Juniors / F2s

Seniors / F1s
in the Sixties

More Seniors / F1s
in the Sixties

The Seventies

The Early Days

Some Replicas and Restos

Automotive Oddments

Spedeworth

Early British Drag Racing

Links

Welcome all to David Kipling's Home Page

             "BriSCA" Stock-Car Racing in Britain 

1950s-1970s

for fans of oval track racing in the golden age 

 British drag-racing, 1960s-1970s

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This is not a personal home page. I set it up to share a topic for people world-wide: BriSCA "Stock-car racing" as the phrase has applied in Britain since 1954, and the early days of drag racing in Britain. This is a nostalgia page about rough-'n'-ready forms of motor sport that were often ignored or looked down on. 

British stock-car racing and drag racing thrive today in a more sophisticated way, but this site is dedicated to the racers who entertained us in the 1960's and 70's.    I started with a collection of old snapshots I'd kept in a shoe box;  but over the years, many kind people have sent me their stories and their own photos.                           

Ex-racer Rick Young, lap-scorer Ken Mason, and Brafield 'deejay' Russ Thomas ---- along with many others ---- have  been helpful.

As a result, my website has now become a communal celebration on the part of fans who, like me, admired the early era of stock-car racing and drag racing.  Some were racers;  some are the sons and daughters and  even grandchildren of racers featured here.  It has been wonderful to hear from you good folks over the years.  Keep 'em coming. 

You'll need hours to go through this pictorial history.  Click on the page headings at the top and bottom of the pages, and you'll find a ton of stories and technical facts, plus my opinions, and most photos are a link to click on.   

Last warning:  I don't know computers, and over the years the background html codes have become very tangled, so you must put up with odd spacing and typefaces, etc.  I can't fix it. Who cares, we're enjoying stock cars!

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My JUNK SHOP principles:

First, until recently I didn't gather photos from the Internet; almost everything on this site had been sent to me personally by a stock car or drag racing fan, making it a kind of community collection. In the past five years I have 'given up' and gathered Intebetr photos and where possible credited the donor.  

Second, it's a jumble --- that's the way it has grown, and that's the way I like it, and many people tell me the same thing. There are some excellent "quick-reference index" websites on the Net, ---- like https://briscaf1stox.uk/index1.php?correctfile=1&wid=1920

You can use the edit-find function on a page to look for a favourite driver or track.

I try to keep drivers' info bunched together, but often a race photo contains several cars.  Also, a driver may appear in two or even three decades, and some photos can't be dated accurately.  

This introductory page includes photos of stock-car badges, stickers, programmes, audio files, films, books, and so on.

Over 1300 photos of British stock-cars

Plus one whole page on:

1960s-1970s British drag-racing 

Do you have a vintage stocks or drags photo or story you'd like to contribute? 

E-mail me

This was presented to superstar Fred Mitchell, #38, when he entered the 1963 world final as defending (1962) world champion.  This beautiful memento passed to Fred's long-time race mechanic Pete Schafer, who generously entrusted it to me, in memory of Fred.  

Pete Schafer, master mechanic (Pete Tucker called him a "wizard"), friend to everyone, and loyal to Fred Mitchell and his family for many years, passed away at his home in Washington State, USA, in early 2007 at 82 years.  Pete was a gent of the old school, but with that characteristic sense of practical joking that was everywhere in stock-car racing in those days.  Pete loved this little tale, which I will pass on here as a way of winking "thank you" to Pete and his generation:  Fred Mitchell and Pete were working on the #38 car in Fred's workshop, and they called for some help from a chap who had dropped in, a farm worker who was wearing steel-toed boots.  Fred was welding some steel plate onto the car, and he said "Ah, just the bloke we need — stand up on this, will you, to hold it in place", and "But shut your eyes because of the sparks."  You've guessed it --- Fred took a piece of scrap and tack-welded the man's boots to the #38 chassis.

George Ansell 375 won Harringay's qualifying round in 1970, on tarmac of course [photo below] before going on to the WF semi on Coventry's trickier shale --- and won that too.  George generously gave this QR trophy to his lifelong number one fan Ian Snoad.  Ian had followed the racing at Harringay since the age of 8, and years later contacted George's ex-mechanic Jim Bunyan, and George himself.  Ian sent this handsome photo, saying he'd not part with the trophy for all the money in the world.   

Ansell's autograph below:

Father-and-son fans Bill and Cliff Burdett were at Belle Vue in 1969 when Stu Smith won the World Final. Here are some famous names to stir your memories, along with the programme cover.

Click for the 1969 WF cover


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May 2014:   Below: John Lomax was a big Willie Harrison fan and  made up a perspex "sticker board" for his car, and recently re-discovered it today. 

