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 HappyDaze
A.k.a.: Greg Mackie
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 03:45 PM |
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Dead Sydney Motorsport Tracks
On a similar theme to Phil's post, how about all the NSW tracks that have vanished?
Warwick Farm
Catalina Park
Mount Druitt
Hume Weir
Amaroo Park
Siverdale Hillclimb
Amaroo Hillclimb
Lithgow Hillclimb
Robertson Hillclimb
Lakeview Hillclimb
Parkes Hillclimb
Foley's Hillclimb
Hawkesbury Hillclimb
And so on etc, There are probably that I've forgotten?
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 03:51 PM |
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Oh yeah, you can now add Oran Park to the list!
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 04:46 PM |
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And Gnoo Blas ( Orange ).
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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58camper
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 04:56 PM |
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Greg,
And I bet you have raced at most of those long forgotten tracks...........
and have some great memories. ( maybe not Gnoo Blas)
Regards,
countrybuggybill
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 05:27 PM |
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Hi Bill,
You're right - not Gnoo Blas, Mt. Druitt, Robertson, or Foley's. The others, Yes.
Another one is Oxley Hill, at Bowral.
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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1303Steve
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 05:53 PM |
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Hi Greg
Where are people supposed to race now, guess if your not into a ball sport your out of luck.
Wasn't there a track at Parramatta Park? I'm pretty sure that Maroubra had a speedway as well and of course there was the show ground speedway.
Steve
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ian.mezz
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 07:17 PM |
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Catalina Park ,I Google this
The 2.1 km circuit opened in the early 1960s and remained in use until the 1990s. Originally used for top level motorsport including touring car, open
wheeler, motorcycle and sidecar racing in the 1960s. The mountain location caused problems with fog causing delays in the race programs, also the
track was very narrow by today's standards and surrounded by walls, armco railings and hillside. The track became used less with the opening of other
circuits nearer to Sydney such as Oran Park and Amaroo Park. Bruce Weston is the current lap record holder.
In the 1970s the circuit was used for Rallycross, where the cars would use half the bitumen track and a dirt infield section with jumps, like
Motocross.
By the 1980s the track was only being used for lap dashes with single cars on track at one time and was used until the mid 1990s for this.
The circuit still exists and can be walked around however it has deteriorated quite badly with grass growing through the track surface on what was
Lockheed Straight and Dunlop Corner, and water seepage has caused part of the track to collapse between Craven A corner and Castrol corner.
and I had a look at this track and it only looks like a push bike track .:
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Paulc1964au
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 07:26 PM |
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what about Liverpool speedway and the showground
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amazeer
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| posted on April 8th, 2010 at 10:37 PM |
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Huntley Hill would be gone too if it was up to me. Its all too much hard work.
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 vw54
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| posted on April 9th, 2010 at 03:59 AM |
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yeah i went to liverpool speedway once bout 1977 from memory
also went to Warwick farm to see Sir Jack run his Braham gota pic of him some where
hada few laps round Amaroo
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 9th, 2010 at 07:41 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by amazeer
Huntley Hill would be gone too if it was up to me. Its all too much hard work.
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I suppose that when you have the 'Fun Police' and the lawyers hovering around, waiting for someone to make a 'mistake', we will see this trend
continue. As you say Chris, it's hard work - and nobody wants to lose their house!
How lucky am I to have been through the 'good-old-days', and missed a lot of this crap.
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on April 9th, 2010 at 09:35 AM |
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We ran a series of articles in the Club Veedub magazine a few years ago about the dead former Sydney race tracks, but I dunno much about the hillclimb
ones. Last I heard, George Reynolds was still alive - I imagine he would have raced on all of those. I know he did race at Gnu Blass. I hope Greg
Cusack is still going too - he was one of the first drivers to run a Vee at Warwick Farm.
* Warwick Farm - the tarmac inside the racecourse, and the bridge over the lake, is still there. So are the old pit buildings. You can see them on
Google Earth! The main straight is now part of the horse exercise area, but the tarmac has been torn up. The top corner, and the track back to the
racecourse crossing, is gone.
