Lapping it in his 1965 Ford Falcon

In a sport where chequebooks can dictate the winners and the losers, the Pre 65 Racing series strikes a happy medium, with many aspects of the cars' componentry controlled.

For Wanaka's Barry Morgan, this is part of the category's appeal and one of the reasons he turned out some laps in his 1965 Ford Falcon at the Highlands Festival of Speed at the weekend.

The original engines in the cars, which must have all been manufactured before 1965, have to comply with strict regulations and all the drivers must use the same cylinder heads, brakes, tyres and gearboxes.

‘‘It does even it up. It really comes down to driver skill,'' Mr Morgan said.

He enjoyed the camaraderie of the Pre 65 series, which he had raced in around the lower South Island's tracks over the past six years.

‘‘It's a lot of fun. They are a great bunch of guys. We are all here for the fun of it.''

Joining him were three of his good mates Trevor Mackay, Graham Dowdall and Stu McIvor, all from Wanaka, who looked after the mechanical side of the race weekends.

‘‘Whatever needs done, we just get in and do it,'' Mr McIvor said.

A recent trip to compete at the Mainfeild circuit, in Feilding, provided a great excuse for a racing road trip and also a satisfying top five finish among the 30 similarly equipped cars.

The beauty of the Pre 65 class was that all the drivers were ‘‘in the same boat'' wrestling with powerful but non-aerodynamic cars. Mr Morgan fondly described his Falcon as a ‘‘heavy old car'' that was a handful to keep under control out on the track.

Aged in his mid-60s, Mr Morgan has a huge amount of technical know-how. After owning a large engineering company for most of his working life, Mr Morgan down-sized and now runs Performance Engineering in Wanaka.

He built all the components of his car, which runs a 289cuin V8 engine, and keeps it maintained between race meetings.

‘‘I do everything,'' he said. It was a skill which had proved to be both cost-effective and fun, he added.

He had many years' experience to call on, having built his first project - a 1919 Dodge T Bucket hot rod - when he was 15.

Building hot rods for other enthusiasts had been a spare time passion that had been harder to give up than Mr Morgan anticipated.

‘‘Every year I keep saying next year I'm not going to do it,'' he said.

There were a few more hot rods in the pipeline and once they were built, Mr Morgan vowed to dedicate his time to his own Pre 65 car.

‘‘I'm the oldest of the whole lot [Pre 65 drivers] of them. I'm 66 but I still enjoy it,'' he said with a chuckle.

Joining the Pre 65 series for the weekend's racing was Vintage and Historic; Modern Classics; Formula Libre and Nostalgic Classics classes and the 25-car field of Central Muscle Cars.

About 5000 spectators attend the two-day event at the Cromwell circuit.

 

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