Two classic programme covers, from 1959 and 1960

[Brandon programme from Andrew Lively]

Two pit passes to revive old memories, courtesy of Barry Redman #151:

Belle Vue                                                                    Harringay

Ex-speedway rider, and Kiwi promoter Trevor Redmond knew how to put on a show, and Steve Harrison got this seat in the front row.   Steve raced for over 20 years in Bangers, Rebels, Stock Rods and Lightning Rods:

A bit about me:

I taught technical and business writing for 30 years at the BC Institute of Technology, in Canada, but I grew up in Brixworth (rural Northamptonshire UK). The field where I once herded sheep is now occupied by Indy-and-Grand Prix-winning ILMOR / Mercedes Racing Engines.  I also lived in Birmingham, North London,  Redhill (Surrey), Bristol, the South of France, and emigrated to Vancouver BC, Canada in 1978. If anything you see here makes sense or revives memories, say "Hi" on spratton@hotmail.com

I've been announcer at my local drag races for 25 years:

Below: Summer 2004 happy to be back at Brandon [first time there since 1966!], beside the car of Big Tony Smith:

Below: at Skagit Speedway in Washington State, USA: 




and below at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit: 

 

- and that's me after some passenger "hot laps" on the Silverstone circuit in 2007  My driver was Charlie Hollings, an F3 competitor, and his terse instructions were "hang on and don't touch anything."  Just being a passenger exhausted me; this was a full-race Caterham R400, and it felt like being shot out of a cannon onto a toboggan run. And I burned my hand on that carbon-fibre exhaust shroud.

Silverstone's new Grand Prix circuit layout was opened in April 2010, and the track was actually blessed by the Bishop of Brixworth, by tapping the tarmac with his bishop's crozier or 'pastoral staff' (that's a shepherd's crook to you and me).  So what?  It was my late father who made that crozier about 30 years ago.  Here's the track blessing, watched by Prince Andrew, GP world champion Damon Hill, Mark Webber, David Coulthard. Cheers for my dad.

I took a two-day racing course at a tight road circuit near Vancouver in March 2009.  I borrowed a stripped-out Honda CRX and had a ball, though I am frankly a rather obstinate student --- and received a couple of black-flag warnings for going a bit over my actual skill level. Here I am leading a Porsche into Turn 2 --- yes, he soon passed. There's nothing like a serious training course to shake you up, when you fooloshly thought you were pretty good.  

Remember the Rinkydink theme over the Tannoy?  Thanks to Malc Brown who has brilliantly soundtracked RinkyDink with his collection of stock car photos on YouTube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dwntmPCRhc
 

The Anthem for bangers, Mouldy Old Dough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO5GWJJP3FM
played by "Lieutenant Pigeon", a band led by Rob Woodward with his mum Hilda on keyboards. The song made it to #2 in Belgium before it rose to #1 in Britain in 1972.     

On this video, Mouldy Old Dough accompanies a good compilation of banger action, but the first few seconds are silent --- speakers on!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En8EKOR6AAo

Also the outrageous Nut Rocker  by "Bee Bumble and the Stingers", (also recorded by the Pigeon band!) which occasionally played at Brafield. (No. 1 in 1962's hit parade, a take-off of Tchaikovsky's NUTCRACKER.)

You know this:  March of The Mods by the Joe Loss Orchestra in 1964, which oddly was based on an old Finnish dance tune called the 'Jenka' .   

Spedeworth's favourite,  "I was Kaiser Bill's Batman", by Whistling Jack Smith?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZOgbOojBJU
Thanks to Anthony Spencer for the following details:  

'Whistling Jack Smith' never existed.  It was a nod to the American singer of the 20s and 30s, Whispering Jack Smith.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whispering_Jack_Smith

The hired studio whistler on the 'Kaiser Bill' single was Jack O'Neill, one of the Mike Sammes Singers.  He received a fee but never credits or royalties. When sales of the 'Kaiser Bill' single took off, it was realised that a 'Whistling Jack Smith' person would be needed for live stage appearances.  This 'posing' role went to model/actor Billy Moeller.  Here he is lip-synching on this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39dJptQV_Jc

Billy Moeller's stage name was Coby Wells.  SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!

Another favourite: Bert Kaempfert's "Swingin' Safari":   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVK9ZgRs3Zc 

Let us never forget "Stock Car Racing is Magic".  Comic actor Bill Maynard ---"Claud Greengrass" in Heartbeat, as well as a "Carry On" films regular --- wrote the lyrics. Click on this link to YouTube for the song.  Here are the lyrics. 

Novelty-nonsense songs were often big hits in Britain in the 50's, 60's and 70's --- have we become too serious today?  Remember:

• "Come Outside" and "Will I What?" by Mike Sarne, 
• Bernard Cribbins's "Right Said Fred" and "Hole In The Ground".  
• Then there was "Lily The Pink" and "Thank You Very Much" by The Scaffold.  
• Then Charley Drake's "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" and "Please Mr Custer"
• Jake Thackray's "Ulysses".
• Hedgehoppers Anonymous [who were RAF pilots] : "It's Good News Week".
• Bernard Bresslaw's "You Need Feet" and "I Only Arsked"
  

   Stock-cars and Rock-stars?  Russ Thomas the Brafield deejay tells me that a regular record-requester at the track was Biddy Meek, mother of the pioneering British sound engineer and rock producer JOE MEEK.   Joe's memory lives on in the Joe Meek Appreciation Society.  If you jived or twisted to Heinz, Mike Berry, Lonnie Donegan, John Leyton, Dave Berry, and my own heroes "His Majesty Screaming Lord Sutch and His Savages", you were listening to Joe Meek productions.    Joe Meek wrote and produced the all-time hit "TELSTAR", inside his tiny upstairs bed-sitter, using even the kitchen and stairwell to get the right sound.  Joe Meek's whole family, including his farming brothers Eric and Arthur, loved stock-car racing.  

