Veteran Australian racing driver Alan Hamilton was re-united with a car he never thought he would see run again at a special ceremony at Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools Raceway today (Friday Oct 19).

 

Hamilton was lucky to escape with his life when he crashed the car - one of only three T430 models made by the Lola factory - in the 1978 Australian Grand Prix. And it remained a collection of parts until current owner David Abbott commissioned a full rebuild four years ago.

 

That rebuild was completed this week by Christchurch-based motor racing engineering services specialist MotorSport Solutions, and Melbourne man Hamilton was the special guest at an 'active unveiling' ceremony at the Powerbuilt Tools (formerly Ruapuna Park) motor racing circuit today.

 

David Abbott, a Senior Training Captain with Cathay Pacific Airways based in Christchurch, entered the picture when he bought the original factory car, HU1, off Auckland man Graeme Cameron. And it is Abbott who has driven the project.

The Hamilton car, HU2, was one of two bought by the Belgian-based VDS team for drivers Teddy Pilette, Peter Gethin and Warwick Brown to contest the US Formula A series in 1976. They were then  shipped to Australia where local hero Warwick Brown used HU2 to win the Australian Grand Prix in 1977.

 

Hamilton had his debut drive in HU2 at the first Gold Star series round of the year at Surfers Paradise on August 28 1977 but suffered driving career-ending injuries in the car in a high-speed accident during the Australian Grand Prix race at Melbourne's Sandown International Raceway on September 10 1978.

 

Since the accident the remains of the car (which was split in two by the impact) have been bracketed with HU1. It (HU1) was originally used as a backup car when Warwick Brown was racing HU2 but was then pressed into service by Hamilton (once he had recovered from his injuries) for Alfie Costanzo to drive.

 

Costanzo went on to enjoy a long and successful career in HU1, winning the Australian International Series in 1979, and the Australian Gold Star (domestic series) in 1979 and 1980.

 

Eventually, however, it was sold to another Australian driver, Bob Minogue, who used it to win the Gold Star series in 1981 then kept it - and the remains of HU2 - until selling to Christchurch classic racing car dealer Gavin Bain.

 

Bain sold it to Aucklander Graeme Cameron, who ran it in Formula Libre events in the North Island before, in turn, selling it to Abbott.

 

Formula 5000 was New Zealand's 'national' single-seater formula between 1969 and 1976 and through the early to mid 1970s, series were also held in the UK, the US (where it was called Formula A), South Africa and Australia.

 

The idea, says Abbott, was to combine the chassis, suspension and aerodynamics of Formula 1 cars with a much more cost-effective 'stock-block' 5-litre V8 engine. It worked too, with Formula 5000 cars able to hold their own with Formula 1 cars of the same era in the popular 'all-in' races which were held in the UK early in the period.

 

Times changed however and here in New Zealand Formula 5000 was phased out in favour of the smaller, lighter, quicker and supposedly cheaper 1.6 litre four-cylinder Formula Pacific category.

 

That - and similar moves around the world - meant that the cars were obsolete and many - like the only other Lola T430 in existence, Todd Stewart's HU3 - were converted into sportscars.

 

Fortunately, enough were either mothballed, or bought by collectors, to allow fans of the category like Ian Clements, Stan Redmond, David Abbott et al  to start buying them back and rebuilding them. Initially it was for little more than 'active display' purposes but as more cars were bought the Historic Racing Club and New Zealand Formula 5000 Association were able to contemplate a dedicated 'revival series.'

 

That series - with two to three rounds in New Zealand and two in Australia - is now regarded as one of the best 'classic and historic' motor racing series in the world with car owners from the UK (where most of the original manufacturers were based) stunned by the number, variety and concours-like preparation of the cars, and the passion and commitment of the drivers here.  

 

Most of the current owner/drivers have vivid memories of the cars first time around, with the likes of New Zealand's own Graham McRae, Great Britain's Peter Gethin and Belgian Teddy Pilette leaving a very big impression.

