Photos courtesy of Russell Sheldon
![]() |
Best of Show in Concours was Russell's entry from 2001, re-entered in 2002 where it impressed the judges a lot more than last year. Jackie Oliver is at the wheel of this 1969 Autocoast TI22 Can-Am car. |
![]() |
The vac-formed body has been enhanced by superb paint, aluminum injection stacks, formed and plated steel roll bar, rear view mirrors and Lola wheel inserts. |
![]() |
There is wire-mesh inside the air exhausts and a good depiction of the tubular rear structure and gearbox. The chassis is a collaboration between Dawie Van Roowen in South Africa and Russell Sheldon, stuck in Dubai, U.A.E. (find it on a map). The motor is completely hand-built. What one can say, except...whoooo! |
Below are race day photos, courtesy of Jim Cunningham.
![]() |
Other Class A entries including Rod McPherson's Mercedes W196 (yes, it IS legal as it WAS a Formula One car), Robert Blaschke's Lotus 56T, Kathryn Walwick's Brabham-Alfa that set pole position and the absolutely superb entries of mark Gussin, the 6-wheel "Pat Clancy Spl" and the BRM V16. Next is John Roche's Connaught "B". A brace of Minis stand behind, the one in gray primer belonging to Robert Wheeler. It was his first scratch-building effort ever, and he could not finish it in time. But he had the good sense to send it and save himself a $50.00 donation to the Marconi Foundation as per the entry rules. It did not run that bad either, but the motor parted way with its chassis halfway through the race, because he forgot to lock it in place.. |
![]() |
Lucio Cocchi's splendid Ferrari 312P, made in collaboration with his club in Italy, was seriously handicapped by its stock FLY tires. Regardless, it behaved nicely if lacking grip to contest for a top spot. Behind it is Al Penrose's (BWA Minispeed) 37 year-old Revell stock Ferrari 250GTO which showed the way to most entries. It handled great, its Pittman motor was fast, and it was a pleasure to drive. The Ortmann tires were the only change from original configuration. |
![]() |
Jim Cunningham's gorgeous Cooper-Climax nearly edged the "Pat Clancy Spl" of ace modeler Mark Gussin in concours. It did, however, run better than the British entry which had poor grip. But the race' s heroin was Jim's blue Bugatti T59, which cleanly won without a need to use its handicap points. It handled superbly and was a delight to drive. The fender-less Mercedes SSKL or Marcus Seitz lost most of its parts during shipment, but nonetheless was fun to drive and did gather decent concours points. It uses a 1960's inline Champion motor bracket. |
![]() |
The modified red and yellow GB-Track Porsche 917PA which set pole position was Bryan Warmack's entry and followed exactly the design of Kathryn Walwick's successful Porsche 908. Unfortunately, it broke its guide during the race, depriving it from a possible win. The black car is Luiz Valdetaro's "Bentley", sleek but not so scale... It had a wood chassis that was quite efficient, but used thin braided contacts that did not work well. The Porsche 962 was a combined Russell Sheldon/Rod McPherson entry, and did well until its motor over-heated. |
![]() |
Some of the Class A entries, with Lucio Cocchi's delightful Ferrari 312P, Luiz Valdetaro's Lola T70 and Mathieu Visser's Simoniz-Lola. Nice stuff... The blue Mini is Alan Schwartz's. |
![]() |
The Racing Shop at the Marconi Museum, showing late action at nearly 8PM during a break. Note the Kenny Bernstein top-fueler nailed to the wall... |
![]() |
The drivers posing for a family picture. From left to right: Dennis Hill (Sonic Products), Chris Radisich (Uncle Kal's) Mike Nelson (Buena Park Raceway), Mike Boemker, Luiz-Claudio Valdetaro, Mike Brannian (Sonic Products), Rod McPherson, Jim Cunningham (both also entrants), Paul Sterrett, and Chief-Honcho-Diktatooor-El Jefe Philippe de Lespinay. |