    'The Man on the Mike'

If you enjoyed Sunday afternoons at Brafield Stadium, whether as picnicking early-birds or just-in-time race fans, you were serenaded for 14 years from 1963 to 1977 by a fascinating chap billed as 'Rick' Thomas, real name Russ Thomas.  Russ "lived and breathed stock cars", and early on had the gumption to buttonhole manager Graham Guthrie and owner John La Trobe about having music.  Before that, Geoff Barnett had played tape recordings of Alan Freeman's PICK OF THE POPS.  The only actual records owned by Brafield were God Save The Queen, Bobby's Girl, and the Tornadoes' Globetrotter; what a collection!  Russ persisted until they let him start with a Dansette Junior record player in front of the mike.  

In 1965 La Trobe splashed out on a new PA system, along with disco style twin-deck Garrard turntables that allowed Russ to fade records in and out.  If "Rinky Dink" by the Johnny Howard Band stuck in your mind, it's because Russ chose it and kept on playing it, and eventually other tracks in England and Holland copied the idea.  Despite people groaning "Oh no, not again" when Rinky Dink started up, drivers and mechanics came to appreciate it as an ideal "races starting" reminder.  

For years Brafield's PA system ran on a single car battery.  When it died, Russ would tour the track on the back of a truck, with the race results chalked on a blackboard ---.  
Geoff Barnett, previously the Staines manager/commentator, was a big believer in entertainment: brass bands, gymnastics displays, backwards races, the terrifying Australian speedway sidecars, spectator laps [1962 photo], burst-a-balloon, Senior-vs-Junior match races, climb-the-greasy-pole, comic commentaries, you name it, and even sudden spontaneous prizes, such as:

"Look, Aubrey Leighton's under his car doing repairs --- the first girl to run across and give Aubrey a kiss wins three bottles of Coke."  

Russ has for years studied the early history of the stadium and its cast of weird and wonderful showmen and impresarios --- let's hope he writes a book about it one day. Russ first trained as a motor mechanic in Northampton, and developed his career into sign-painting, becoming a lifelong signwriter, http://www.rjthomas-signwriting.co.uk/,  doing cars (including stockers of course), shops, antiques, vintage machinery and specializing in the mysterious and arcane arts of canal-boat and fairground decoration, (strictly by hand, no airbrush) of which here are four stunning examples:  

Fairground 1  apart from the brilliant paintwork, look at the "marbling" on this mobile fairground paybox.
Fairground 2  have you ever ridden the Super Waltzer?
Fairgound 3   a tiger snarls from "the Waltzer".
Fairground 4  more of the Waltzer, and now below: the winged messenger Mercury in dazzling colour:

This 2.4 megabyte image should bring joy to the heart of any veteran fan or driver. Russ Thomas painted this 24" by 20" picture in oils, and it was auctioned at a VSCDA event and bought by Alan Wardropper. As soon as I set eyes on it, I said

"Yes: this is what it was like --- this is exactly what it was like at its best."

What a brilliant and fond depiction of a perfect Sunday afternoon under flawless summer skies, out in the countryside, with all our heroes and villains in colourful action.  A huge thank-you to Russ Thomas for creating this work of art, and for allowing me to show it on this website.  
Please respect Russ's signature and copyright of this painting.

                                                                    Let's finish with Russ's own words:

"I got a bird's eye view of some fantastic racing, witnessed the start of banger racing and the attempted revival of speedway at the track. I met people from all walks of life from all over the world, some famous, some infamous, made many friends and enjoyed every minute of it."  To quote the Alan Price song --- 'Lucky Man' 

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Two 1950's movies featured stock-car racing.
An early Benny Hill cops 'n' spies comedy, titled Who Done It? was filmed in 1956:
7-minute clip here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md79_mGp-nA

It has a short scene in which Benny accidentally gets into a stock-car race at West Ham's stadium (identified thanks to Graham Brown.)  Film fans who enjoy reporting continuity errors point out that after several hard damaging collisions, Benny's car is shown undamaged.

"Stock Car" in 1955 featured great racing and so-so acting. Available in a two-film package: 

 

It was Sabrina's first brief film appearance, but with a dubbed voice.  According to Speedway And Stock Car World of 7 July 1955, Sabrina made an appearance at a Birmingham stock car meeting with Bill "Mad" Mason.

Paul Carpenter played the star role, maybe his best among many B movies.  His girlfriend was played by Rona Anderson (Dixon of Dick Green, Doctor Finlay's Casebook).  Also in it were Paul Whitsun-Jones (The Avengers and Quatermass Experiment)  Uncredited is Frank Thornton (Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine) who was still acting in 2010; and Frazer Hines (Emmerdale Farm).  The cinematographer Geofrey Faithfull did over a hundred films, including Village of the Damned and The Green Helmet.  

Rick Young has alerted me that YouTube has a race sequence from the movie, and you can try doing "screen shots" to catch a car number and name!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9wrF2mVV0o

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"What The Papers Say"

One of the South Devon Herald Express editors fondly remembers the action at Newton Abbot from the old days, and published this excellent article about the stock cars and bangers. (copied-and-pasted from their website onto a PDF file).

