| When
Sedans Were King |
| McConnachie
Brothers Mustang One
of New Zealand's Finest Speedway
Sedans From The 1970s
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| Text
by Graham Mison.
Images and
information via Gavin
Evitt and the Historic
Stockcar Club of New Zealand. |
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Mustang.
For many Aussie motorsport fans
the word itself seems to conjure
up special memories when you say
it, perhaps memories of Moffat's
red #9 Boss 302, Geoghan's
spectacular notchback, Ken Barlow
taking the chequer at Liverpool
or perhaps Stan Starcevich power
sliding on the Claremont oval.
Across the ditch to the east it's
a similar story. New Zealand's
had a number of 'stangs to
remember over the years including
Jim Richard's Sidchrome special,
the PDL Mustangs, both driven by
Leo Leonard and Bernie Gillon's
TraNZam. |
| On the oval
racing side of things one
particular example of Ford's
muscle car is remembered from the
early seventies as a catalyst for
raising the quality of the New
Zealand Production Sedan division
and as a shinning example of car
preparation. That car was the
McConnachie Brothers Mustang. Looking
at the photo above of the light
blue and white #3 it's obvious
that much effort went into the
presentation of this car. In that
department it would have been the
equal if not the better of
anything running on Australian
ovals at the time of its debut in
1972. Under the panels it was the
tip of the spear in engineering
for NZ speedway sedans.
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| Barry
and Graham McConnachie
first entered New Zealand
speedway with a Ford
Zephyr MkII (Right)
they'd originally run in
grass track events. Barry
was the wheelman with
Graham working the
spanners. Three seasons
of effort with the old
Ford in the Production
Sedan class had seen them
taste some success but
had ended with a pile of
twisted metal at the end
of the 1971-'72 season. After
that the brothers
embarked on a world tour,
starting in Australia
they moved on to England
where Barry was injured
in a speedway Hot-Rod
race. From there they
went to the USA.
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| There they
sourced a hot Ford motor
out of McLaren Racing in
Michigan with a few other
trick bits as well. Back
in NZ they began to build
these into a 1970 Mustang
Fastback that Graham
bought as a wreck. It had
been rolled and the roof
had been flattened to the
tops of the doors. Ivan
Jujnovich was amongst
those who worked on the
body and paintwork of the
car. The end result was
a stunning car by any
standards, the brothers
were also involved in
Street Rods and perhaps
they applied a similar
finishing standard to
their new dirt track
'Transtas'. It pushed the
rules for the class to
the limit and showed what
could be done. With glass
back in place the #3
would not have looked out
of place on the grid at
Pukekohe or Wigram
amongst a field of
similar muscle cars
running on New Zealand
road circuits at the
time. But this muscle car
was destined for dirt
ovals where, after some
teething problems and a
change of engine, it made
a big impact on the
competition and the fans.
With Barry at the
wheel there were many
victories. Other
competitors and car
builders were pushed to
equal the brothers and
cars such as the
Cowan-Black Pontiac
Firebird, often driven by
Ron Kendall, appeared.
Rules covering
Production Sedans had
evolved since the
1967-'68 season when the
category was introduced.
Originally little
modification was allowed
to standard road going
cars, but by '72 rules
were more liberal and
alternative engines, from
the same manufacturer
with the same cylinder
count, were allowed along
with many other freedoms.
These, at the time, were
more than were allowed on
Australian ovals and
during a visit to
Australia Barry commented
on how heavy Aussie
sedans were and how under
developed our engines
were in comparison to NZ.
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Barry
and the car were good
enough to beat visiting
American Ronny McDowell
at Waikaraka Park in
1973. He equalled the
visitor in match races
before a decider was run
in which the young Kiwi
kept the Pontiac Firebird
of the Yank behind him. The
brothers continued their
overseas visits and Barry
often took the
opportunity to try his
hand at different
machinery including paved
track Super Modifieds in
the US. Wether it was to
finance a new project (a
Camaro) or for some other
reason the McConnachie's
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| sold the car
in 1973 and it continued
on as #222HB (Below).
By this time several more
cars to a similar
standard had hit the
tracks of New Zealand
raising the stocks of
Sedan racing. |
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With out doubt
the McConnachie Mustang
was a fine example of
what a speedway sedan
could and should be. It
looked fast just sitting
still and backed that up
with on-track speed, it
was undoubtedly a
ground-breaking car, a
trend setter and one of
the finest of New
Zealand's speedway sedans
of the early '70s.
Barry McConnachie
(Right) was sadly killed
in an off-road accident
in the USA, brother
Graham resides in the
USA. The fate of the
famous #3 is not known.
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Information
and images for this
article were supplied by
Gavin Evitt of the
Historic Stockcar Club of
New Zealand. Please click
on their emblem to view
their website. |
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| McConnachie
Brothers Mustang |
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| Car: |
1970
Ford Mustang Mach 1 |
| Engine: |
Ford 289
ci, later Ford Windsor
351 ci: TRW forged
pistons, Hooker headers,
Crane Cams, Jackson fuel
injection, Head work by
Hollywood Porting Co.
California |
| Gearbox: |
Ford
Trans-Am Mustang 3 speed |
| Diff: |
Ford
3.9:1 with Detroit locker |
| Clutch: |
Twin
plate diaphram |
| Suspension: |
Front:
Boss Mustang sway-bar, A
frame with adjustable
Koni Shock absorbers.
Rear: Boss Mustang
sway-bar, Quarter
eliptics and adjustable
Koni Shock absorbers. |
| Wheels: |
Thompson
Performance Mags 8 1/2 in |
| Tyres: |
Goodyear
Speedway grooved 11 1/2
in |
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