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Round 32: Back to Australia featuring Mick and Ron Atholwood's Holden Torana, Geoff Burnett's Chrysler Charger, Graeme Cowin's High Performance World Camaro, Ben and Joe Gatt's Mercury Capri, Bruce Lynch and Ray
Zygadlo's Wizard Torana, Neale Randall's Haribatican Torana, Rick Jones in Jim
Read's Mustang, Owen Griffiths in Tom Stirling's Mustang, John Taylor's Mercury Capri, and George Weiczorek's Cuda.
The Atholwoods were a father and son funny car team. Mick was the father
and Ron was his son. Mick and Ron raced this 454 Chevrolet powered Holden
Torana AA/Funny Car. The car was home built by Mick and debuted in
November 1975. Mick drove the car at first, but Ron took over the driving
in November 1977. Rod Merchant and Roy Smith also drove the car. The
Torana’s best times were 7.55 at 185.94. Shown here is Atholwood’s
Holden Torana (near lane) racing Bob Dunn in the ex-Gene Snow
Snowman" Dodge at the 1975 Nationals at Surfers Paradise Raceway.
(Photo by David Cook; text by David Cook & Danny White)
This is
Queenslander Geoff Burnett in his Girlock brakes-backed Chrysler Charger
racing John Taylor at Surfers Paradise in 1974. The car had a cast iron
350 small block Chevrolet for power at the time. Burnett ran the small
block from June 1974 to the end of the 1975 season, running best times of
8.89 at 175.49. A 392 Chrysler Hemi was used next from January to August
1976. The Hemi improved the Charger to an 8.69 at 195.43. Burnett replaced
the heavy Charger with a new Mustang II, but quit racing funny cars by the
end of 1976 after he crashed the Mustang. In the late ‘80s, Burnett
raced a blown doorslammer, which he also crashed. Geoff then built a blown
Donovan Pro Comp altered that became the fastest in the world. Burnett
raced the car as an AA/A and as a TA/FC Firebird. Geoff began making
carbon fiber injector hats and moved the company to Indiana. He now races
an alcohol funny car in IHRA competition. (Photo courtesy of David
Cook; text by David Cook and Danny White)
Graeme Cowin
is Australia’s best known AA/Funny Car driver, with tours to America
over the years with fuelers and funny cars. Before racing funny cars,
Cowin drove an AA/Fuel Altered, in which he broke the 200-mph barrier.
Graeme turned to AA/FC next with the ex-Nick Harmon Mustang. A Cuda
replaced the Mustang and Cowin stepped out of the driver’s seat. Graeme
took to driving again after his Camaro was destroyed in a wild mid-track
backflip following a big wheelstand in 1975. Cowin replaced hired driver
Jack McLeod at the wheel of the High Performance World Camaro. This photo
was taken at Surfers Paradise 1976. Cowin raced the Camaro from December
1977 to May 1979. His best times in the car were 6.56 at 217.78. (Photo
courtesy of David Cook; text by David Cook and Danny White)
Ben and Joe
Gatt advanced through sedan racing before moving to funny cars. They began
racing in 1965 with an FJ Holden and an Anglia gasser. The pair built a
Capri funny car next. Joe tuned the car while Ben did all the driving. The
Gatt Brothers Super Flow Heads Capri first raced with a 427 Injected Ford
in September 1973. The Ford proved to be unsuccessful and the team
converted to a blown 392 Chrysler Hemi to go AA/FC racing. In November
1974, on the car’s first pass with the blower, they blew the body off
the car. Ben Gatt drove the car to a best of 8.22 at 191 in September
1975. The car burned to the ground at Adelaide International Raceway in
October of the same year. The two quit fuel racing after the fire at
Adelaide and went back to racing sedans with a Falcon Ute, a Capri gasser,
and their famous blown small block BB/Gas Falcon. The Gatts also raced Top
Doorslammer for a couple of years in the nineties. (Photo courtesy of
David Cook; text by David Cook and Danny White)
Bruce Lynch teamed up with Ray Zygadlo to field this Torana FC under the
name "Wizard" in 1977. Lynch did the driving while Zygadlo did
the tuning. The mold for the body was made from a rental car taken out
over a weekend and returned in less than original condition. The
"Wizard" ran in the seven-second zone. Note the body being blown
out at the side by the headers while fuel is leaking out the top. Zygadlo
used to dress up in a wizard outfit on the starting line – sometimes to
his peril. Once a fire came up the long sleeve while he was working on the
car. (Photo courtesy of David Cook, text by David Cook and Danny White)
Ex-aerobatics flyer Neale Randall bought his way into drag racing in the
ex-Bruce Phillips’ "Panic" Torana. Randall renamed the car the
"Haribatican," a name from his stunt flying days. When people
would ask why he gave up, he would tell them he was still going "haribatican,"
but in a car. The car featured a 454 Chevrolet. Neale is shown here
racing at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway. Randall later built and raced a
heavy Monza-bodied FC in 1978, and bought the ex-Graeme Cowin/Bruce
Phillips/John Lumb Mustang and raced it in 1979. Neale moved to an
ex-Graeme Cowin Arrow FC in 1980. (Photo courtesy of David Cook; text by
David Cook and Danny White)
While
enjoying success with his Top Fuelers, Sydney’s Jim Read moved into
Funny Car with this blown small block-powered Torana in 1972. He only
raced this car for a year. Rick Jones ran the best time for the car at
9.42. Read drove the car at only one race, Surfer’s Paradise in March
1973, and crashed. In 1973, a Hemi powered Mustang replaced the Torana.
Read hired drivers like Rick Jones and Bob Shepherd to pilot the Mustang.
Jim later returned to drive the Chesterfield’s Mach I. He scored a
double win with his Top Fueler and AA/Funny Car at the 1976
Nationals. (Photo courtesy of David Cook; text by David Cook and Danny
White)
Tom Stirling
teamed up with driver Owen "Argus Tuff" Griffiths in the
mid-1970s on this Mach I Mustang with backing from Camel Cigarettes. This
car replaced the Ford powered "Thunderbolt" Mustang AA/FC and
used a more reliable 392 Chrysler for power. Stirling's Camel Filters
backed Mustang came to an abrupt end when movie floodlights at Castlereagh
blinded Owen Griffiths. Griffiths got out of shape and rolled along the
safety barrier. (Photo courtesy of David Cook, text by David Cook and
Danny White)
John Taylor was a graduate of the Fuel Altered days in Australia. Taylor
had raced a scary homebuilt Fiat named "The Crazyman." Like
Graeme Cowin, Bob Dunn, and Jim Walton, he built a Funny Car after the
altered. Taylor’s Capri-bodied Funny Car debuted in June 1974. Winston
sponsored the Capri at first, but American Auto Parts backed the car in
late 1975. John Taylor’s best times in the Capri were 8.36 at 196.07.
The American Auto Parts car ran out of brakes at Oran Park in May 1976.
It ran off the limited braking area and into a neighboring farm area,
wrapping itself up in a cattle fence. (Photo courtesy of David Cook; text
by David Cook and Danny White)
Small bore
altered racer George Weiczorek briefly teamed with ex-sedan racer
Allan Greene to run this Plymouth Cuda. The car was the former High
Performance World "Highway Patrol" of Graeme Cowin. Weiczorek
drove the car while Green tuned the engine. The team only ran a couple of
race meetings without success before quitting. The car is shown here at
the drag strip in Perth. Alan Greene later returned to nitro funny cars in
the 1990s. The "Greene Machine" Beretta is one of the last nitro
funny cars in Australia. (Photo courtesy of David Cook; text by David Cook
and Danny White)
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