BBC Radio Goes into Stock Car History

  February 2009: Out of the blue, I was contacted by BBC Radio Northampton, who were doing a series of pieces about local heroes, and who had evidently come across my website.  They wanted to hear about Aubrey Leighton #42, so here is a 13-minute conversation between myself and the excellent interviewer John Griff on his afternoon show of Thursday 19th February 2009.  Like most people, I hate hearing my voice recorded.  The programme implied that Aubrey was Northamptonshire's only world champion, and I forgot to mention that Kettering racer Murray Harrison was also a local World Champ (1999) and scored two other World podiums.


September 2010:  On Saturday 4th September, BBC Radio 4 broadcast an unusual documentary, "Stock Car Sewell" [link below].  Brian Sewell is a famously "lah-di-dah" art critic, once described as 'the only person who makes the Queen sound common'.  A journalist and one-time Christie's art consultant, Sewell was a close friend of Sir Anthony Blunt.

But Brian Sewell the suave gentleman has also been a keen stock car fan for over 30 years. In this radio programme, he ventures out to interview the legendary Wembley rascal Pete Tucker #85 who raced at the very first New Cross meeting, about those wild early days.  Pete does his gravelly Cockney drawl to counterpoint Sewell's posh accent.    Then Brian visits a Wimbledon Spedeworth meet and talks to his guide Paul Huggett, Spedeworth's magazine editor "A Virgil to my Dante, if you will."; chats to banger racers; raves over the vista of smoke and sparks under the floodlights "Like a November sunset by J.M.W.Turner"; wishes that a realist painter could portray the scene; and insists he can smell gin in the exhaust fumes.

Interviewing race marshal Andy Cook, Sewell asks loftily "So you are the grey eminence behind all this?" and Andy retorts "I'm the Law is what I am."  
Yet the officials, drivers, and mechanics were surprisingly hospitable to this eccentric upper-class alien in their midst. Leaving at the end of the night,
Sewell says "It feels as though you've just watched BenHur, King Lear, and a pantomime all together."  

Listen to this unique radio programme.   (Big file may take a minute to open.)

      

March 2010: [from a 1960 BSCDA newsletter, courtesy of Steve Farndon]   Several stock car sites mention a short documentary/news film called SMASHING THROUGH, showing in cinemas in 1960 as part of the Rank Films series "Look at Life".  According to Peter Marsh's site, the film shows Staines and includes Alan Wardropper.  There is a 4-DVD set of Rank's Look at Life, on the theme of transport, but I don't think it includes "Smashing Through".  If you know it, please e-mail me.

An Inspiring Letter:

August 2011:  Long ago, March 1965 to be precise, I was at Graveley airfield in Cambs where one of Britain's early drag-race practice meets was being run.  There was a Senior F1 stock car there, being tuned and shaken down, and I remember the snooty announcer making a snide remark about its presence.  Later that year, DRAG RACING magazine printed a bold and inspiring letter that contrasted stock-car people with less-helpful "RAC types".  I found an old copy of the magazine, and re-reading the letter I realized the [misspelled] writer was Jayne Tabor, once Jayne Douglas, an American woman who raced F2's built by Roy Goodman, and who married Graham "Tiny" Tabor from Cambridge, who raced both F1 and F2.  His career is mentioned on the Junior F2 page.  The car Tabor ran that day --- twice beating a dragster off the line --- was his ex-Barry van den Oetelaar machine, which had a highly modified Olds Rocket 88 motor.

Read Jayne's letter and give a loud cheer for our sport.

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Books, Badges, and Programmes

SCRN vol. 4, issue 4, April 1964 see link below photo:

Update March 2018,  from Steve Dailey, big 25-page scan of Stock Car Racing News, with higher-res photos added at the end.

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Update March 2018:  from Steve Dailey, Spedeworth's world championship brought out this 

September 1965 issue, 25+ pages [link:] Stock Car Journal

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Update: February 2018: thanks to Steve Palmer for scanning and sending this high-resolution 

Stock Car Supporter June 1968: 42 pages packed with stories

AUGUST 2014:  Thanks to Kevin Fisher for these PDF scans of stock-car programmes and Stock Car Racing News.  These unique bits of history are valuable not just for the driver lists (which we love), but for the old half-tone photographs, and the on-the-spot comments ands news by track promoters: bits of gossip that simply didn't appear anywhere else.  

Programmes

Some of the Brafield links below go to the same programme: I will try to fix this

1962 New Cross May 30th Junior F2 evening

Other Tracks 1963

1965 Brafield

1966 Brafield

Other Tracks 1966

Stock Car Racing News:  

SCRN front and and back covers for 1963:  August    September

SCRN front and back covers for 1964:  

SCRN front and back covers for 1965:  

SCRN front and back covers for 1966: 

Thank you, Kevin Fisher!

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More Old Stock Car Programmes

  January 2011:  The 1963 West Ham world semi-final.  I've had these scans for ages and apologise for forgotting who sent them.  However, some famous names and numbers here:

• Front cover

• Pages 2-3,  showing Pete Arnold's intro [and Reg Pryor's garage advertisement]

• Pages 4-5, with more Pete, including a cigarette promo,  and the Brandon semi results.

