The Creek - 60's Style!

I headed down to Eastern Creek Raceway for the V8 Supercar round. Of course I wasn't there to see the "new" cars, I went along because the Historic Touring Cars were racing. I love these things and can see myself tearing around a racetrack one day... one day.

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, these cars race under International Group N rules. There are 3 different sub-classes, Na, Nb and Nc. I haven't seen an Na car for quite a while, but there are a BUNCH of Nb (pre-'65) and Nc ('65-'72) racing.

Up until not too long ago, the class was limited to pre-'65 cars, but due to the popularity of the late 60s Aussie muscle cars, a new class was formed.

Regardless of all the rules and regulations, Historic Touring Cars are always a blast to watch with plenty of close racing and LOTS of sideways action.

Enjoy these few shots of the cars in the Pits and then go on to the ACTION SHOTS!

This car really caught my eye, both in the pits and on the track.

It's a HT Holden Monaro and no prizes for guessing what kind of engine is in it.

But you'll never guess what kind of carby setup it's running...

Yep! You didn't guess it. A quad Weber cross ram manifold from MOON!

Now do you see why I like it so much. I was speaking to the driver and the crew and they were saying that the carbs on there are 48mm, but they had some at home that were bored out to 55mm. Seriously big for Webers.

Unfortunately a small screw came loose (I'm sure there's a joke there somewhere) on the throttle linkage during the race and they couldn't get full throttle, so it dropped back a little. It still looked good though.
Here's a nice HQ 4 door with SS stripes.

In the background you can see a GT Falcon, an Alfa Romeo, a Mustang and an Anglia. Pretty good mix of makes and models if you ask me.
I had heard that the '64 Chevy Nova was allowed to run in App J, but up until this moment, I had never seen one.

There's no problem making them go with a 327 and a 4 speed. Problem is making them pull up with DRUM BRAKES! No thanks.
Here is one of many XY GT Falcons that were racing on the day. This one came all the way from the ACT.

I'm not sure if it's to get the "poor man's quickchange" or not, but the rear tyres are really tall on this car.

Eastern Creek has quite a long straight, so maybe he was trying to get some more top end out of it.
Aside from the GTs, the Mustang is one of the most popular choices for Group N (App J) racing. The Nc classification on this 'Stang means he can run the 302 Windsor and 8" wheels.
...whereas poor old Andrew "Ace" Cannon has to make do with the LEGENDARY 289 and skinny old 7" wheels.

This was one of my favourite cars of the meet as it was very nicely done with an immaculate engine bay and beautiful polished alloy roll cage.

You'll see more of this car in action on the following pages.
This was also a very nicely put together race car. I'm not sure if the big #1 means he was the top Group N car for last season or not, but it was a pretty quick little car, although it couldn't quite keep up with the V8 boys on the day.
Now here's something you don't see to often. A Porsche racing in App J!

I'm not too sure on the details, but the fact that it is racing in Group Nb means that it is pre-65.

Another REALLY nicely presented race car with a GREAT paint job.