Brabham BT29

[Bryan Miller]

Autosport , Nov. 19th 1970 , page 53.

For sale , Brand new BT29 '' a chance to own the first Brabham Formula Atlantic car . New type bag tanks , FT200 , 10s and 14s , full latest type wings $ 2400.00 ''
Racing Equipement [ Jim Gleave ] tel. Twyford 5096.

Bryan.

[Ted Walker]

Regarding BT29-44. I have an entry of LOU PAVESI owning it in USA 1986.

[Andrew Fellowes]

The Brabham Users Group News Letter. Issue 1, 1991

The Way It Was by Harry Renolds


"...A visit to Paramus, NJ to look at Fed's (Opert) own car (BT29-3) convinced me that the car that Tim Schenken drove in the Sebring pro race was the correct one to buy. This car (BT29-25) had been tested by Black Jack himself......
The only BT28/29 in this country at that time had a works installed SC engine had been built for Joe Trotterin, New Jersey BT28-19 SCA 6016 and a Mk8 gearbox..."

Other names mentioned are as follows for 1971,
BT21 SCA, Mike Rand
BT29 Howie Fairbanks
BT21's Chuck Gravel & Dick Seeye
BT16 Jim Sechser
BT29 Jim Bloomquist

1974
BT40/BD Bob Klime

Andrew

[Andrew Fellowes]

I've been searching this thread to find a ref. for BT29-20 going from Matchetts to Stow in '69. I reckon it must be on the cutting room floor, sorry can someone give me the ref. again please?

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

There is no such reference! We know 19 went from Matchett to Norman Cuthbert, but we don't know where 20 went.
Stow certainly started 1971 with BT28-2, but by the end of the season the car has been upgraded or replaced. The MN report on the sale of this car to Dick Barker suggests the former, but it is possible that Stow bought the unused chassis 20.

Personally... my thinking is now that Barker had 28-2, trashed it at Palace and rebuilt it as you say on a spare BT28/29 frame with 35 tanks, but didn't sell it until at least May 73 - when it's still for sale in Autosport.
This would exclude that car from being the BT29 of Howard Rose entered in Atlantic in 1972. Since we know where 19 is at that time, this suggests to me that the Rose car is the candidate for BT29-20

Chris

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

This would exclude that car from being the BT29 of Howard Rose entered in Atlantic in 1972.

Are you referring to the "H. Rose" entry at Oulton 30 Sep? I hadn't twigged that that was Howard Rose but I'm sure you're right. He then enters a BT35 (Vegantune engine again) at Brands 18 Mar 1973 and a "Brabham" at Silverstone 14 Jul 1973. He doesn't turn up on any occassion but I guess the car can't have been a figment of his imagination. Interesting that it changes from BT29 to BT35. Maybe he had something earlier and an intention to upgrade it.

Allen

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Are you referring to the "H. Rose" entry at Oulton 30 Sep? I hadn't twigged that that was Howard Rose but I'm sure you're right. He then enters a BT35 (Vegantune engine again) at Brands 18 Mar 1973 and a "Brabham" at Silverstone 14 Jul 1973. He doesn't turn up on any occassion but I guess the car can't have been a figment of his imagination. Interesting that it changes from BT29 to BT35. Maybe he had something earlier and an intention to upgrade it.

Allen

Or maybe he just fits some BT35 bodywork to the BT29 and Robert is your father's brother!

[Andrew Fellowes]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

There is no such reference!

Excellent, didn't think there was, thank you for confirming that.

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

Since we know where 19 is at that time, this suggests to me that the Rose car is the candidate for BT29-20
Chris

Looks like it for sure. (EDIT wowa missed the above two posts while I was working on this one)

So who did have BT29-20 and where does Hickman fit in?

Ted are you sure that 20 wasn't delivered 'till September 'cause that not only rules out any connection with Hickman but suggests it wasn't a BT29 that he had.

Last night I went throught 1969 A/S to see if I could find any mention of Hickman or his car again and failed.

Andrew

[Andrew Fellowes]

Originally Posted by Andrew Fellowes

Ted are you sure that 20 wasn't delivered 'till September 'cause that not only rules out any connection with Hickman but suggests it wasn't a BT29 that he had.

Last night I went throught 1969 A/S to see if I could find any mention of Hickman or his car again and failed.

Andrew

Sorry Allen, I am being dozy again

Originally Posted by Allen Brown

This Roger Hickman car is very interesting. Chris Mason says in his preview of the 1969 season (Uphill Racers p217) that "Another with the very latest equipment was Roger Hickman, with a new Formula 2 Brabham FVA BT30". He then crashes as Wiscombe (p219) and "had to be cut out of the wreckage of his Brabham suffering a broken arm". Later (p224), talking about the run up to the 1970 season, he says "the remains of Hickman's BT30 were rebuilt and fitted with a rare Winkelman twin cam unit of just 1.5-litres capacity for Brian Pickering and Nigel Woodisse.