 

"They were absolutely stunning, there's no other word for it, " says Abbott of the cars and drivers he watched compete in Tasman Series races of the time. "I remember watching the cars when I was in my teens at Pukekohe in the late 60s, then in the early '70s I used to take photos of them for my local newspaper when they came to Manfeild. I'd be using a 300mm telephoto lens but they still scared the living daylights out of me. "

 

Those photos could well have been the closest Abbott got to cars like the two Lola T430s he now owns had not his wife Anna and children Sophie and George shouted him a drive in a Formula Ford racing car for Father's Day.

 

"Driving the Ford certainly 'rekindled the fires' if you like, then just talking to John Crawford about the Formula 5000 cars I regularly saw running at Ruapuna (Powerbuilt Tools Raceway) made me think that buying and driving one was something I could perhaps do, " Abbott explains.

 

Despite their fearsome reputation Abbott says the cars are surprisingly easy to drive ('like a big armchair') but as Alan Hamilton and a number of other original drivers found out first hand, they can bite.

 

"In their day they were as fast as the Formula 1 cars of the time and they are still spectacularly fast so you have to treat them with the utmost respect. Things happen very quickly and you have to be both mentally and physically ready for that." 

 

 

What perhaps is most surprising is the 'presence' the cars still have. There are few sights more thrilling than seeing a full field of these born-again behemoths thundering down the start/finish straight, their signature rolling (as opposed to standing) starts taken at anything between 160 and 220 km/h.

 

Accidents still do happen too, but Abbott is adamant that despite their provenance and - it must be said - appreciating value, the cars are much better off on the track than in a museum.

 

"It's quite simple really. We want people to enjoy and appreciate these cars as much as we do and you couldn't do that if the cars were locked away in a museum. We do have fun driving them, there's no doubt about that, but our series is about the cars, not the drivers. And this is the best way we know how to show them off in their best light. I think it's important to stress too, that the best way to keep any car in tip-top order is to use and to maintain it. If a car - any car - sits around in one place for too long it deteriorates and the longer it sits the quicker it deteriorates."

 

Rebuilding HU2 was a natural extension of Abbott's interest and the work Christchurch-based Motorsport Solutions, was already doing on HU1 and the majority of the other F5000 cars running in New Zealand at the time.

 

"We did a budget and it didn't seem too expensive, and I've been able to spread the cost of doing it over the past four years," says Abbott.

 

Having been approached by Abbott and asked for his blessing, Alan Hamilton, now 65 and still active in business in his home state of Victoria, has taken a keen interest in the rebuild of his old car and he says that Abbott, and Australian counterpart Bob Harborow, should be congratulated for the work they are doing to promote the preservation and active use of  cars like the two rare Lolas.

 

"David and the people here in New Zealand, and Bob Harborow in Australia, must take a lot of credit for convincing people to drag these cars out of workshops and putting them back on the track again. Being here today (at the unveiling ceremony at MotorSport Solutions' trackside premises at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway) and sitting in the car has brought back a lot of happy memories. These Formula 5000 cars really were fantastic to drive; they were dangerous yes, but also a lot of fun, there was just so much power and torque available to you."

 

And now that HU2 is now back in one piece, who is going to drive it?

 

That, says Abbott, with a twinkle in his eye, is the best part.

 

Keen to get one of the original drivers back in a car for the 2007/08 Trans-Tasman Revival Series he approached legendary New Zealand single-seater ace Ken Smith with a plan - that Smith drive HU1 while Abbott drives HU2.

 

As it happened Smith was looking for something different to do to help celebrate his 50th consecutive season of open wheeler competition and a deal was done which will see the now 65-year-old driving joining Abbott in a two-car Lola T430 team in the 2007/08 Trans-Tasman Revival Series which kicks off at the annual MG Classic motor racing meeting at Manfeild in a three week's time.