Stock car racing: The good old days

[spartridge]

..went to the F1 at Brafield, Leicester and Coventry regularly in the late 70s/early 80s. Sat in the car of Brian Powles (154) as a kid as the mechanic was a family friend. Good times

[av185]

Wacky Racer said:

av185 said:

Wacky Racer said:

Belle Vue, Manchester in the 70's..... Stuart Smith 391, Frankie Wainman 212, Willie Harrison.

I bought my first car off Stuart Smiths father in Rochdale. My father advised me not too but I went ahead and bought it anyway, as you do. :

Used to walk past it every day after getting off the bus from school.

A Vauxhall Victor.

My first car a maroon Vauxhall Victor MDB 932F with a front bench seat, 3 speed column change and 1800cc OHC.

I can smell the beige ambla upholstery even now.

Was that the FD if so was probably an early one. Always thought they were either 1.6 or 2.0 litre. I had a Ventora after the Victor which was an FC 101 with a 3 speed column change. And yes it had hearing aid beige upholstery too with the obligtory Feu Orange traffic light air freshener dangling from the centre view mirror lol.!

Watched stock car racing and speedway with a mate occasionally at Rochdale Hornets rugby stadium a which was long since demolished and redeveloped as a Morrisons.

[Milkyway]

av185 said:

Was that the FD if so was probably an early one. Always thought they were either 1.6 or 2.0 litre. I had a Ventora after the Victor which was an FC 101 with a 3 speed column change. And yes it had hearing aid beige upholstery too with the obligtory Feu Orange traffic light air freshener dangling from the centre view mirror lol.!

Watched stock car racing and speedway with a mate occasionally at Rochdale Hornets rugby stadium a which was long since demolished and redeveloped as a Morrisons.

Ah yes... travelling the Country to watch Speedway...even at the old Wembley.
Give me an ‘R’ etc.
Given that a lot of stadiums have gone... Speedway took the hit as well.
Used to follow Reading Racers... great team then.
Tilehurst then Smallmead.

Stock cars used to race @ Tilehurst... but a bit before my time.
Each track had their own Superstox teams... so had inter track team events.
ALDERSHOT KNIGHTS...

Edited by Milkyway on Monday 29th November 19:05

[witteringon]

West Ham Stadium late fifties/early sixties.
Duane Eddy blasting out over the loudspeakers.
The sound of the cars revving and warming up outside, then streaming onto the track, performing their party pieces on the way to the start line.
Doug Wardropper the man to beat.
Schoolboy heaven!

[Milkyway]

A few random memories that have sprung to mind.

The Boxing Day meeting @ Wimbledon & all the cars decorated as floats.
Fireworks meeting.. .The two tanks firing @ each other, & cheering for a particular colour.

Start Marshal Ted Weaver getting knocked off his stand.
( Thankfully No injuries... probably a brown trouser job though)
It Amazed me how they never got hit sometimes, running across the track.. a few close calls

Seeing one of the Cortina Mk3 start Cars in a banger race.

Production car lap trials...always a crowd pleaser.
The race;
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=btXR4ej4QoA

Edited by Milkyway on Tuesday 30th November 12:02

[ARHarh]

this keeps bringing back memories. Production car laps, I remember seeing a very new 3 ltr Capri hit the fence at Aldershot. It also bought back the memory of the marshals running out with a bucket of postcreat to fix the fence after it had been knocked over.

[Milkyway]

ARHarh said:

this keeps bringing back memories. Production car laps, I remember seeing a very new 3 ltr Capri hit the fence at Aldershot. It also bought back the memory of the marshals running out with a bucket of postcreat to fix the fence after it had been knocked over.

I think that the odd lamppost went for a burton too. (No pun intended).
There was a banger driver who bought a car to the trials... fenced it on purpose.
Eddie George kept an rag in his Stock car & would set it alight, just for effect.
Just watching the start car / marshal & breakdowns in action... such joy.
Sheer entertainment.

