Brabham BT14

[allenbrown]

I thought FL-9-65 was John Bridges (Red Rose) car in 1966, not David Bridges car. David ran his cars separately to John and they had three BT14s between them as well as at least one BT16 and at least one BT18.

[Chris Townsend]

Denis

Where and how did you get access to Opert's sales records!!
And when can we go and look systematically?

Chris

[M J Smith]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Bill Creasey tell me he traded a FF to Bobby Howlings for "a Brabham BT14 Twin Cam especially built for hill climbs and a very nice chap who I think was called Smith". When prompted, Bill agreed it was Fred Smith. Bill raced it for a season or two and then part-exchanged it for Graham Eden's Chevron B17 (the B10/B17). Bill can't remember exact dates but I think this places his ownership of the BT14 as 1970 as he was in the B10/17 early in 1971.

Allen

Allen great talking to you today , there is a possibility that a photo of your BT 9 might be found....so I'm told of the car being put in the transporter to Fred Opert in late 66 if so will send you a copy.
Had a long chat with Fred Smith re his BT14 which raced more than hill climbed including the F2 race at Hockenheim in 67 to make up the numbers of FVA cars Fred finished 7th.
For those interested look at what I wrote on the BT15 page about Fred, as I had thought his car was a 15!
Malcolm

[M J Smith]

Originally Posted by Denis Lupton

Chris
I, too, have one Neil Hansen in this car at this time (1968), also Autosport, April 14,1967, Silverstone club opener has a photo of Norman Foulds in the David Bridges entered BT14, which I believe was FL-9-65. Bridges, 1967 to
Hansen ,1968, starts to fill holes,does'nt it ???
Cheers
Denis
PS I found Hansen from some Fast Freddie sales sheet's.

Hi sure it was Norman Foulds not myself at Silverstone love to see the photo
Malcolm

[wbmoore]

I've recently purchased a Brabham which has serial number F-LIBRE-9-65.

In an effort to fill in the gap between the U.S.A. history (which verbally goes back to 1970/71 and physically (a SCCA stamped roll bar with a dated tech sticker) back to 1975) and the European history of the car run by Mas du Clos Racing for Philippe Vidal, I've found a piece of information which is pertinent to this discussion.

With regard to posts number 147, 150 and 154 in this thread....... while searching "Old Racing Cars.com", I found information about Neil Hansen's car. It is "note #4" from "SCCA National (Northwest Region) Seattle, 25 Aug 1968". It reads below:

Brabham "BT14" [BT9 F3-6-64] (Neil Hansen): Identified by the Formula 1 Register as the car raced by Patrick Dal Bo in 1964 and by Jean Sage briefly at the end of 1965. Then sold back to England via Stephen Conlan and owned by David Wragg (Leeds) in early 1966 then to Malcolm Smith (Clitheroe, Lancashire) later that year. Sold by Smith via Fred Opert to the US, where dealer Pierre Phillips imported it into Portland, OR. He sold it to Win Casey, also of Portland, who raced it in ICSCC and SCCA FC in 1967 with a MAE engine. Then to another Portland driver, Neil Hansen, for NorPac FC in 1968 when it was described as a BT14. It was later owned by Chuck Grauel (Kansas City, KS) and raced in MWDiv Formula C in 1970 and 1971, then via midget racer Frank Dickerson (Wichita, KS), John Stokes and others to Jerry Strickfaden (Los Alamos, NM) 1987, during which time it was regarded as a BT15. Researched by Jerry Strickfaden and identified as a BT9. To Wayne Mitchell 1988. To Robs Lamplough (Hungerford, Berkshire) 2011.

If I read correctly, Neil Hansen's car was not (according to this note) a BT14, it was BT9-F3-6-64. This is important because it erases the overlap from the European racing history of FL-9-65 (1966-1969) and the United States racing History (1970/71). Hansen was racing his Brabham in 1968.

I have found a person that may be able to answer the question of how the car came to America. I've not been able to contact him yet. He is the son of H.A. Sutliffe....the first person in the verbal and physical ownership chain.

Every piece of the puzzle helps. Brad Moore.

[wbmoore]

After multiple attempts, I received an answer from Fred Sutliffe affirming that they did buy and race a Brabham in the 70s. It was purchased from Pierre's Motors Racing of Portland, Oregon. The "Pierre"was Pierre Phillips whom along with Fred Opert was a racing car importer. This would support the possibility of the car being the one raced by Philippe Vidal for Mas du Clos Racing.
The car was raced on the West Coast in the 70s in the F/A class with a RX2 rotary engine.

[Racesport]

After 11 years another BT14 "F1" is on sale from Australia: https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/De...t14-fl-8-65-f1

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by Racesport

After 11 years another BT14 "F1" is on sale from Australia: https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/De...t14-fl-8-65-f1

This is the car purported to be Brabham BT14 FL-8-65, which was owned by Trevor Simpson in Australia last time I checked, in 2015.

http://www.oldracingcars.com/brabham/bt14/