During the late sixties, I had been competing a Mk 1 Triumph Spitfire at local Sprints and Hillclimbs with little success as the car had a very lively rear end with a mind of its own.

I had long admired my friend Bruce`s Marcos 1800 Volvo and when he suggested that I go down with him on his next visit to Greenland Mills, I agreed with alacrity. There, I met up with Nick Harrison who showed me around. From whence, I suppose the next stage was inevitable and I duly signed up for a kit 1600GT – colour Earls Court Blue. The huge incentive of not having to pay purchase tax certainly eased the burden on my bank account.

I had no idea at the time that the next six years would see me mixing it on the circuits which up to then I had only been to as a visitor. These would be the wonderful glory days of Modsports racing where grids would be filled with a variety of sports cars whose owners did not generally have to spend a fortune on their machinery.

But I am ahead of myself and was merely thinking of Sprints and Hillclimbs when I went ahead with the purchase.

The car components duly arrived at my Dad`s farm at Stonehouse in November and we had a rolling car two weekends later thanks to my friends who pitched up to help and drink my beer. With the car registered in January 1969, it was not long before I had to be in competition with the first being a sprint at Thruxton in March.

I have to dig deep into my memory of how the early sporting events unfolded. As time went on, I kept proper race notes.

Next - 1969

© Ian Gemmell 2024