2012 Tasman Revival by Seth Reinhardt

The 2012 Tasman Revival brought a huge collection of historic racers to Sydney Motorsport Park last weekend for New South Wales’ biggest historic motorsport event.

Everything from the beastly 1971 McLaren M8E Can-Am and ’85 Ferrari 156/85 Turbo F1, to the sweet stars of the ’60s Tasman Series and the raucous Formula 5000s that followed them, to a Lister Jaguar, MG TC Special, Minis, Porsches and everything in between hit the track for a good old fashioned dice.

This gallery takes a leisurely wander through the pits, paddock and dummy grids before heading out to the track to capture some of the historic racing.

Head to the Tasman Revival website here for more, and join in on the discussion on their Facebook page here.

Images courtesy of Seth Reinhardt

Via the Tasman Revival

Triton T140V by Adam Grice

Foto: Facebook (Iron & Air)

James Toseland to attempt to beat land speed record at Bonneville in 2014

Former two-time now retired World Superbike champion James Toseland will attempt to break the official world motorcycle land speed record in 2014.

The current record is 376.363mph (605,697 km/h) and is held by Rocky ‘Rocketman’ Robinson and Toseland who was forced to retire from motorcycle racing due to a career ending wrist injury, will try beat that record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 2014.

The British rider has teamed up with the University of Derby and development of the machine development will be led by former GP and TT sidecar racer, Alex Macfadzean who held the first British bike land speed record of over 200mph.

“I am hugely excited about this record attempt but I’m under no illusions as to how difficult it will be. I’ve been racing motorcycles for most of my life but this means learning a completely new technique in order to pilot the motorcycle streamliner,” said Toseland speaking at theUniversity of Derby. “The team involved with the project are amazing and really know their stuff, so I know I’m in safe hands in terms of the development. We’ve been in discussions about this for several months, but at the University of Derby’s workshops I sat in the cockpit of the machine for the first time, so it now all seems very real. If successful, this will be a fantastic personal achievement but also a great accolade to bring back to the UK.”

For updates on the ambitious project just follow Toseland’s Twitter account.

Photo source | jamestoseland.facebook.com

The “100mph Pair of Shades”: Wood & Pickett Margrave Mini Cooper S

No sooner had we written about the cars favoured by The Beatles, including John Lennon’s particular preference for Wood & Pickett Minis, than one comes up for auction at Barons’ Yuletide Classic sale at Sandown Park on 18 December. And not just any one, either...

This might not be the exact Mini that Lennon once owned, but it’s only one step removed. This is the unique 1969 Wood & Pickett Margrave Mini Cooper S (note the S: it’s believed to be the only one that Wood & Pickett ever built) that was bought three times by the same person – John Hammel, long-time guitar technician to Paul McCartney, among others. Imagine the rock musicians who must have travelled in its leather interior: Steve Marriott (of Small Faces and Humble Pie fame) is just one that we know about, and he was so impressed that he described the Mini as “a 100mph pair of shades”. 

But even he did not have quite the affection for the little Mini that John Hammel had. Having first acquired the car in 1973, he sold it a few years later to Denny Lane (of Moody Blues and Wings), but after just eight months bought it back. In the early 1990s he sold the car again, but asked the buyer to give him first refusal should he ever decide to sell; and bingo, a few years later Hammel bought the Mini back for a second time.


According to Barons, the car has since been the subject of a full nut-and-bolt rebuild and is in “quite superb” condition, carrying a not-unreasonable estimate of £27,500-£35,000. Just make sure you still have enough cash left over for a Les Paul guitar and a pair of flares. And remember… only six careful owners; three of them the same man.

Text: Charis Whitcombe
Photos: Courtesy of Mini World magazine