I must pay attention
I must pay attention
I must pay attention

So Autosport say BT29 and Mason BT30. How did Hickman apparently que jump the likes of Schenken etc to get the latest F2 to use on the hills? That's an expensive way to go. Hickman must have been a wealthy lad, what happened to him (when his arm mended).
Any chance he could be reading this too?
Andrew

[allenbrown]

If you blink, you miss it.

Castle Howard (AS 4 Apr 1969) : no mention of Hickman
Curborough preview (AS 11 Apr 1969 p36) : Hickman's F2 Brabham BT30
Harewood preview (AS 18 Apr 1969 p44) : Sir Nick's BT29V not ready yet
Loton (AS 18 Apr 1969 p44) : no mention of Hickman
Wiscombe (AS 25 Apr 1969 p40) : Sir Nick's BT29B not ready yet
Harewood (AS 25 Apr 1969 p41) : "Roger Hickman's BT21 t/c"
Loton (AS 2 May 1969 pp17-18) : no mention of Hickman
Prescott (AS 9 May 1969 p43) : "Roger Hickman (BT29 t/c)"
Woburm (AS 16 May 1969 pp46-47) : Hickman's first appearance in brand new F2 Brabham BT30-FVA
Wiscombe (AS 23 May 1969 p49) : Hickman's nasty accident in his new FVA-powered Brabham BT29

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

If you blink, you miss it.

Castle Howard (AS 4 Apr 1969) : no mention of Hickman
Curborough preview (AS 11 Apr 1969 p36) : Hickman's F2 Brabham BT30
Harewood preview (AS 18 Apr 1969 p44) : Sir Nick's BT29V not ready yet
Loton (AS 18 Apr 1969 p44) : no mention of Hickman
Wiscombe (AS 25 Apr 1969 p40) : Sir Nick's BT29B not ready yet
Harewood (AS 25 Apr 1969 p41) : "Roger Hickman's BT21 t/c"
Loton (AS 2 May 1969 pp17-18) : no mention of Hickman
Prescott (AS 9 May 1969 p43) : "Roger Hickman (BT29 t/c)"
Woburm (AS 16 May 1969 pp46-47) : Hickman's first appearance in brand new F2 Brabham BT30-FVA
Wiscombe (AS 23 May 1969 p49) : Hickman's nasty accident in his new FVA-powered Brabham BT29

It would be interesting to find out how many people provided the above reports!

Consistancy is still a problem and going back investigating events nearly 40 years ago it really is a major problem. Some of the Club sprints were reported by a club member and often only feature their friends. One that springs to mind was a British Sprint Championship round and apart from a mention of the FTD you wouldn't have thought there were sprint championship contenders present plus there is no mention of the run-off!

PS Where is Woburm?

[allenbrown]

Anyone know roughly where Hickman was from? There aren't that many in the phone book.

Allen

[Andrew Fellowes]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Anyone know roughly where Hickman was from? There aren't that many in the phone book.

BT30-1 and 3 are delivered prior to Thruxton on April 7th
May 23rd p.2 Malcom Guthrie has taken delivery of his (BT30-4?) and Frank Williams’ is to be ready by June 8th for Zolder and #6 appears at Reims on the 29th June. (Could have been earlier, just cant find anything at the moment)

If #2 was for Pike & Church Farm then it certainly wasn’t crashed as rumour had it. Church Farm were trying to flog their BT23C prior to Thruxton to anyone short of a car, -looks like they were still confident of getting their car. (A/S March 21st p.45 ex Bell for 4,400 quid)
By May 9th Church Farm had cancelled their order. So did Roger Hickman pick up the cancelled order and had it out at Wiscombe and quite likely Woo-bum too as I thought the two UK BT29s were not delivered ‘till later in the year.

If Hickman had a BT30 then it does fit the time scale quite neatly, but how on earth did he get in front of several big names?

I agree, we need to find Hickman.

[allenbrown]

There are several references here to it being a BT29 so it's possible that it was referred to as a BT30 merely because it had a FVA and was entered - maybe - as a F2 Brabham.

The other BT29 puzzle was Sir Nick Williamson's car. It never raced but it sounds like he had one being prepared. So where did that go? Given that MRD sold their previous twin-cam models BT14s, BT21As and BT21Cs to hillclimbers, it would be no surprise if they sold a couple of BT29s too.

[Andrew Fellowes]

One route to Hickman might be via Andy Sutcliffe, who should be easier to find esp. as there is a certain web site that list him as;

Now lives in Ashford, Kent, where he is a plant nurseryman. (Last updated 12 October 2003)

I can't find him in White Pages UK, anyone help on this?

