Rex Flowers: A Story of his 1961 Gemini Mk3A-09 Cosworth-Ford FJ Part 9 of 15
[ Continued from Part 8 ]
A summary of Rex’s race sin the Gemini in the 1961/62 season
The Gemini was late arriving in New Zealand from England in December 1961. Accordingly, Rex was unable to gain any race experience with the car before the start of the four international events that were held in January 1962 over four consecutive weekends in the North and South Island of New Zealand. Had the Gemini arrived on time, Rex would perhaps have been able to gain experience in the car in some ‘shake-down ’races held at Renwick (11h Nov 61) and Levin (25 Nov 61). But, it was not to be.
The first event for Rex with the Gemini was in the New Zealand International Grand Prix (NZIGP) meeting, which was the last race meeting to be held at the rather daunting, bumpy, but fast and open Ardmore aerodrome in South Auckland, and held on 6 Jan 62; he then raced at Levin (13 Jan 62), Wigram (20 Jan 62), and Teretonga (27 Jan 62).
- At Ardmore, his first ever race in the Gemini was in Event 3, the Ardmore Championship where, with clutch problems, he had qualified well down in 19th place of 24 cars and he finished 14th in the race. His next event was in Race 7, the Ultimate Ekco handicap race where he started well towards the back of the grid being 6th fastest of 27 cars and he finished 23rd – still with a slipping clutch; Rex was not fast enough to qualify for the very wet 1962 NZIGP, won by Stirling Moss.
- At Levin Rex finished in a very creditable 7th place in Race 8, which was Heat 1 for the main race; and in the main event he was classified in 8th place, albeit with the race shortened to only 8 of the scheduled 28 laps due to heavy rain – a race won by Jack Brabham.
- At Wigram he was 5th in the Motor Racing Club Championship, but he was not fast enough to qualify for the Lady Wigram Trophy race, won by Stirling Moss.
- At Teretonga he finished in Race 1, which was Heat1 for the main race; but he did not finish the Teretonga International main race because of excessive tyre wear in a race won by Bruce McLaren.
It was a ‘tall ask’ for Rex to step into a brand new car, with comparatively limited horse power, and race in the company of established international drivers with their much more powerful cars. In the four international races, Rex failed to qualify in two (Ardmore and Wigram), he was 8th at Levin, and he did not finish (DNF) at Teretonga. Nonetheless, at Levin he raced in company with internationals Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Roy Salvadori, Bruce McLaren and Lorenzo Bandini – and in a similar field at Teretonga; this was surely the stuff of Rex’s dreams to race in company with such established ‘stars’ in his first season in a single seater!
After the international races, Rex competed in a series of ‘national’ races before he finished the summer season with some club-level Hillclimb and sprint events. He raced at Dunedin (3 Feb 62), Waimate (10 Feb 62), Ohakea (24 Feb 62), and, Levin (24 Mar 62); he then did a Hillclimb at Houghton Bay (7 Apr 72), a sprint at Levin (12 May 62) and another sprint at Admiral Road, Carterton (May 62).
- In the wet at Dunedin Rex qualified 7th of 16 cars and finished 6th, being three laps down on the leader, Pat Hoare in his Ferrari Dino V12
- At Waimate 50 for the main race, Rex qualified 7th of 11 cars but did not finish because the front suspension broke.
- On the fast, but bumpy, Ohakea airfield circuit, Rex was an excellent 3rd in Race 5; but again he did not finish the main race because the suspension broke – this time at the rear of the car.
- At Levin Rex qualified 2nd of 15 cars for Race 4 and he finished 8th; in Race 23, the main race, he qualified 8th of 16 cars and finished 7th; and in the final Race 17 handicap race he qualified 5th of 13 cars and finished 4th.
For the Hillclimb at Houghton Bay, Rex set second-to-Fastest Time of the Day (FTD); in the sprint at Levin he set FTD, and at Admiral Road he set FTD, as well as setting an outright record.
Rex summarized by saying the suspension on the Gemini needed to be “beefed up”, and for the next season he could see he needed more power from the Gemini engine so he could run with the ‘NZ Formula’ 1.5 litre cars.
Rex with his Gemini in the 1962/1963 season
In 2019 Rex said that in 1962 he had run with a Ford-Cosworth 105E 996cc engine but for the new season he knew he needed the Gemini to be quicker, so he needed more power which in turn meant a bigger engine. Accordingly, he said he had two engines prepared for the new 1962/1963 season – one was a Ford 109E 1340cc and one a Ford Classic 1500cc pre-crossflow Cortina engine. He said in 2019 that in the 1962/63 season he would change the engine and use whichever one seemed right for the power required at each circuit. So, even though the Gemini was still listed in the various race programmes as a Formula Junior with a 996cc, or 1100cc, engine, Rex said in fact he used either a 1340cc of 1475 cc engine.
