Where are they Now?

[Andrew Potter]

Dear John,
The more information I find, the more there is to find!
Ecurie Chiltern was owned by a paper magnate called David Dixon and he was involved in a great deal of international competition. As many of his cars were MGs he had them prepared at Abingdon. One of the cars he owned was the Healey 3000 DD 300 as raced by John Chatham so successfully in later years and still on the circuits today. Where John McKechnie fitted in I haven't found yet, but may find it in Jake Alderson's book 'Morgan Sports cars ....The Heritage Years.'

Andrew P

[Roger Bonsall]

Hi Andrew.

I think John McKechnie called his team "Team Cedar" after the name of his garage in Cheltenham - you can just about make this name out in one of the pictures recently posted.

Roger Bonsall.

[Andy Downes]

John McKechnie did indeed race under the banner of Cedar House, I have many Goodwood results showing this.

Richard Plant has kindly sent me some photos of the McKechnie 4/4, along with XOV 555 and XRX 1 at the AMOC Relay Race Silverstone May 1964.

The colour scheme could easily be Silver body and Blue Hardtop as discussed earlier in this thread.

...and could that be Mike Duncan behind the Triumph Herald tow-car

Presumably the Team photograph shows Basil Fielding (XRX), John McKechnie (4/4), Ray Meredith (XOV) - they were 2nd.

Have Fun

Andy

[Andy Downes]

On the front cover is a line drawing taken from a photograph showing a Morgan registered 818 AOA ahead of a Spridget registered 138 DMO and a TVR registered XPG 1.
The Morgan is quite clearly left hand drive!

Mark,

I have a copy of that photograph and Chris Acklam is right it's taken from another race - a Marque Sports Car Race at Brands Hatch (pre-1967).

Those other cars carry 'famous' numbers too, also in the picture are a Daimler SP250 'Dart', an MGB and a meaty looking Austin Healy 3000 bringing up the rear. I'll try and post acopy later.

As promised :-

Andy

[Mark Shears]

Hi Andy,

Great pictures - thank you and Richard for putting them up.

Notice XRX 1 is running the crossflow cylinder head - hence the cutout in the nearside bonnet half.

I am so pleased you have found the actual photograph I had alluded to. I think Richard will be able to advise us that this car is actually the North Supersports - usually bearing the registration number MOG 1?!

I think it is another number plate of convenience!

Cheers

Mark

[RICHARD PLANT]

Andy / Mark

No problem I thought they were good photos and added to the above tread.

The interesting photo for me is 818 AOA as I have never seen this car as a left hand drive car before so is this another case of a number plate swooping!!!

Originally 818 AOA belonged to Adrian Dence and was a right hand drive 1959 high line car, Adrian sold AOA to Brian Kendall who raced it very successfully, Brian then sold it to Alan House in July 1964 for £650!!!
So was this the car that was raced by Ray North with the registration number ALT?? Alan House also raced a car with the registration number MOG 1 which was a high line car that looked very similar to AOA!!!

As per Chris Harvey's book - Pages 190/191 show two pics. One of Alan House in 818 AOA with original hi-line body winning his class in the 1965 Autosport Championship. The other shows "Alan House ... in 1967 ... with Roy North's left hand drive Plus Four Super Sports ... in June at Brands Hatch" The comp number is 268 which would tie in with the numbers of the other cars in the BHP picture. I'm sure that the original 818AOA was 'totalled' by Alan House

Also on P190/191 is a pic of "the House/North +4 Super Sports bearing the number MOG1 in the 1965 Guards race at Brands Hatch" - still in original configuration!

Happy days
Richard

[RICHARD PLANT]

Andy / Mark

No problem I thought they were good photos and added to the above tread.

The interesting photo for me is 818 AOA as I have never seen this car as a left hand drive car before so is this another case of a number plate swooping!!!

Originally 818 AOA belonged to Adrian Dence and was a right hand drive 1959 high line car, Adrian sold AOA to Brian Kendall who raced it very successfully, Brian then sold it to Alan House in July 1964 for £650!!!
So was this the car that was raced by Ray North with the registration number ALT?? Alan House also raced a car with the registration number MOG 1 which was a high line car that looked very similar to AOA!!!

As per Chris Harvey's book - Pages 190/191 show two pics. One of Alan House in 818 AOA with original hi-line body winning his class in the 1965 Autosport Championship. The other shows "Alan House ... in 1967 ... with Roy North's left hand drive Plus Four Super Sports ... in June at Brands Hatch" The comp number is 268 which would tie in with the numbers of the other cars in the BHP picture. I'm sure that the original 818AOA was 'totalled' by Alan House

Also on P190/191 is a pic of "the House/North +4 Super Sports bearing the number MOG1 in the 1965 Guards race at Brands Hatch" - still in original configuration!

