Merlyn Mk21

[CRJ]

Way back when, I purchased a Merlyn Formula B car with a Vegantune
twin cam from Charlie Hayes Racing Equipment in So. Calif.
I raced the car in SoPac (Cal Club) regionals for 2 or 3 years?
At the time I was not aware that any spares were available in the USA
so some of that time was spent waiting to have a RF A arm fabricated.
My last race was @ Riverside Int'l and I pretty much broke the Merlyn in
half in a big Turn 1 crash that ripped the gearbox clear out of the car.
Sold the fresh CRW twin cam to Wilbur Bunce who in turn sold it to Frankie Monise Jr to put in the Ex Dougherty BT-29.
Sold the broken chassis to a guy from Grass Valley, CA but not sure if it was ever restored or raced again.
Where there any Merlyn FB cars in the USA before the Gordon Smiley
Mk 21?
Been looking for an archive of those days to see if I can find the advert from Charlie Hayes Racing Equipment to see what the model of that Merlyn
was.
Also looking for Cal Club pubs/Autoweek Racing card Adverts to see if I can develop more history on the car I had.
Bodywork was white with blue # circle. Spare body was robin's egg/powder blue which was refinished a bright orange.
Can anyone provide any links to this car?
TIA CRJ

[Mike Rand]

Hello all on 10/10ths, I have not posted anything in a while but in researching something Merlyn , the little known Mk 22 rear engine Midgets for US asphalt short oval racing ordered by a FF guy out of NYC, one of which remains and is in Connecticut as a roller, the BDA and FT having found new homes some time ago, I read this entire Mk 21 thread.
I raced against Gordon Smiley, we had some fine off track parties over 1972 mostly. Gordon was a hell of a racer in every sense of the word. He did indeed spin at Road Atlanta in turn 1 in the 1972 ARRC, I was qualified in row three to his row 2, I spun in Turn 5 a bit later that lap.
It was approximately 1' C, maybe 34'F, ****ing down a freezing cold rain.
Most of the front radiatored cars had major issues with ventruri effect carb freezing. I pitted just past half way and Ken Duclos, having retired already, said stay in the car, I look in the right hand mirror to see him with a long screwdriver chipping ice out of the carbs ! I continued to a dismal 8th in my March 71BM/Twincam.

I want to correct Mike Winn on one thing though. Gordon may have won the Midwest Division SCCA in 1973 but he assuredly did not win the ARRC as that went to the aforementioned Ken Duclos in the first of his two, 1973 and 1974, FB National Championships in his Brabham BT40, a car I bought
in 2014 for vintage and sold in 2015 after remembering the time an effort and money needed to maintain and keep a BDA engine car correctly prepared and running.
Porter Brownlee did run the car ,at the ARRC, or possibly the twin, in 1973 and came home 11th two laps down.

[Mike Rand]

And Mike Winn was as he states 11th in 1975 , mimicking Porter Brownlee's result in the same car a year previously.
I was 8th in 1975 in the same BT40 I was third in a year earlier, 1974, setting a short lived FB lap record.
By the way, Gordon Smiley is shown as 24th and last runner in FF that same year, 1975, in an Opert entered Titan Mk9B, not Titans best effort of a follow up to the always wonderful and loved and FAST Mk 6 series of cars.
If these results are needed please email me directly and I can scan and email back.
michaelrand37@gmail.com.

[Mike Rand]

Last bit of trivia re Merlyn Mk 21 FB cars.
In that ARRC FB race in 1975 that was won by a young Bobby Rahal by the way not only was Mike Winn 11th in a Mk 21 and Porter Brownlee was 14th in the other Mk 21 FB car !
Just noticed that, might be interesting to...well, someone ?