* Catalina Park is still there. You can't drive around it as it is gated off, but you can easily walk or cycle around the track. It is too narrow,
and doesn't have any modern safety facilities, so it can't be used for motor racing now. Plus all the neighbours would complain about the noise. The
former dirt centre area (home of the Rallycross racing in the '70s) has all overgrown now.
* Mt Druitt was a former WW2 airstrip, which became the main straight. The alignment is still there, as the entrance to the sports park off Debrincat
Ave. The rest of the circuit has been overbuilt by houses.
* Amaroo Park has been torn up and is now houses. Only the former starting grid area (now a driveway to a house) and the climb up the first rise,
still exist as a street. The rest is gone. When I was there in 2001, one of the pit buildings was still there in the trees.
* Parramatta Park was only used a couple of times in the 1950s. It followed the existing road through the park, but today the road past Old Govt House
is One-Way only and goes the wrong way.
* The Maroubra Speedway closed in the 1930s and lay abandoned for 20 years. It was built over for post-war housing. Today's Coral Sea Park was the
track centre, and Minneapolis Cr roughly follows the line of the former south banking.
* The former Liverpool Raceway (BE THERE!!) is now the site of the Valley Plaza shopping centre in Green Valley.
* Most of Gnu Blass is still there (public road) and is well sign-posted. It can't be used for racing nowadays, but is often used for classc car
gatherings and parades and so forth.
* Castlereagh Drag Strip is now country estate houses. There are no ground landmarks now, but you can still vaguely see the outline of the former
strip on Google Earth.
* The Penrith Speedway was just to the north-east of the railway station, and closed in the late 1930s. The army took over the land for the war, and
today the site is still controlled by the Army (Reserve and regiment barracks). Nothing remains of any race circuit.
* Likewise the former 1930s banked speedway at Werrington is long gone. The south banking was demolished to build the Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre.
The north banking earthworks survived into the 1970s, but today the UWS campus is on the site.
* Schofields aerodrome was used for sports car racing in the late 1940s, up and down the airstrips and along the taxiways. Most of the tarmac is still
there, in derelict condition. Small portions are still used for driver training, and car club motorkhanas. I suppose the land will eventually be used
for housing. The naval airfield at Nowra was also used for sports car races in the late 1940s.
* There was a WW2 airstrip at Berkshire Park that was also used for racing in the late 1940s - down one side of the gravel airstrip, a 180 deg turn
and back up the other side. The strip crossed First, Second, Third and Fourth Rds in between Llandilo Rd and St Mary's Rd. Nothing to see today, as
houses have been built over it. You can vaguely see an outline of the former strip on Google Earth.
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 9th, 2010 at 09:57 AM |
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In 1962 or 63 George Reynolds and I raced together at Warwick Farm, IN BEETLES! I managed to stay with him until the main straight, where he charged
away. After the race I asked George how come his Beetle went so well in top gear. He told me he had a 1:1 ratio 4th gear fitted. When I queried the
legality of this, he showed me a VW factory parts book, showing the 1:1 4th gear, part number and all! - George was sponsored by VWA at the time, so
he got what he wanted. At least I drove my Beetle home, and to work the next day!
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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vw54
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| posted on April 10th, 2010 at 03:41 AM |
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good story Greg
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homer
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| posted on April 10th, 2010 at 04:48 AM |
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Windsor speedway.
Now an industrial area but has a plaque on a fence to show where the start/finish line was and a little bit of info on the track.
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on April 11th, 2010 at 07:42 PM |
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Never knew about that one - thanks. It's even marked on my 1971 Gregory's.
Oh yeah that reminds me - the Sydney Showground speedway at Moore Park. The old showground is now the Fox Studios/Entertainment Quarter, but the
showring used to have a dirt oval circuit around the outside edge. They did speedway racing there for years. The 1954 Redex Trial (won by Gelignite
Jack Murray) started and finished at the Showground Speedway. Today the track is gone but there is a memorial plaque on the eastern side.
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71-BEETLE-SEDAN
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| posted on April 11th, 2010 at 07:50 PM |
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Greg, these hillclimbs circuits round here like robo and oxley hill what are they now ive never heard anything about them
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 11th, 2010 at 08:14 PM |
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Oxley Hill Rd was closed off from near the brickworks to the top of the hill on hillclimb days. Berrima District Car Club ran the events until - I
think - the early '60s. Robertson is one that I am not sure about, but I think that the road is still there.