The first event for Rex after a winter preparing the Gemini for the 1962/1963 season ahead was the Hutt Valley Motor Club’s quarter mile ‘sprint’ held at Te Maire Road, Featherston in September 1962.Rex recorded fastest time of the day (FTD) in the Gemini.
The second outing for Rex in the Gemini in the 1962/63 season was the Hutt Valley Motor Club’s Hillclimb at Wallaceville, Upper Hutt on 13th October 1962. Here Rex recorded FTD in the Gemini, as well as setting an outright record for the Wallaceville Hillclimb.
Fred Zambucka Memorial Meeting, Levin – Saturday 24th November 1962. The first race meeting in the 1962/63 season for Rex in the Gemini was the Fred Zambucka Memorial Meeting held on the Levin circuit on Saturday 24th November 1962.
Rex’s first race in the Gemini for the 1962/63 season was Event 5 for Racing & Sports Cars, a scratch race over 8 laps. Rex qualified the Gemini in position 6 of 14 cars on the start grid. Although the Gemini engine was listed as 996cc in the official programme, Rex said in 2019 he used either a 1340cc or 1475cc Ford engine in the 1962/63 season, so perhaps he used the 1340cc engine on the small and tight Levin circuit. The book ‘The Twenty Year History of Levin Motor Racing Circuit 1956-1976’, page 144, records: “In the first race for Formula Libre cars, Shelly, in a Lotus 2.5, shot into the lead at the drop of the flag and gained a good 200 yards over Hyslop and Amon in their Coopers. By the fourth lap these three were overtaking the slower cars. At this stage Hyslop made a daring move and passed Shelly by taking to the dirt on the edge of the track at about 120mph. From there to the finish he had to fight to hold Shelly for the rest of the race. The first victim presented no problem as Shelly took him on the right and Hyslop on the left, which must have been a bit of a surprise for that driver. The leading three just kept up a relentless pace which included breaking the lap record of 54 seconds.” Hyslop (Cooper T53 Climax 2.5) won from Shelly (Lotus 18/21 Climax 2.5) with Amon (Cooper T51 Climax 2.5) in third place with a race time of 7 mins 21.6. Rex in the Gemini did not finish the race. Motorman magazine of January 1963 reported at page 24 “…John Histed had the misfortune to roll his Lola FJ in the first racing car event, after driving from Auckland the previous night. John escaped with shock, but the Lola was badly damaged, and it is to be hoped that he can have the car going again by Pukekohe.”
The second race for Rex at Levin that day was Event 13 Fred Zambucka Memorial Race for Formula Libre Racing & Sports Cars and held over 10 laps; Rex qualified 6th of 8 cars that started in the race. The Levin book records, “In the main race, once again Shelly made a marvellous start, followed by Amon and Hyslop [and Flowers in 4th – see Motorman January 1963, page.9]. Shelly was consistently lapping at 54 seconds and even broke the lap record set this morning, bringing it down to 53.5 secs. Amon and Hyslop kept up a nose to tail battle, with Amon holding a tight line on the corners and keeping Hyslop at bay until lap six. There he went a fraction wide and Hyslop shot through leaving Amon to take third place once again.” Results were Tony Shelly Lotus 18/21 2.5 in first place, followed by Angus Hyslop Cooper T53 2.5, Chris Amon Cooper T51 2.5, and Roly Levis fourth in his ex-Hulme Cooper T52 Ford 1.5. Rex was 6th in the Gemini in this race. The race time was 9 mins 5 secs.
The final event of the day for Rex in the Gemini was Event 18 for Racing and Sports Cars, a scratch over 8 laps. It is not known how many of the cars listed to race actually took the starter’s flag. Rex was once again in 6th place on the grid .The Levin book records: “By the third and final race, Amon had done a bit of swotting up and he shot off the line at the start”. Motorman magazine of January 1963, page 24, reports “Closely following him [Amon] were Shelly, Hyslop, Levis, Flowers, Smith (Ferrari), and Riley (Ferrari Monza)”. The Levin book continues: “That left a startled Shelly to have to fight to regain the lead, which he did by the end of the first lap. However, coming into the hairpin for the fourth time he had to brake hard to avoid running up the tail pipe of Rex Flowers. However, the January Motorman magazine reported “As Shelly came up to the hairpin, however, he was baulked by a slower sports car [i.e. not Rex Flowers] about to be lapped for the second time’. The Levin book continues, “That caused his [Shelly’s] throttle linkages to jam in the ‘wide open’ position and he had to retire reluctantly leaving Amon in the lead. That was a position he was not going to give up, despite close attention from Hyslop who finished second only a whisker away”. Results were: Amon, Hyslop, Levis and the race time was 7 mins 24.2 secs. Rex Flowers was 6th in the Gemini.