• Pages 6-7,  showing the two heats for the evening's Gold Sash final, and the first WF semi heat, with winners pencilled in.

• Pages 8-9, showing the second semi and Gold Sash, winners pencilled in.

• Page 10 missing.

• Page 11, in which Len Porter predicts a first heat win for Alan Wardropper, chased by Johnny King; now go back to page 7 and see if he got it right.

 January 2011: John Dyson grew up in Leicester not far from the Blackbird Road stadium, and a miracle of preservation means that this early-but-not-first 1955 Leicester programme survives in perfect nick: it's a huge 6MB "pdf" file of all 12 pages.  See the ticket prices and the prize money in the days when they were packing 10,000 to 20,000 fans into the stadiums.  I have copied the photographs from this into the EARLY DAYS / FIFTIES page of this site.

 August 2010:  Graham Cox scanned this Brands Hatch programme from their historic first stock-car meet on April 10th, 1966, with winners written in. 

• Cover

• Pete Arnold's regular news page; 

• Driver profiles and Match race; 

• Pete Arnold's intro for newcomers;  

• Heats 1 and 2;  

• Heat 3 and Consie;  

• Final.

:  May 2010:  Long Eaton rivalled Brafield for "oldest track", as shown by this 1955 programme cover, and Graham Cox kindly scanned the full contents which you can see in The Early Days section of this site. 

Another Barry Redman contribution, and the indefatigable Gerry Dommett was promoting Hell Drivers and stock cars at Weymouth's Wessex Stadium in 1958. The 381 car is listed as being"Killer" Sayers from Nottingham --- imagine trying to enter a race under that nickname today.

Ian Melton is proud owner of this mint Coventry/Brandon World Final poster --- there's no year printed on it, but that artist's impression is adapted from this real  track photograph of the 1950's -- but which track?  The trees look like Brafield but Brafield didn't have lights.   March 2010, Trevor Chater confirms this is indeed the 1960 poster.

From ex-racer Barry Redman #151, a trip back through 54 years to Staines, on 1st June 1956:  the programme cover.  Look closer here and remember that, post-war National Service still going, soldiers enjoyed discounts, and some of you remember it was normal practice to pick up a soldier hitch-hiking in uniform, anywhere in Britain.  Also, notice that antique phrase, the "popular enclosure" --- like the public bar vs the lounge bar.  Then, the inside pages, showing famous and less-familiar names, racing under the old numbering system.

Historic programme, kindly scanned and sent by Terry Dickinson.  Belle Vue, October 30th, 1954, with Johnnie Hoskins's notes and all the drivers, and some results pencilled in.  This was apparently the seventh meeting of that inaugural year at Belle Vue. The six double-pages are scanned at high resolution, so you can zoom in and get every detail, even if it takes a while to open. Terry and his father spectated for many years, and both raced saloon formulas on ovals.  It was Terry's dad who picked up this actual programme at Hyde Road all those years ago. Thanks a million to Terry for this gem.  

• Front and back covers;  first inside pages  

• Next two pages;  centre-spread with drivers and results;  

• Next two inside pages;  last two.

Gavin Davis found a few stock car treasures among his collection of speedway programmes, and kindly sent me this bit of history --- a stock-car fan's handwriting in 'Biro' on the Southampton programme for Tuesday 12th October 1954.  The wonderfully named "Maxie Bacon" from Plumstead won the Consolation and collected £12  [double the average weekly wage for a consie win].  And here is its cover.  

Trivia spot:  younger fans in Britain, and fans elsewhere may not know that 'Biro' is a generic word for a ballpoint pen. Laszlo Biro of Hungary invented it in 1938, and it was first used by the RAF because high altitude pilots could not use fountain pens!  The patent was bought by Marcel Bich in 1950, for his Bic pen company.

Move on eight years to Tuesday 2nd October 1962, and some familiar names line up at Southampton, including Danny Bassett and Maxie Bacon, who had both been there in '54. Here too is its cover.

Mark Crisp kindly dug out this Long Eaton programme from 19th May 1973:  

• Cover;

• Heat 1 names;  Heat 2 names;  

• L.E. promoter Keith Barber's unmistakable cartoons;  

• Programme photo of Smithy vs Len Knapton.

Here are twelve programme covers scanned for us by Trevor Richings, all early 1960's, and an early one from Ken Mason.  I will leave you to read the exact dates from the covers.  This brings back memories:

Brafield from 1963 and  Belle Vue  from 1963 

Hednesford  from 1963 and  Leicester WF Qualifying Round from 1963;  

Matcham's Park from 1964;  Norwich from 1963;  

Plymouth from 1963; Southampton from 1963;  

Staines from 1958 [Ken Mason];  Swindon F2 Junior WF from 1964;  

West Ham WF from 1965;  White City  from 1962.

Brian Clements, long-time veteran F2 fan, sent these scans of a Walthamstow Whitsun 1965 programme: a then-traditional "mixed meet" of Juniors and Seniors, with star drivers like Dougie Wardropper, Chick Woodroffe, etc, racing both formulas the same day. 

Here is the (June 7th) programme cover.  

