Colorado Grand Prix

Continental Divide, 14 May 1967

All cars are 3-litre FA unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. 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.
2. Lotus 35 [35-F-18?] (Ed Marshall): Very probably the Lotus 35 sold new via Lotus Southwest to Wayne Jones (Burbank,CA) and fitted with a 2.5-litre Coventry Climax FPF engine for the SCCA's new Formula A in 1965. First raced in an SCCA Regional at Santa Barbara in October 1965 and raced again by Jones in 1966. Sold to Ed Marshall (Kentfield, CA) and raced again in FA. For 1968, this car moved to Vernon Shields (Los Angeles, CA) and was fitted with a 4.7-litre Ford V8 engine to fit the increased capacity limit of Formula A. Also driven for Shields by Bob West (Hollywood, CA). Subsequent history unknown but owned by John Dimmer in 2009.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Lotus 21 [936] (Chuck Trowbridge): New to Brabham Racing Organisation for Jack Brabham to race in non-championship F1 events in early 1962, until his newer Lotus 24 was delivered. It was reported to have been "destroyed" in a garage fire prior to its first race, but Brabham raced it at Pau and Aintree. Then to Jim Hall and used by him to win the Hoosier Grand Prix Intercontinental race held at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July 1962. Also raced by Hall at the US and Mexican GPs later that year. To J Frank Harrison and his chief mechanic Jerry Eisert, who fitted a Shelby Ford V8 engine for SCCA libre racing. It was raced by Rick Muther for Harrison at two libre races in October 1964. Then used by Al Unser at Pikes Peak in 1965. Later sold to Chuck Trowbridge (Denver, CO) and used in SCCA Formula A with a 3-litre Ford engine in 1967, and then with a 5-litre engine in early 1968. Then to Steven Woods (Farmington, CT) in July 1968, and raced by him in New England for the rest of that season. Next seen when owned by Gil Roth (Pittsburgh, PA) in 1970, then with Jim Corwin (New Buffalo, Michigan) in 1971. Subsequent history unknown.
6. 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.

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.

Individual sources for this event

3rd Annual Colorado Grand Prix Official Results sheet provided by Gus Hutchison.