Edited by Milkyway on Tuesday 30th November 12:26

[Milkyway]

I was looking for ‘ Stock car racing is magic’ by Bill Maynard...
( Wasn’t his daughter Dating / Married to a F1 Driver at the time)
But came across this stranger.
Label & title caught my eye.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bAI-o6DvAUI

Edited by Milkyway on Tuesday 30th November 19:48

[Milkyway]

Special Guests;
The Norman Abbott ‘Rent a rod’.
Used to get guest drivers racing at some meetings.
I can remember Derek Warwick & Russell Brookes having a go.
( Of course... DW started his career in Superstox)

Martin Brundle going around in his Formula 2 Circuit car around Wimbledon...gave it a bit of ‘welly’ too.
K. Rosberg & N.Piquet watching a meeting @ Wimbledon.
( Think they had been testing at Brands & popped in)

The Rallycross boys racing with the Hot Rods.
The grasstrack Hot Rods Racing at Matchams.
( V8 Rover in the back of a MKIi Escort... went well)

Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 1st December 15:31

[Milkyway]

Hednesford... 1973

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 2nd January 17:05

[paulwirral]

I liked it so much I tried it , bangers at aycliffe and Hartlepool for a while then onto superstox -f2 type racing , again at Hartlepool but also Shorpe , carnforth , brough park and Buxton . I ended up on my roof at the latter .
I always wanted to try formula 1 stock cars but funds and running a business never allowed it .
And now that I could afford it both financially and time wise I doubt my body could take the battering !
I’ve not been to a meeting for over 20 years but I may take a look this year , just for old times sake .

[Andy 308GTB]

Milkyway said:

Hednesford... 1973

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 2nd January 17:05

That's a great photo. Any more?

[LukeBrown66]

Amazing how many people have said on here,

"Haven't been to a meeting in 20 years"

Amazing and sad for me as a regular fan seeing tracks closing routinely.

[paulwirral]

This is bizarre , since seeing this thread stock car racing has been featured on the antiques road show of all things , memdips raceway , and now it’s saloon stox on clubland tv driven by some hardly dressed girls to a re hash of some crappy old club song .
It must be a sign for me to attend a meeting this year !

[RichB]

No mention of White City, I used to go there in the early '70s to watch stocks and bangers.

[Old Merc]

paulwirral said:

This is bizarre , since seeing this thread stock car racing has been featured on the antiques road show of all things , memdips raceway , and now it’s saloon stox on clubland tv driven by some hardly dressed girls to a re hash of some crappy old club song .
It must be a sign for me to attend a meeting this year !

The Antiques road show producer used some of my photos taken at Reading Stadium in the early 60`s.



I was a school boy and bunked into the pits and helped the breakdown guy drag the cars off the track.


It was very popular in those days, the stadium was packed. Didn't last though, the site was redeveloped and is now part of a huge retail park.
And that schoolboy has been to the USA to see NASCAR at Daytona, where it all started.

http://www.oldstox.com/ Here is some Stock Car nostalgia.

[Lynchie999]

... the track in Cornwall was featured on Rick Stein in Cornwall last night too!

[LukeBrown66]

That will be St day which is facing closure as a rum distillery developer wants to build on it

[Powles 154]

spartridge said:

..went to the F1 at Brafield, Leicester and Coventry regularly in the late 70s/early 80s. Sat in the car of Brian Powles (154) as a kid as the mechanic was a family friend. Good times

You’ll have to come and have a sit in the new heritage car when it’s built 👍🏻

[DaveGoddard]

How the bloody hell have I not seen this thread before?

Milkyway said:

I can remember the TV series, a few years ago.
Mainly about the Wainman v Smith rivalry.
Google: Gears & Tears... crikey 2010

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 26th November 00:50

I was in a couple of episodes of that! I was a trackside PA commentator at a few venues at the time and you both see and hear me on comms.

I want to reply to every post on this thread, when it's not the middle of the night and I have more time I'll try to.