Mo Harness GRD Leabro 372

[Off at Paddock]

Off topic slightly but just spotted the name, Mo Harness. Not old enough to remember him in his prime but I do in Pre'85 FF1600 in 1991. I remember him being very fast in a Reynard FF84 and an absolute gent. Nice to see him mentioned.

[Adam Ferrington]

Petter,

I sent Henrik a scan of the one (Harness) photo I have.



I have never seen a photo of McConnell's Tasman car.

When I next visit the LAT photo library, I'll see if they have anything clearer

[RAP]

I have the programme for the F Atlantic race at Brands 5th March 72 McConnell is a dna. Watson is 11th after qualifying 15th.

[Chris Townsend]

Petter.
I think that Adam and I are agreed that 010 was the prototype FB/Atlantic car used by David McConnell in the Tasman series, so its history is limited to those few races at the beginning of 1972. It then came back to the UK and may have been used a few more times by McConnell in the British Atlantic series. It is then converted to F3 spec and sold to Harness.

It looks as though 011 was the works F3 spare and prototype car.

RAP: Would it be possible to have a copy of the 5/3/72 Atlantic programme to update material for oldracingcars.com ?- this is one of the few gaps in 1972.
Do you have more?

Chris

[HH Tech]

Hello
I got a mail from Håkan Alrikson with some of the history on 373 #49

In 1973 he bought a rolling chassis from Wendels
The engine came from Bengt Gilhorns 1972 car a Holbay 1600.
He ended up as 3rd in SM 1973

For 1974 he bought a new chassis at the factory and rebuilt it as a 1974 at the factory, went to Holbay and got a new 2liter pinto and then off to Nürburgring!

Next race was at Knutstorp and then Monaco where he crashed the car.

The car was the rebuilt with the old monocouqe and raced during 1974 and -75

The car was sold to Ebbe Karlsson Who did some races
Car sold on to Björn Almström who restored it and did som e club races with SSK and then sold it on to Norway.


Henrik

[fines]

Hello Henrik, I have a question: the Nürburgring race was May 18, where Alriksson finished 22nd (and last), and the Monaco race was May 25. When would the Knutstorp race have been? Also, did he crash in the Monaco final or in practice or a qualifying heat?

[jreminga]

272 - 019 - F2 is currently for sale in Canada. Some information from the ad may be useful as it states the car was brought to Canada in 1974 by McConnell Racing as part of a 3-car group.

Following is from the ad:

According to the car's log book, it was brought into Canada in 1974 which would indicate that it was new or virtually new. It was brought in by McConnell Racing and was part of a three car group they brought in for the Formula "B" series. The car was purchased by the current owner in May 1978.

It was purchased as a Formula “B” rolling chassis complete with two spare engine frame sections and a single Hewland Transmission (Hewland FT-200 five-speed) with a number of spare ratios. It has two sets of wheels one for dry tires and one for wet.

The chassis is equipped with duel fuel cells in the side pods, dual master cylinder brakes with adjustable bias bar, fire system and duel fuel pumps. The suspension is completely finished with fully adjustable spherical joints. A second smaller roll bar was added in the cockpit in front of the driver to give added protection.

As a Formula “B” all the bodywork is complete including a front wing and two rear wings one for high speed and one for slower speed.

As a Sports Racer it has a complete wheel enclosing body. This body was cast for endurance racing, specifically the Molyslip Endurance Series where it would be competing with both sports-cars and sedans under the then single seat sports racing, class "B" rules. The body was designed by Robert Giannou and built at Triad Racing in St. John’s Newfoundland. It was made more substantial so as to give side additional impact protection. Removable side pods were designed to be collision absorbing as well as to hold the stepped out radiators. The side pods for the sports racing version can be removed and the formula body fitted in less than a half a day. The radiators just step back to their original mounts. Both rear wings are adapted to the sports racing body. The four body molds are also available.

The chassis comes with two 1600 ford crossflow engines. One is equipped with a Cosworth head and Cosworth pistons.

The car was completely tested but never raced by the present owner.

Although the car has been stored in a dry heated garage since 1980 you can expect that the car will need some TLC before hitting the track again. We can provide restoration services if requested by the winning bidder.

Spares: There is a fairly good selection of final and individual drive ratios with the transmission. and I have the ful manuel on it with all of the ratios and speed curves. There is a spare set of rear chassis frames with the vehicle but no spare suspension pieces. There are two sets of wheels and two wings high speed and low speed.

According to the info we have, the vehicle was built by Modus Group Racing Developments in Griston, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The chassis number is plated as 272 - 019 - F2. There is space for engine and transmission numbers but the spaces are not, nor have ever been stamped. Our read of the number is as follows: 2 = type of chassis 72 = year of production, -019 is the unit production number, F-2 = Formula 2 rules which was the source class of a lot of the Formula B's that came into North America.

