Is this HEM-6 at Brands Hatch in 1967...?

[SunDude]

I found this photo on Flickr.
   
   The car looks to me to be HEM-6 after it was sold to the Hamblins in 1967.
   
   The photo "owner" says that it was taken at Brands Hatch on Oct 8, 1967, but I can find no record of a race there/then which featured this car.
   
   Can anyone confirm the race, date, location and car number?
   
   

[MkIV Lux]

it could help to know that car # 139 is a Ginetta G12 or G16.
   More likely to be a G16 as the G12 was in principal in GT form (closed cockpit)
   If G16 then photo would stem from 1968 earliest.

[AC Ace Bristol]

.
   Hey  Dude..
   
   Picture is familiar......  Page 131... Cobra .. The Real Thing !
   
   For more details we will await response from The Author...
   
   Trevor Legate....Down to you Squire. [;)]
   
   Keith..[:)]

[TLegate]

Response coming up - it's MY photo to which I claim full copyright. Naturally.
   
   Tis indeed HEM-6, GPG4C, owned and entered by 'Wendy Hamblin' and there you can see what the car used to look like, before it became a hugely modified hotrod. The location is correct and to be specific the accident happened along the bottom 'straight' behind the pits and the cars ended up on the corner just as they were about to go onto the long 'Grand Prix' section (you can just see the end of Clearways and the start of the main straight in the top right corner.) That only shows part of the story as the Cobra rode up onto the roll bar of the Ginetta and the cars travelled some way with the Cobra molesting said Ginetta from the rear - the Ginetta driver had dents from the Cobra's sump on his crash helmet! Another four Ginettas took to the scenery in avoidance - it was quite spectacular. I was walking down South Bank to that point where they was space by the fence to get some photos as the accident occured so I missed photographing the action. But I do own a photo of the Cobra in mounted position!
   
   The date is wrong - October 18th 1967.
   
   Photo has been scanned from my book. Hope a credit was given :)

[MkIV Lux]

Trevor, do you remember what race event it was?
   Ridgway's Ginetta was a G12, with GT type bodywork. So roof top was bitten away by the Cobra!

[nikbj68]

Someone throw a bucket of water over them! Would the result be a Ginobra, or a Cobretta?
   This is Trevor`s photo, posted for, on behalf of, as requested by and with the full consent of Mr.Legate!
   
   

[MkIV Lux]

thanks for the photo, Trevor (& Nik for posting it): there we see the roof of the Ginetta thrown away!
   Lucky driver of 139!

[TLegate]

Cheers Nik - Downloader to the Nobility & Gentry.
   
   I can't claim copyright to the photo above, just thought it useful to show what took place! The Cobra literally drove up the back of the Ginetta and was stuck on its roll bar for quite some way. The above shot shows the Cobra in the process of dismounting, so to speak
   
   Ginetta 139 didn't have a roof - was racing open as shown. Without unearthing my race programmes, I don't recall the meeting (it was a few months ago!) but it was for saloons and sports cars and held on the full circuit - happy days! I only shot a couple of rolls of film due to being a penniless art student in them far-flung days. Now a penniless photographer. Every frame counted back then a film was not cheap and I was shooting on 120 film, 12 frames per roll. No 35mm rubbish for me! I recall that the V8-powered Cortina of Terry Sanger was there.....

[shep]

WOW!!! What a fabulous photo, not to mention Nik's caption. GPG's recent Goodwood incidents seem almost tame by comparison.

[SunDude]

The photo caption on page 131 of Trevor's "Cobra! The Real Thing" says that the picture was taken at a club race in 1971.
   
   Monsieur Legate, do you recall whether this race was run in 1967 or 1971?
   
   Oct 8, 1967 was a Sunday, but the 18th was a Wednesday.  Oct 8, 1971 was a Friday and the 18th was a Monday.

[MkIV Lux]

quote:Originally posted by TLegate
   ......
   
   Ginetta 139 didn't have a roof - was racing open as shown. ....
   

   
   Maybe not relevant for the subject, but could help to identify the right date: I have difficulties to believe that 139 raced without a roof: The G12 was a GT car and Paul Ridgway raced his at Shelsley Walsh in June of 1967
   http://www.mikehaywardcollection.com/product/2116/p-ridgway-ginetta-g12.htm#.UpRoSCd0mbk
   
   So far I have never come across any photo of a Ginetta G12 in OTS guise.
   The G12 had a trapezoidal rear side window. And it had a rather eminent single wiper. On the latter photo posted by Nik you can clearly see both, the left hand side window just above and to the right of the number 9.
   You can also see the wiper on the first shot. A wiper of this size on an open top car would make no sense.

[Flyinghorse]

Is there not a roof section (upside down) to the left of the driver of 139 that resembles the ginetta's roof?
   
   I recall the G12 had slender pillars.

[MkIV Lux]

quote:Originally posted by Flyinghorse
   
Is there not a roof section (upside down) to the left of the driver of 139 that resembles the ginetta's roof?
   
   I recall the G12 had slender pillars.
   
   

   
   indeed, this is exactly what I think

[TLegate]

The Ginetta could have had a roof. However, I heard the accident before I saw it over the heads of the spectators standing along the fence and by that time its roof had gone. Hence I thought it was an open car. Like I say, it was a while back...
   
   Definately 1967, no question. As I said, I was at college and most 'Brands weekends' (I had a season ticket: £14/10/0d) I borrowed the college Mamiya C3 - great old camera, weighed a ton. I had only just begun using a pro camera and this was film number 33. By the time I stopped using film around 2004 I was up to roll number 10,000+. Not bad considering I shot mostly on 5x4 sheet film - and I used a LOT of that!
   
   I have just returned from my state-of-the-art filing system (otherwise known as my loft) and have the relevant contact sheet. I took two shots of the Cobra, the first taken a little earlier and another showing two other Ginettas (cars 141 and 105) parked on the opposite side of the track where they spun off in avoidance. The same film shows the Cortina V8, another Ginetta, a couple of failed attempts at panning and a Fraser Imp, either Bill McGovern or Bernard Unett(?)
   
   The date confusion may be due to my habit of noting the date I processed and filed the negatives. I still have my film diary that records details of the film type, developer used and processing times! So I guess I filed that film on Wednesday 18th but took the happy snaps on Sunday 15th. In those days, such forensic issues were not terribly important. As for '1971' appearing in my book, I find that odd but not unusual. I'd call that a publishing error as the photo above on page 131 shows the Taft Cobra in 1971 and somehow that date appeared on the photo below. In my original book 'Cobra' the year was not recorded (For the record, the Real Thing book was transcribed from my first book by another publisher. I made numerous corrections only to find they they were still wrong when the 'corrected' proofs returned.) So it was either moi or the publisher having a funny five minutes....

[MkIV Lux]

On 8 October 1967, a F3 race was held at Brands Hatch, namely round 22 of the II Les Leston Championship.
   
   Could "our" GT and sports car race here have been held as a side event?