American Road Race of Champions (F/SCCA class)

Riverside, 27 Nov 1966

All cars are 3-litre FA unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT18 [F2-16-66?] (Don Morin): Donald J. Morin (Attleboro, MA) raced a Brabham BT18 in Formula B in 1966, one of the first Brabhams to be sold new to the US since the Formula Junior cars of 1962 and 1963. According to Denis Lupton's notes, this may have been chassis F2-16-66. Morin dominated NEDiv Formula B in this car, scoring a maximum 54 points, and also won the SCCA Run-Offs in November. He retained the car for early 1967, racing it in the pro race at Bridgehampton 20 May 1967 but then Morin moved up to a Can-Am McLaren M1C and the car disappeared from the scene. Mr Morin died in May 2012. Two years later, in 1969, Fred Opert advertised a Brabham BT18 described as "ex Don Morin national champion" but no clues were given to what it had been doing since. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
2. Brabham BT18 (Stew McMillen): Stew McMillen moved from a Lotus 27/32 to a Brabham in 1966. He recalls picking up the car in New York and his first outing was at Bridgehampton where he finished second. McMillen easily retained his CenDiv FB title but did not appear in any Pro races. After the 1966 Run-Offs, McMillen moved into FA and the Brabham was sold to Alan Gottlieb (McKeesport, PA) who used it in North East Div FB in 1967 and at the May 1967 Bridgehampton Pro race where it was described as a "1966" car. From this it can be deduced that it was a BT18. Gottlieb ended the NEDiv season with just nine points, presumably those picked up for his FB class win at VIR in April which means nothing is known of this car after May 1967.
3. Brabham BT6/BT9 [FJ-19-63] (Nick Dioguardi): To Grand Prix International (Los Angeles, CA) and first seen when raced by Kurt Neumann in an SCCA race in the car park of Dodger Stadium in December 1963. Raced by Bruce Kessler (Beverly Hills, CA) in SCCA Nationals in early 1964 but crashed at Del Mar in March. Then raced by Lothar Motschenbacher (also Beverley Hills, CA) in May and then by Neumann again in June. Sold to Nick Dioguardi (Glendale, CA) and run in the new Formula C in 1965 and 1966. Despite competition from SCA-engined cars, Dioguardi won the 1966 Run-Offs in this car. Last seen when advertised by Alan Bouverat (Saratoga, FL) in December 1967 so this would be the FC Brabham that Bouverat raced in the War Bonnett SCCA Nationals in October 1967. Subsequent history unknown.
4. Brabham BT16 [F2-17-65] (Phil Groggins): The second Frank Lythgoe Racing BT16, driven by Alan Rollinson in 1965 and presumably the car he drove in F2 and in libre through 1965. The car was bought by Robin Darlington (Ruabon, Wales) for 1966 but he only drove it once and it was sold to the US, presumably via Fred Opert, and was raced by Phil Groggins (Schenectady, NY) in SCCA Formula C, dominating the Northeast Division championship. Groggins finishes fifth overall and second in FC at the Runoffs. He converted the car to Formula B for 1967 but did not score at points in Nationals that season. He advertised the car in January 1968, still with its Cosworth FB engine. Subsequent history unknown.
5. Cooper Mk IV 'T51' [F2-23-59] (Ed Mackey): Ed Mackey, of South Pacific Division, appeared at the 1966 SCCA Run-Offs (the ARRC) in a Cooper-Alfa. The car has been identified from photographs by Doug Nye as a 1959 Cooper 'T51'.
6. Grizzly Torque Mk 3 (Ausper T3) [T306] (Bub Ehrlich): The Grizzly Torque Formula A car started life in 1962 as a Formula Junior Ausper T3, initially raced by Roy Pike in UK events. It was sold to William Webb (Arizona) and used in west coast FJ events until it was wrecked and rebuilt for the new 3-litre Formula A. Irv Dickson fitted a de-stroked 221 ci Ford Fairlane V8 engine running on Weber carbs and a Colotti transmission but despite driver Bub Ehrlich winning the Northern Division Formula A title in 1966, Irv recalls that the Ford engine was not a success and it would have been better to keep it as a 1100cc car. Later owners are reported as Rich Nelson and Mike Blackle, after which it was acquired by Brad Balles (Dallas, TX). Rumours persist that it is being rebuilt to its Formula A specification.