[Chris Townsend]

This is very interesting , to say the least!
Number 19 in the GRD build run was never observed in the UK at the time by Adam Ferrington, who seems to have found virtually everything that did run here. This would suggest it to be either an F3 that went abroad, a spare F2 or an FB car.
From the known debut dates of the cars around it, 19 looks like it would be an April 72 production. This fits with it being the new car that was built for David McConnell to take to the Canadian and US championships in 1972. It is perhaps the car that McConnell ran in a few British Atlantic rounds in spring 72, rather than his Tasman chassis 11, which now seems to have been converted to F3 and eventually gone to Mo Harness.

McConnell runs a GRD 272 in Canada and US through 1972. I haven't yet found a reference to another GRD appearing in 1972 in N.American FB races. According to Canadian Motorsports Bulletin for 1973 [thanks to Rob North!] that car passed to Richard Doran of Montreal who seems to keep it up to 1976. Only one GRD [a B73] seems to go to US in 1973, for John Milledge of California.

I'm not sure how McConnell might be importing this to Canada in 1974 - unless he is hoovering a few cars up cheap from the works for the Canadian FB/Atlantic series then. This log book entry would suggest the car was a spare F2 car and didn't appear much in the N.American pro series. So, some more scrutiny of log book and known history might be useful. If there is a way of linking ownership back to Doran, or to the Montreal area, it might be that we've solved the problem of McConnell's 1972 car.

Chris

[Michael Oliver]

Originally Posted by Adam Ferrington

I have never seen a photo of McConnell's Tasman car.

Hi all

Scanning aimlessly through the Autopics F5000 section last night, I came across this and wondered if it is the car in question?

http://www.autopics.com.au/cache/ite....html?cache=no

If for any reason this doesn't work, it is in the F5000 section, 1972, first shot on the second row. If you click on it, a marginally bigger version comes up...

[Michael Oliver]

Incidentally, further aimless scanning last night found that 272-014 (the ex-Salomon car) is apparently for sale on www.carclassic.com

[Adam Ferrington]

The advert for 272-014 coincidentally confirms the F1R's records of Saloman's car.
This would seem to mean that 272-019 can only be :-

One of the 2 works F2s (but the GRS car was 016 and Ikuzawa's was 020)
Bourgoignie' F2 car (but that ran until at least 1974)
OR McConnell's 1972 FB car.

As Chris says, McConnell's 1972 FB car is the most likely candidate, although this doesn't gel with a 1974 importation date.

[Snowy]

Adam,
Having just purchased the GRD 272-019-F2 I can tell you that it has green and yellow original bodywork, a old looking period dash placque with the above serial number still in position. The car has been stored in a heated garage in Newfoundland since 1978, never raced and only done limited track time by the last owner. Once I get it home I will share some photos.
Mike

[Snowy]

Also the owner is not at all sure about the 1974 date as previously stated for the McConnell importation to Canada. The bodywork still has the #86 on it, which Dave McConnell is listed as using in some races I see.
Anyway more to follow as I do some cleanup on it.
Mike

[Adam Ferrington]

Mike,

The green & yellow colour is, I believe, in line with it being McConnell's car.

Also, this is a photo of him from the 1972/73 Autocourse annual....



No. 86!

[Snowy]

Adam,
Hey thanks, you made my day !
Plus I spoke to Richard Doran tonight, who is still living in Montreal and I have arranged to meet next weekend. He purchased the car from Dave McConnell in he belives late 1973, and it was green and yellow. There is one other Montreal owner inbetween Doran and the Newfoundland owner, who I am looking for.
Doran said Dave had two cars and still had the other when he bought this one. The other may well have been 029-273 !! according to some of the doccumentation.
It should be interesting meeting with Doran as he is going to dig out his old information.
Mike

[Adam Ferrington]

Mike,

Glad the info helped.

Would be very interested in any details of the "other" car - "029" is currently a gap in my records.

[Chris Townsend]

Mike

Agree totally with Adam about the colour scheme pointing to it being McConnell's 1972 car
However, whilst 029 is a gap in the records, as Adam says, I'm a bit perplexed about what McConnell is doing with it in early 73 when he sells this car to Doran. He raced a TS15 Surtees in Europe in 1973 and unless he bought this in and sold it on to John Milledge in California to become his B73 I can't think where it went. So, waiting further details on that with anticipation!

Chris

[Dan Rear]

The Allan Clennell B73 of the mid-70s anyone ??

[Chris Townsend]

Dan

Clennell's car was 273-054 the ex Kazato F2 chassis that passed to Chris Oates and was used by a variety of rent-a-drivers in Atlantic

Chris

[Michael Oliver]

Originally Posted by Snowy

Adam,
Hey thanks, you made my day !
Plus I spoke to Richard Doran tonight, who is still living in Montreal and I have arranged to meet next weekend. He purchased the car from Dave McConnell in he belives late 1973, and it was green and yellow. There is one other Montreal owner inbetween Doran and the Newfoundland owner, who I am looking for.
Doran said Dave had two cars and still had the other when he bought this one. The other may well have been 029-273 !! according to some of the doccumentation.
It should be interesting meeting with Doran as he is going to dig out his old information.
Mike

How sure is Doran about the 'late 73' date? The only reason I ask is that I have come across a car which might be a potential second car for Dave McConnell, although it may not add up at all...