[Andrew Fellowes]

BT29-8
Now with John Stowe, prevoiusly owned by Carl Whitney, and was raced last as a Formula C.

Andrew

[Chris Townsend]

Andrew

Does John Stowe have any dates or more info on the car? [some log book dates would be VERY useful here]
Karl Whitney ran a BT29 in FB/FC 1972-1976 until buying a new Ralt in 1977. This car was described as being built from two wrecks plus the bodywork of a third!!
One of the wrecks was BT29-2 originally sold to Opert for his own use late 1969, then a rental car, and the car in which Tom Scott was killed in 1971.
This car now exists as a separate entity.
Whitney is also said to have owned BT29-46 [a late 1970 Opert car used in 1971 by Al Lader until a BT35 arrived]. This was said to have been sold to Ken Duclos for spares.
So now we have three Whitney cars and some detail would help differentiate what was what, and when...

Chris

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Andrew Fellowes

BT29-37
Tony Griffiths hill climb, crashed Silverstone, new BT30 chassis
1970 A/S Oct 15th p.15 , for sale Tony Griffiths to full BT30 spec.
1971 Feb.18th p.4 Spencer Elton, BDA
1973 A/S June 26th p.47 David Render, A/S 6.10.73 p.49 Weston
1975 A/S March 6th p.50 (Render) A/S April 15th Render intends to sell.
1976 A/S 5th June p.65 BT29X for sale
1980 Prescott Hill Climb/Bugatti O.C. Shakespeare Company/P Robinson
2005 private collection UK

Update on the above: the car is now owned by Richard Jones who was out hillclimbing it at Loton Park yesterday (Sunday 12/08/07).

[allenbrown]

Can we now find out who the "private collection" was and whether there's an intermediate owner between Robinson and same?

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

Can we now find out who the "private collection" was and whether there's an intermediate owner between Robinson and same?

You have just guessed what I asked the new owner!

[Andrew Fellowes]

Chris I've emailed John Stowe with your request.

Gary Dausch has confirmed that he has owned 5 BT29s
BT29-3 one of the bi-plane cars with wings over the front wheels, sold to Dan Dubrovich of New York.
One went to Dave Vegher in California so I assume this is BT29-43
One to Tim Gafney on the East Coast, I have no idea
One to Joe Blacker, the only number I have with Joe is 2 but from David Irwin
Lastly Harry Reynold's SCCA Championship winner went to James King, -anyone got a number for this one?

My thanks to Gary, who by the way is with Team Australia and one of the best young Aussie drivers Will Power!!!!!!

[Andrew Fellowes]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

Does John Stowe have any dates or more info on the car? [some log book dates would be VERY useful here]
So now we have three Whitney cars and some detail would help differentiate what was what, and when...

J.S. reckons that the three wrecks became two cars, One for Ken Duclos, and the other became Carl's. Log Book, 1973; SCCA -details in email to you. Andrew

[Andrew Fellowes]

......interesting as #2, #8, and #46 all survive today.

Carl kept #8 I take it, and Duclose had the other two. #2 now with Joe Blacker and #46 with Marty Handsly.

[Chris Townsend]

The Reynolds car was chassis 25, Schenken's winning car at Daytona FB race in 1969.

A quick summary on BT29s that we have something on in 1969-70

1: John Angus
2: Fred Opert, own car delivered Sept 69.
4: Opert but perhaps only as agent
5: Nick Craw
9: Pacifico for Alan Lader
14: Charlie Hayes for Mike Hiss and then perhaps Graham Baker
15: Wayne Mitchell
19: Steve Matchett unraced in 1970
20: Steve Matchett unraced in 1970
23: Evan Noyes
25: Harry Reynolds
29: Maybe Sandy Shepard
30: Maybe Jack Quinlan
32: Freeman Racing - Mike Freeman
35: Opert for Alan Lader later part of 1970
36: Ken Duclos, sold to Mike Rand 1971
37: Tony Griffiths
41: Allan Karlberg
42: Freeman Racing - Chet Freeman
44: Hayes, unraced in 1970, then to Doug Brenner
46: Opert unraced in 1970, then Opert for Lader in early 1971
47: Opert late season, perhaps unraced then rental car in 1971
49: Opert unraced in 1970, then Barry Fox in 1971

Chris

[Steve Wilkinson]

This from the current owner Richard Jones:

1) Tony Griffiths only used the BT 29X in 1970 with an 1800 FVC in it.
2) Spencer Elton had it in 1971/72 and put a 1600 BDA in it which it still has.
3) David Render owned it (from 1973) until 1976,
4) Peter Robinson bought it (1976/7) and used it with a full width nose and a big rear wing until 1981.
5) Julian Majzub bought it complete with it's original wings which are now fitted.

Richard bought it from Julian over the last Winter. All of the above fits exactly with the previous history with Majzub being the mystery collector.