT23F. From Opert it was sold to Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) and raced in the Pacific northwest, winning several Regional SCCA events. He kept the orange BT18 when he moved into the SCCA national Formula B series in 1969 and completely dominated the series, winning six of the first nine races and finishing second in another two. Advertised in October 1969. Subsequent history unknown.
11. Grizzly Torque Mk 3 (Ausper T3) [T306] (Bub Ehrlich): The Grizzly Torque Formula A car started life in 1962 as a Formula Junior Ausper T3, initially raced by Roy Pike in UK events. It was sold to William Webb (Arizona) and used in west coast FJ events until it was wrecked and rebuilt for the new 3-litre Formula A. Irv Dickson fitted a de-stroked 221 ci Ford Fairlane V8 engine running on Weber carbs and a Colotti transmission but despite driver Bub Ehrlich winning the Northern Division Formula A title in 1966, Irv recalls that the Ford engine was not a success and it would have been better to keep it as a 1100cc car. Later owners are reported as Rich Nelson and Mike Blackle, after which it was acquired by Brad Balles (Dallas, TX). Rumours persist that it is being rebuilt to its Formula A specification.
12. Brabham BT18 (John Hood): Dr John Hood Jr (Orlando, FL) raced a blue Brabham BT18 in Southeast Division SCCA Nationals in 1967, winning at Fernandina Beach, Savannah International Raceway, Courtland, Montgomery, Osceola Field and Palm Beach, as well as the Paul Whiteman Trophy Races at Daytona, an SCCA Regional. He qualified for the Runoffs but retired. Hood's results in 1968 are largely unknown, but he was mentioned in press previews of the races at Fernandina Beach in April and Daytona in August, when he was said to be driving a Brabham in 'Class B'. It is therefore reasonable to assume he kept the BT18 for the whole of that season. Hood acquired a Formula A Lola T140 for 1969, probably the ex-John Gunn car. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
13. Brabham BT21A (Peter Gethin): Fred Opert was the main dealer for Brabham on the east coast of the US and imported around seven Formula B BT21As for 1967. Opert himself raced a 'BT21' at War Bonnet in June 1967 but it is not clear whether that was a FB car or a FC. For now, it is assumed to be the first appearance of the Opert team's in-house Formula B BT21A. Joe Grimaldi (Midland Park, NJ) worked for Opert at this time and 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. It is assumed that Grimaldi was driving Opert's in-house car. Subsequent history unknown.

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.

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 (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.