The 1952 Chevrolet ‘tow-car’ and Gemini trailer – Rex said this was probably the first covered racing car trailer in New Zealand. Rex made the trailer with wood that he salvaged from the Mitsubishi assembly plant where Flowers Transport had a contract to deliver boxes of Mitsubishi components and parts – photo Rex Flowers Collection
Rex entered the Gemini in the Ohakea Motor Races held on the airfield at RNZAF Station Ohakea on Saturday 15th December 1962. Graham Vercoe in his 1993 book ‘The Golden Era of NZ Motor Racing’, page 181, reports: ‘The Manawatu Car Club, in an effort to save the VII Ohakea Trophy meeting, moved its 1963 date forward to December 15th. Despite some close racing, the move had little effect and the racing on the bumpy airfield circuit was already doomed. The low clearance of the modern racing car was making racing there decidedly chancy.”
The first race for Rex in the Gemini was Event 7 for the ‘Racing and Sports Racing Cars’, a Scratch race over 7 laps. In Motorman magazine of February 1963 David Manton reported: “Winner of the racing car scratch race earlier in the day, Angus Hyslop …” and,” In the earlier race these three [Hyslop, Shelly and Amon] outclassed the rest of the field with Hyslop winning after leading for all the way except for one occasion when Amon passed him”. Other results from this race are not known, but Rex was 13th in his Gemini Mk3A, which was probably fitted with a 1500cc engine.
The second race for Rex at Ohakea was Event 12 ‘Ohakea Trophy Race’ held over 35 laps. Motorman magazine continues “There was some exciting and very interesting motor racing at the Ohakea Gold Star meeting on December 15, despite the fact that two of the leading contenders retired during the main event. Winner of the racing car scratch earlier in the day, Angus Hyslop was leading comfortably in the main event in his 2.5 litre Cooper Climax when gearbox trouble put him out of the running. This was the first time that the popular Hastings driver has failed to finish a race in five years of racing. Lying second at this stage was Wellington driver Tony Shelly in his Lotus. Up until Hyslop retired it looked as though Shelly had little chance of catching the speeding Hawkes Bay farmer despite the fact that the Lotus handles better than the white and blue Cooper. Attempting to catch Shelly was the promising young Bulls farmer, Chris Amon, in his ex-Scuderia Velcoe Cooper [T51] but a broken steering joint put him out of the honours during the third lap…..”
Vercoe’s book continues:” Amon was the first victim of the bumps on the first lap and Hyslop also suffered late in the race. Neither of these would have stopped Shelly that day in any case, as he was in a class of his own. Palmer gave Lotus a 1-2 by bringing his FJ home ahead of Thomasen’s 2–litre ex-Yeomen Credit Cooper.
Gordon Campbell in his 2016 book “The Master Mechanic”, at page 55, records the failure in Amon’s Cooper T51 was caused by ‘a tie rod end, a Morris Minor part, fell off. The steering crossed up and he went straight ahead at the top corner. This was the last race on alcohol – it had been decreed that cars had to run on petrol for the 1963 NZ international series.’
Des Mahoney in ‘The Rothmans Book of NZ Motor Racing’, page 72 records, “In an effort to attract bigger fields, the Manawatu Car Club held their Ohakea race meeting before Christmas instead of in the traditional February. But the fast and bumpy circuit took its toll of cars. Amon retired on the first lap and Hyslop followed towards the end when well in the lead. This left Tony Shelly and easy winner from Jim Palmer’s new red Lotus 20B, with a 1.5 litre Ford motor. Bill Thomasen (Cooper 2-litre) was third after the withdrawal of Lionel Bulcraig, with who he had duelled throughout the race. Bulcraig was making a comeback in the ex-Bib Stillwell 3-litre Aston Martin which he modified and sprayed red.” Rex, racing the Gemini as car number 6, and probably with a 1500cc engine, was 5th on 32 laps.
Results of the Ohakea Trophy Race over 35 laps:
1st 24 Tony Shelly Lotus 18/21 Climax 2500cc
2nd 1 Jim Palmer Lotus 20B Cosworth-Ford 1475cc
3rd 29 Bill Thomasen Cooper T51 Climax 1960cc
4th unknown
5th 6 Rex Flowers Gemini Mk3A Ford 1475cc (?) – 32 laps
[ Continue with Part 10]
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