In round 4 of the John Player Formula Atlantic series (Snetterton April 14th 1974), Dave Walker makes an appearance in what Motoring News describes as 'a brand new GRD B74 powered by an SRE unit. This yellow and green car showed much promise...' The words yellow and green caught my eye, particularly as in an earlier MN (can't find it at the mo!) there was an announcement to the effect that he would be running a GRD in the North American Formula Atlantic series. He appears again in a 374 (B74?) in the May round but then disappears, presumably to the US? Does anybody know what chassis number this might be and whether this ultimately ended up with McConnell?

[Chris Townsend]

Michael

Walker's car was the Ken Swanson Racing B74. I don't yet know the chassis number but am working on it. The problem with the claim to be going to run in the North American series in 1974 is that in the end there wasn't a championship that year. There were only two 'pro' races in USA [Waterford Hills and Watkins Glen GP support race] and there was the Canadian series. I doubt that he would have gone to run in SCCA. Walker definitely doesn't appear in the Canadian series in 74 - Doran's ex McConnell chassis is the only GRD, when it qualifies. Walker's definitely not at the Glen either. That only leaves the relatively minor Waterford Hills event. [the one pro event in N. America in 74 where I don't have an entry list]

I think that the Swanson car might have ended up being converted to F2 spec and not run there either! By mid 74 GRD was getting into a bit of a mess.
On the basis of its position in the build run and the appearance dates of cars whose chassis numbers we don't yet know [negative induction!] I'd reckon that 273-029 should be 372-029 [ie 1972 build] since 030 is seen in Sept 72 and 033 and 034 as early as July. The likely candidates for it would be Sutcliffe's second works car, Keichi Tahara's works car or Williamson's car.

[Michael Oliver]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

Michael

Walker's car was the Ken Swanson Racing B74. I don't yet know the chassis number but am working on it. The problem with the claim to be going to run in the North American series in 1974 is that in the end there wasn't a championship that year. There were only two 'pro' races in USA [Waterford Hills and Watkins Glen GP support race] and there was the Canadian series. I doubt that he would have gone to run in SCCA. Walker definitely doesn't appear in the Canadian series in 74 - Doran's ex McConnell chassis is the only GRD, when it qualifies. Walker's definitely not at the Glen either. That only leaves the relatively minor Waterford Hills event. [the one pro event in N. America in 74 where I don't have an entry list]

I think that the Swanson car might have ended up being converted to F2 spec and not run there either! By mid 74 GRD was getting into a bit of a mess.
On the basis of its position in the build run and the appearance dates of cars whose chassis numbers we don't yet know [negative induction!] I'd reckon that 273-029 should be 372-029 [ie 1972 build] since 030 is seen in Sept 72 and 033 and 034 as early as July. The likely candidates for it would be Sutcliffe's second works car, Keichi Tahara's works car or Williamson's car.

Hi Chris

Thanks for that. I guess it may have been more likely that he intended to race in Canada in 1974 as I am sure he told me his wife is Canadian and I know he went out there to race a Lola for Robert Joubert's team in 1975. I suppose like many plans, it didn't all work out!

BTW, where did Ken Swanson race: the US? It is not a name I am familiar with.

[petter]

Hello again.
I have found some information abouth the GRD that Dave McConnel used in the Tasmas series in 1972. Regards the "oldracingcars.com" did McConnel take part in several races. He drove a GRD 272 with chassis number 012 with a Hard BDA 4 engine.
This is not the same result that Chris and Adam found out abouth my 372 010 that was driven by Mo Harness late summer 1972.
Adam and Chris I am still confused about who drowe my 372 010 when it was new and during the 1971 and 1972 season before Harness got it. It seems that maybe McConnel didn`t drowe my car at all. Who did?

Still confused racing driver!

[Chris Townsend]

Petter

Hi. Where does the information about McConnell in 012 come from. We have hard evidence that 012 was the car sold new to Martin Watson for F.Atlantic in UK, and that car still exists. [See other thread on GRDs on this site.] Also, 010 was noted as the chassis of McConnell's NZ car by both Motoring News and by David McKinney - and David's record keeping is impeccable.

I'd stand by the theory that Adam and I agreed that this was Mcconnell's car in NZ and then converted to F3 for Harness when a plan to run it in Canada for Jacques Couture fell through

Chris

[petter]

Hello again!
I checked the site Old racing Cars.com. If you look under F 5000 and under the Tasman series 1972. You will find a lot of information abouth alle the cars taking part in several races in the Tasman series. They say that the informaton where based on informaton for Autosport, Autoweek, the 1972 Racing Car News Yearbook and Australian Grand Prix. There is a lot of information there. I have found out that McConnel almost never made it to the finish. He had a lot of problems with the HART BDA engine.

Best regars Petter