Famous Grand Prix
racing cars spanning six decades will delight visitors to the Victorian Historic
Racing Register’s 2005 Phillip Island Classic presented by Shannons and
Tattersalls from 26-28 February.
The roll call to date includes six Formula One cars from the Modern (post 1950)
era and two pre-war Grand Prix cars.
From the 1980s comes the screaming 1.5 litre turbocharged Ferrari Tipo 156/85 in
which Michele Alboreto finished runner-up to Alain Prost in the 1985 World
Championship.
The Italian won both the Canadian and German GPs and led the drivers' World
Championship points table for much of the season before Prost hauled him in for
the title. Alboreto’s1985 tally in the 156/85 also included four second places,
two thirds, a fourth, a pole position and two fastest laps!
The 1970s is well represented by a Surtees TS9-Ford - the third Formula 1 car
designed and raced by former motorcycle champion and 1960s Honda Grand Prix
driver, John Surtees. Team Surtees is also known for giving four Australians a
stepping-stone into Formula One in the 1970s - Tim Schenken, Alan Jones, Larry
Perkins and Vern Schuppan.
Two special F1 cars from the 1960s are also heading to Phillip Island - a Lotus
49, regarded by many as one of the most significant F1 cars of the Modern era
and a Gurney Eagle F1 built by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers in California.
Ford asked Cosworth to design its famous DFV V8 engine specially to fit into the
Lotus’s incredibly-tight monocoque chassis and the Type 49 in 1967 was also the
first F1 car to sprout wings.
Two very different but important ‘Formula One’ cars will represent the 1950s.
The Parsons MG is a famous British MG special that had the audacity to take on
the lofty marques of Ferrari, Maserati, Gordini and BRM in the early days of
Formula One, while Dean Butler’s 4.5 litre straight six Talbot Lago T26C is
virtually identical to the car that Victoria’s Doug Whiteford drove to memorable
victories in the 1952 and 1953 Australian Grands Prix at Bathurst and Albert
Park respectively.
Finally, the exciting pre-War GP era has two special representatives that both
raced in 1934 - Dean Butler’s ex-Raymond Mays ERA R1A and Peter Giddings’ unique
Maserati 8C ‘Whitney Straight’.
The Grand Prix cars
will be joined by other famous single seaters, including the spectacular 4.5
litre Jim Robbins Special that raced at Indianapolis from 1954-’56 and the
Melbourne-built Monza Holden special.
Negotiations are also underway for up to three former Grand Prix driving
champions to attend the meeting – one driving a former factory racing sports car
from the 1950s.