7. Brabham BT9 [F3-8-64] (Jack Eiteljorg): Bought by Hermann Dorner (Ludwigshafen) and raced as part of Scuderia Lufthansa in German F3 in 1964. Sold to expat American Fred Goeske (Worms, Germany) for 1965 and then taken back to the US for Formula C in 1966. After a race at Castle Rock Raceway in the fall of 1966, Goeske sold it to local racer Jack Eiteljorg (Castle Rock, CO) and he used it in FC first with a F3-spec MAE engine and then with a SCA. Eiteljorg easily won MidWest Div FC in 1966 in this car and advertised it with both its usual Cosworth engine and with an ex-F2 SCA engine in February 1967. From Eiteljorg, F3-8-64 passed to Hank Kasahara and then to Maxey Ray (Lakewood, CO) around 1969, at which point it was converted to Formula Ford specification by John Barker. Ray raced the car in SCCA Formula Ford in 1971. It was sold to 'Ramsaur' in 1972 and then to Bob Parnham in April 1973. Parnham stored the car until December 2007 when it was sold to Mark Shillingburg (Evergreen, CO).
8. Brabham BT18 (Fred Opert): Fred Opert had a Brabham BT18 with Cosworth SCC engine at the ARRC (SCCA Runoffs) in November 1966. It seems likely that Opert had commissioned this car as a Formula C car, perhaps in the expectation he could sell it to one of the top FC runners for the Runoffs, but he ended up running it as a Formula A car. Opert had qualified for the Runoffs in Northeast Division FA using a Lotus 32, a F2 car so presumably fitted with an engine marginally over the 1100cc Formula C limit, tipping it into FA. He may have used the same trick with the Brabham BT18 at the Runoffs, but the car was disqualified, reportedly for being underweight. Given the rarity of Brabhams fitted with Cosworth SCC engines, it seems likely that this was the car that Bill Gubelmann drove in SCCA FC in 1967.
9. Brabham BT6 (Malcolm Starr): A mystery Brabham bought from Fred Opert by Malcolm Starr (Union City, NJ) and fitted with a 1.6-litre Alfa Romeo engine for local Formula B racing. Photographs supplied by Malcolm show either a BT2 or a BT6, but mechanic Jim Carter recalls that it had outboard brakes, implying a BT6. Jimmy also recalls that Opert had got the car from "the guy who built Alexises around Birmingham", i.e. Alex Francis, which supports Duncan Rabagliati's idea that the car was actually an Alexis. Starr sold the Brabham-Alfa to Samuel Brown (Louisville, KY), who raced it in SCCA Nationals in 1967. Subsequent history unknown.
10. Brabham BT18? (Dewey Harless): Dewey Harless (Portland, OR) ran a Formula C Brabham with great success in SCCA and ICSCC racing in the Pacific northwest from late 1966 onwards, but it is only in mid-1968 that it was identified as a Brabham BT18 with Cosworth SCA engine. His first appearance with the car was at the November 1966 SCCA Run-Offs where The Wheel described it as a Brabham with Cosworth sohc engine, that had been purchased for the Run-Offs. The Cosworth sohc engine would be a Cosworth SCA, so it looks like this was the first appearance of his BT18. However, it is possible that he had an older SCA Brabham in late 1966 - for example a BT10 or BT16 - and progressed to the BT18 in 1967 or 1968. Harless bought Fred Opert's BT21B with SCC engine for 1969 and the subsequent history of the BT18 is unknown.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

US information has been taken from SCCA results sheets with additional information from Autoweek race reports and from some entry lists. Thanks to David McKinney and Wolfgang Klopfer for providing these. Identifying the classes and model of some entries has proved very difficult so all new information would be welcomed.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.