Here are the first two races, showing winners and placemen.  

Here are the third and fourth races, and the trophy race, again with results added.   

.

Also from Brian, this programme from Plymouth's Pennycross Stadium, 1965.   The pages include a comprehensive list of South West drivers, details of the (notoriously rough) team races, and the regular heats.   And the advert for the Plymouth Stock Car Association. 

Pennycross Stadium ran from 1928 to 1972, with greyhounds, speedway, and stock-cars.  I just uncovered a photo of a poster from one of the rock concerts there --- did any of you in 1969 shake your long hair and bell-bottoms to FLEETWOOD MAC and THE HERD [Pete Frampton's first band, with their single "I Can Fly"  Their old b/w video of this song is viewable on YouTube, and oddly it looks like it may have been filmed at a stock car track --- Pennycross? although the building they stand on is like those at Newton Abbot, and there is a piece of fenced "track" in the background of some shots ----.

Two old aerial photos of Pennycross:  one, and two.

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Cliff Burdett and his father Bill Burdett

      Thanks to Cliff Burdett in Leics. who has frequently helped me with my website for years. Cliff's late father, a brilliant mechanic, Bill Burdett was also well-known around the spectator areas, a 'postie' for over 30 years, who Billy Stewart (UK Modifieds #88) remembers as always having a laugh.  Cliff 'races' a mobility scooter these days, but still gets to meetings when he can. Cliff himself raced and won over 80 trophies in bangers, saloon stocks, and Incarace stock rods. After 1992, Cliff mechanic'd in National Hot Rods and Rebels and more --- including for his pal Brian Catchpole..  Cliff has sent me several programmes from his collection. Note: The Burdetts were meticulous record keepers, and every programme is neatly filled-in with every car placing!  

Aycliffe  25 May 1980, (when Willie beat Mike Close to the flag in the Grand Final):  Full programme

Belle Vue the 1962 World Final on 8th September. Supporting races results written in. WF 1st  was Fred Mitchell #38

Belle Vue  25th July 1981: Full programme. 

Brafield When Keith Barber's "WILD BILL" book was launched at Brafield, this replica programme of the very first Brafield meeting (14th August 1955, promoter by Digger Pugh) was issued.  Don't buy a 'genuine rare original' if it has the little blue notice on the back cover!

Brafield  Arnolds Memorial Trophy, 23rd August 1970:    Full programme with autographs 

Brafield  27th August 1978:  Steve Bateman won the Grand Final, and the ever-popular White-Tops race was won by Keith Harrison.

Brandon  TRACKMASTER TROPHY, 2nd September 1978: Full programme 

Cadwell Park on 16th August 1970. All results written in. Cadwell's hot air balloon was on hand, and Ansell entered late but won the F1.

Harringay 1970 World Final 26th September:  Full programme 

Leicester 18th May 1974: Full programme

Leicester 21 May 1977:  Danny Clarke 203 won the WF qualifying round final. Full programme

Long Eaton  31st July 1971 world semi-final: Full programme

Long Eaton 30th June 1979  "Stock Car Superstar Trophy" [B. Finnikin beat B. Powles] : Full programme

Mallory Park  17th May 1970:  Full programme

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Published.

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In 1964 I took some photos at Brafield with my cheap Brownie Cresta camera, and in 1965, got permission from John La Trobe to publish them, and sent an article to AUTOCAR weekly.  Lo and behold, they published it with a cute title and artwork, in their 3rd September 1965 issue.  Somehow I lost my own copy over the years, but managed to find one in a public library, photocopied it, and here it is in a "pdf" file, along with the following week's reader's letter.  

  February 2014: Twenty years before stock-cars competed on Britain's stadium ovals, Midget cars struggled to "take off".  Postwar Britain also saw attempts to revive this form of racing, and today a high-tech version flourishes especially on tarmac.   But on the cinder-tracks of Belle Vue, Stoke, Brandon, Crystal Palace et al., some brave entrepreneurs went at it in the 1930s with outboard motors and big J.A.P. V-twins, often in tiny 4-wheel-drive chassis.  This phenomenon has been largely forgotten by the general public, but thanks to dedicated fans, and author Derek Bridgett, we can re-live those days and perhaps wish things had gone better before speedway politics and the Second World War got in the way.  Here are the front and back covers of Derek's excellent book:

Note: the back cover photo below shows the illustrious Bugatti specialist Ivan Dutton with some of his midget car collection.  Derek has sent me a big high-res file of this photo, along with this key identifying the cars visible.  Derek Bridgett has contributed photos of his late brother Bill Bridgett who raced stock-cars, grasstrack and speedway in the late fifties, on my EARLY DAYS page.  Derek's book reads like a hot-off-the-press race report,and gives driver biographies and plenty of technical info. You can buy it from FONTHILL MEDIA, at fonthillmedia.com

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  February 2014:  

Trivia quiz: In 1963, out of almost 120 Senior/F1 finals, how many were won by white-top drivers, who were they, and at which tracks?  Or: on 2nd April in 1977 two red-tops, both first name Gordon, won finals under two different promoting organizations --- . Gordon who, and which tracks?