Happy days
Richard

[Andrew Potter]

Thank you Richard and Andy. Super photos.
Andrew P

[Mary Lindsay]

McKechnie features alongside some well known names which came up as a result of my chat with the BDC archivist:
http://www.morganchallenge.co.uk/Morgan ... -all-began

[Robin Singleton]

JMD 111B. +4 SuperSports 1964

If anyone by chance turns up any more details from the period 1964-1970, eg photo, race entries etc of my SuperSports

I'd be grateful as it would help to fill in more details of the cars past.

Thanks again to Richard for previous photos.

Robin S

[John Emberson]

Sorry to move this topic across the Atlantic to the US but I found this amazing recent obituary on-line of George S. Waltman (1925 - 2013). Not a +4 racer from the late '60's I've ever heard of before but someone who truly seemed to embody the spirit of driving a Morgan! I love the fact he finished 335 laps behind the winner. There were a couple of pictures but I couldn't upload them (sorry) and they showed him racing in true traditional style with the spare wheel attached Where is his +4 now?

"On Tuesday, January 8th, 2013, Daytona racing legend George S. Waltman of Kingston, New York passed away at the age of 87.
Most endurance racing fans were unaware of exactly who George S. Waltman was unless you heard mention of him on the Speed Television broadcast of the recently concluded Rolex 24 At Daytona.
George was a very special man in many ways. Not only did he serve with the Army Air Corp as a B-29 pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II but following the war he worked as a pilot for British Air. Later he became an engineer for Jaguar-British Leyland and in that capacity dabbled in auto racing in the Bahamas, Sebring, Daytona, Bridgehampton, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen.
His greatest claim to fame and what has endeared him to anyone who has ever watched a sports car endurance race or ever dreamed of driving in one is that George S. Waltman is the only person of his time to drive and complete the 24 Hours of Daytona without benefit of a co-driver.
The year was 1968 and not only did George drive solo in the Daytona 24 but he also did it without benefit of a pit crew. And, as they say on TV, “But, that’s not all!” George drove, did not trailer, his Aztec Racing Morgan Plus 4 to Daytona from his home in Great Neck, New York, a distance of over 1,000 miles.
During the 24 hour race George complied with FIA driver rules requiring a rest break of one hour after every four hours on the track by servicing the car, taking a nap or getting a bite to eat. When leaving the pit area to “take care of business” he would place an “Out to Lunch” sign on the car.
With no pit crew he had to fuel the car himself, change tires and do other maintenance or repairs. No doubt he took advantage of all the freebies being offered to racers from the automotive vendors at the track in exchange for placing their decal on his car. It was also reported that some of the other racing teams may have assisted the intrepid driver where they could.
George’s Morgan Plus 4 was one of the last race cars running when the checkered flag fell and he is listed as finishing 30th overall, 335 laps behind the winning Porsche Works Team 907. Even more amazing was that he was only five laps behind actor James Garner’s AIR team Corvette that had four drivers including the likes of Ed Leslie and Scooter Patrick".

[Mary Lindsay]

Now that is what I call proper Morgan racing!
He was a hero and we should try to find out more.
Can you provide the link to the obituary John?

[Bob Bull]

Thank's for that John, a real heart warming story, almost out of a child's annual, obviously George not only loved racing but must have had a truly great sense of humour.

Bob.

[John Emberson]

Of course Mary, I should have included it earlier, sorry. It's on "www.sportscardigest.com"

I knew you'd love the fact that he drove to & from the race!

[Mark Shears]

Hi John,

Love this story and sorry to hear George has died. He was my son Jonnys hero!

What is especially sad for us is that Jonny had only recently tried to contact him and now it is too late.

Jonnys grandfather (my late father in law) ran the two OSCAs at Le Mans in 1962. They were in the Briggs Cunningham pits as they were running the cars from the USA and John Bentley and my father in law were both English aero/auto engineers working in the States. (They were next door but one to Chris and Richard with TOK.)

George Waltman bought the red OSCA 1600GTS Zagato (ch/n. 0036) from John and raced this car (amoung others) until he sold it to buy the Morgan Plus Four.

Jonny has done all the research on the two Le Mans OSCAs and is something of an expert as he is in touch with both past and present owners (in the USA.) They have all been interested to see the original super 8mm colour film my father in law took - which includes some footage of TOK.

Another of the old school sadly passes on...