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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71-BEETLE-SEDAN
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| posted on April 11th, 2010 at 08:16 PM |
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Thats cool, never knew that and neither did dad and hes lived here his whole life.
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JVLRacing
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| posted on April 13th, 2010 at 11:51 AM |
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There was a old speedway track westmead...way before my time
Liverpool speedway was actually two tracks, Tar and dirt.great track for watching.
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on April 13th, 2010 at 12:22 PM |
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You can buy some great Australian DVDs of old Touring Car Championship races from the 1970s and 1980s that include Warwick Farm. Have a look at:
http://www.chevron.com.au/motorsport_dvd.html
There is also a DVD of the Rob Roy Hillclimb, as well as rallies, Bathurst, crashes etc etc. Might be an idea for Club VW to buy some, put them in the
library and show them at our meetings.
What a shame there don't seem to be any DVDs available of the old Catalina Rallycross. I remember it was on Channel 7 so maybe the old tapes exist
somewhere in their archives - who knows. They would make great viewing again now.
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amazeer
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| posted on April 13th, 2010 at 08:28 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by HappyDaze
he showed me a VW factory parts book, showing the 1:1 4th gear, part number and all!
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I wonder how many of them special parts books were made. Were they a homologation special?
I soent almost 2 years in limbo waiting to see if the coroner wanted my nuts. I can see a little bit of both sides. If you get hurt and cant work, you
need money to pay the bills. Nobody wants to live on the streets so you do what you can. Insurance and govt dont want to pay so they look for someone
else to pay. I reckon the govt should put armco all the way up huntley to make it safe for everyone. Would have been cheaper than the cost of
investigation.
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HappyDaze
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| posted on April 13th, 2010 at 09:10 PM |
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I'm sure that was the only parts book with that 'special' part number. Wouldn't be the first (or the last} time that a big car manufacturer
stepped in to 'help out' when required!
Putting Armco up Huntley sounds logical, cost-effective, and common sense - that's not the way governments 'think', is it?
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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amazeer
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| posted on April 13th, 2010 at 09:38 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by HappyDaze
I'm sure that was the only parts book with that 'special' part number. Wouldn't be the first (or the last} time that a big car manufacturer
stepped in to 'help out' when required!
Putting Armco up Huntley sounds logical, cost-effective, and common sense - that's not the way governments 'think', is it?
Cheers, Greg
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It's a miracle armco didnt kill bill brown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWtTue8yXLE There's plenty of times where NOT wearing a seatbelt would have saved a life.
Geoff was in a light weight open wheeler so there's no telling how he would have fared with armco at huntley. All you can do is minimise risks and
hope for the best. The day motorsport becomes 100% safe is the day motorsport dies. Despite all the risks I still think its safer than driving to
work. You dont have people coming at you from the other direction or coming at you from the side or people thinking about whats for dinner what should
I wear who's that calling my mobile where's my brittany CD.
 
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hewey
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| posted on April 15th, 2010 at 01:29 PM |
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I did lap of Catalina Park about a month back on my pushie, would have been a great little track back in the day. These days theres lots of grass
growing up through it, most of the boards at the side of the track are still there, and theres a single BP sign left.
There was also a speedway at Penrith
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Camo
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| posted on July 7th, 2014 at 02:28 PM |
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Just found this old footage of Catalina Park and there are a couple VW Beetles racing at about the half way mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niv-pldO2Gw&feature=em-share_video_user
Kev
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donn
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| posted on July 7th, 2014 at 04:11 PM |
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great old footage there, toss up what's the best, the vid or the first song  
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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vw54
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| posted on July 7th, 2014 at 07:30 PM |
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terrible music on the sound track
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giro-pilot
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| posted on July 7th, 2014 at 08:03 PM |
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westmeed speedway where the hospital is
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giro-pilot
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| posted on July 7th, 2014 at 08:06 PM |
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catalina park still there I walk around it 3 weeks ago it of cliff drive
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