This is simply the biggest and only complete record of EVERY SINGLE SENIOR/F1 FINAL WIN from the start of stock car racing up to the end of 2013:

Compiled by a team led by BriSCA's Guy Parker and Nigel Anderson, this heavy large-format paperbound glossy volume of 330 pages ---- definitely for the kitchen/dining table, too hefty for bedtime reading --- is made of comprehensive tables with every name and date and number and organization in the sixty years thus far of Senior/F1 competition.  Scores of programme covers, excellent car photographs, this will keep you busy for ever.  To purchase this marvellous book, contact Guy Parker by e-mail (not by the previously listed postal address)

gjp516@hotmail.com 

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Terrific DVD: Les Cotton has available a DVD (sleeve image) of stock-car action from the 'real' Belle Vue in 1986, the new Belle Vue in 2004, and Sheffield in 1987. 

Go to Les's website: http://home.clara.net/norden/lescotton/cd.htm

or e-mail Les:  stoxdvds@googlemail.com

More:  Les Cotton's wife Sue is an accomplished artist, in watercolour, oil, pastel, and pencil.  Here is a super commissioned portrait of a modern F2 stock car on her website: http://www.seahorsestudios.co.uk/penother.htm

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The Ultimate Stock Car Books:

Between them, Keith Barber and Malc Aylott have given us the last word in stock-car histories.  If you see these (eg at Keith's stall?) anywhere, dish out the dosh.  Here's one.  Here's the other.  They cost a few quid, but you could spend more on a bad night at the pub.  To keep myself honest, I have refrained from 'stealing' from the treasures in these books for my website.

Another "ultimate" stock-car book: Who drove #304?  What years did Chippie Weston drive? Where was Karl Grossman from?  How do you sort it all out, especially when over the years, #21 has been assigned to fourteen different drivers.  Remember a driver's name?  This book has over 2,000 surnames in A-Z order.  Remember a number?  Same thing in numerical order, all with the driver's full name, home town, and years racing.  Put your hands together (and in your wallet) for Mike Greenwood, who with son John Greenwood and Granville Holmes, has issued the updated 3rd edition [click on it:] of:

STOCK CAR DRIVERS: an index of registered UK Formula One stock car drivers
and their racing numbers 1957-2007.

You can get it from Photostox, 17 Willingham Close, Sothall, Sheffield, S20 2PD, or contact  mike@photostox.demon.co.uk  

Another book:  Andrew Weltch (http://www.ovaltrack.co.uk/andyweltch.htm) is a long-time writer, journalist, and announcer who has with Richard Neil, published several oval-track books.  Here are the covers of four of them, and you can order them direct from his website.  Backtracks.   Hot Rods.  Superstox.  F2s in Devon and Cornwall.

Good-old-days magazine:  if you're visiting this website because you appreciate the good old days, then you should try to find an old copy of Oval Track Classic magazine.  A brave and commendable venture, the first issue came out in Spring 2009, from YBA Publications, the folks who brought you Short Circuit Magazine.  It ran to a total of six issues. Here's the issue #3 cover: 

The magazine had many veteran racers on hand, with their stories and photos from all the short circuit formulae, for instance Dave Willis at Aldershot, doing what those cars did so well.  It covered present-day revival / heritage cars and racing, as well as archival material going back 50 years.  

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Where are those badges and stickers you collected?

These may remind you:

Mark Crisp acquired this beautiful bumper badge at a garage where he worked over 40 years ago -- since the fabulous Formula II cars were called Juniors for several years after their 1961 birth, this high-quality badge is probably 1964-onwards.  A very professional design compared to many of the badges back then.

 Belle Vue fans may remember this badge, below, preserved by Terry Dickinson on his "badge waistcoat" (like the old cockney Pearly Kings and Queens, serious stock car supporters were often covered in badges.)  I will for ever regret losing my enamelled Bristol Bulldogs speedway badge from my denim jacket many years ago.

"Chissy" supporters collected this one. BSCDA Membership, then their coveted driver's patch.  Aye lad, the North knows how to race, at Aycliffe.  Next: Belle Vue, what a disgrace that the authorities let it be demolished, an unforgivable bit of "development" .   How's about Lincolnshire's  Cadwell Park? Don't forget Kings Lynn    Next: Coventry's badge ("Brandon" if you're old ---).  Down to Notts, where Long Eaton put on great shows. South a bit to Leicester.  In Northants, Brafield printed a rather weird image of a "stock-car", but it brought the crowds in.  Down south, Harringay Stadium's badge. Here is the rare Brands Hatch acknowledgement of stock car racing.  Next, Weymouth's sticker.  Further still, the Mendip, where the lovely Bristol track sits in an old reservoir depression on the very top of the hills. Down west we go to St. Austell. [stickers courtesy of Rick Young's collection] 

An early Brafield Stadium sticker, courtesy of Chris "Totter" Holmes, Jock Lloyd 131's long time mechanic.

 Model Stock Cars
 

   March 2012:  One-time racer Neill Crookes [see the Seventies page] has been reliving the glory days by making 1/30 scale stock cars.  He's created 45 to date, and I am going to do a "quick pick" of my own four faves:

• Aubrey Leighton.  

• Big Jim Esau.  

• Ted Janes.  

• Bozzy"

Okay, just one more: Pete Tucker

Update March 2018:   Neill Crookes re-created more of his heroes' and rivals' cars in 1/30 scale:

100 Tony Neal
15 Neill Crookes himself
60 Pat Frost
7 Darkie Wright
146 Jim Potter

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Ex-racer Steve Daily had been fascinated with the 1950`s Stock Car scene since reading Pete Tuckers Book, Thrill of the Century. Steve first saw stock Cars in 1954 at the tender age of  2 and a half years.  He remembers going to Harringay in 1961 and becoming hooked.
Steve raced Spedeworth Bangers from 1974 to 1976 and then Superstock in 1977 as #72.  Now retired, Steve is building some amazing models:  

Here is Steve's "take" on the famous Pete Tucker car. He had bought a die cast model Ford V8 1932 model A coupe in 1:32 scale, but as the real Pete Tucker car was a later 1934 model anyway, Steve shelved the idea. 

Then he found a race driver figure in 1:32 scale, and as it looked 'a bit like Pete Tucker of 1955',  the challenge was on.  Obviously having no engine in this model meant the bonnet side panels would have to stay in place as was the case on Pete Tuckers later coupes he built.

The photo Steve used is out of Tucker's, “Thrill of the Century“ and was taken in the pits at Eastbourne in 1955.  When Tucker set up his Wembley Wizards team to race in Wales, early 1955, all of the cars were red-and-white, and all the drivers in the team wore red overalls with their names on the back.  They must have looked quite professional at the time.  After buying a white gel pen it took about ten goes to write Pete Tucker on the back of the small figure.  Steve used copper wire to form the unusual front bumper and soldered it together.  Copper cable with the insulation left on was used for the roll cage. Steve says "So maybe not a 100% exact replica but my version of it."

Five photos of the Tucker project:

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

 

"Crawfish" Crider, one of the visiting USA team in 1955: Steve's initial version


 

• A second view of that first model.
• A third view of that first model.

Wait:

25 February 2018:  Steve Daily has now revised the colour scheme after consulting with "Crawfish" Crider's family and with Pete Tucker.  
Here is a big 1.5MB high-res photo of the corrected interpretation. Fabulous modelmaking.
Reduced-res image below:



View of the bonnet and engine compartment
Front / overhead view of the car

Steve was fanatical about getting the car and its signwriting correct. Here's what he said:

 
I only had a photo from Oldstox.com to go on, so it took some working out what the sign writing said on the car. I could make out SALU..... R.... 24HR. SERVICE ..... 10ML ....... OF G.WOOD HI-WAY 72.  I got onto Google Earth and found Abbeville, South Carolina where he lived at that time.  Highway 72 runs straight through Greenwood nearby so that was the G.WOOD  part.  Ten miles East of Greenwood is Greenwood Lake but before 1940 when the dam was built it would have been the Saluda River.  So that area now known now as The Lake would probably still have been called Saluda River back in 1955.

Then some guess work as I figured the next bit was 24HR. SERVICE STN. (Probably).

Then there is the small problem of  what colours are we looking at in a black and white photograph?  Going by the grey tones I could make out the white on the front end and the black line bordering both colours, but what is the rear end colour?  I felt Mustard Yellow was a fair bet because it sure wasn`t going to be black as the #9 Crawfish model on your Oldstox home page.  But there again, to be that grey tone it could equally be Lime Green, Pink or Sky Blue?  The black and white print of the model seems to confirm that.

There`s no mention of colour in any of the books I`ve read, but I thought is there anyone out there that can still remember?  I got the grinder to work again cutting back the front wings and trimming off lumps of the bonnet.   The original car was a 1937 Ford 5 window coupe but this is a 1939/40 die cast 1/34 model, just a few subtle differences around the front end as far as I can see.

 

As well as the following, there are great photos of a model Tony Wicks 93 car and transporter, in the Tony Wicks section on the "MORE SENIORS" page.

Here (and on my Links page) is an excellent website by expert modeller Colin Moss: http://www.mossmodels.co.uk/index.htm

Justin Small was lucky as a kid in the 1980's to have a model-making father, whose favourite cars/drivers are shown here (tiny gems, parked beside the towing Oxo box on a shelf!):  SuperStu 1;  
one of the Staffordshire Finnikins 55;    Willie's #2;  Dave Berresford's 260;  and Dan Clarke 203

Thanks to Mark Crisp, who took some "Heritage" car photos at a 2007 Brafield meet that included Heritage cars, to be shown elsewhere.  But the highlight is this amazing display case full of perfect accurate models of the great stock cars of four decades. Neither Mark nor I know who created these models, so please if you know, give me an e-mail.   I also cropped the photo to show a close-up of one small display section here.

Some 'working' model stock-cars.  Terry Dickinson has raced radio-controlled stock cars (3.5cc motors) for years, scoring high in championships in the UK and Holland, at meets that attract anywhere from 40 to 90 "drivers".  Car # 3 was a hard-used racer for several years, and sports the traditional roof fin. 

The other two cars are display models, without the rugged steel chassis that racers need. Terry's models are accurate right down to pedals and seat belts.

Juniors / F2s

Seniors / F1s
in the Sixties

More Seniors / F1s
in the Sixties

The Seventies

Links