Aptly named home movie Croft

[911MRP]

A few glimpses of 911 but lots of spins from all sorts of cars on a very soggy day. The silver 911 is Richard “Dickie” Stoop.

https://youtu.be/FcMG7l51gQ0?si=yXD9zr8Yzof_hqdl

This is the track where retired RAF pilot Dickie Stoop had a fatal heart attack behind the wheel in a 911 and ran into the banking:

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Croft circuit like many race tracks in England had been a WW2 bomber base. My Uncle was a pilot who flew missions from there and other bases in North Yorkshire — he was awarded a distinguished flying cross for his service. Wonder if Stoop had flown from there before it was closed and converted to a track?

Steve

[HughH]

Steve
great video
I saw at lease 3 early 911's there
#10 Dickie Stoop YOU 4
#11 and #2 sand beige?

[911MRP]

Croft when my uncle was a pilot with 431 squadron around 1943

— looks like it was wet back then too

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Lancaster touching down
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Perhaps it is this event

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Neil Corner a local to the circuit owned a blue GT40 — reg NNO14C. Earlier this year I was invited to a private Corner family party at the RAC where Neil his son and grandson displayed a Lotus. I remember being overtaken on the old A1 in County Durham by him in his D-Type near to their business premises so I pulled in beside him when he stopped there and had a quick chat. He was very friendly. This would have been the late 70s.

https://library.revsinstitute.org/un...paddock/617847

The photo (in the www link) shows Corner’s D-Type seems to be from Karl Ludvigsen collection which I acknowledge. The image can be bought from REVS via the link. At the beginning of November my club honoured him with a lifetime achievement award at the RAC’s prestigious annual motoring book of the year awards. In his nineties he is still very active and was very sharp when interviewed during the ceremony.

Denny Hume was F1 world champion in 1967 — sadly he too had a heart attack many years later when at the wheel of a race in Bathhurst Australia.

The Battle of Britain events at Croft were great events when I was still living in the area often attracting top drawer entrants for example ten years later for the 1977 event James Hunt the 1976 World Champion in the headline Trophy event

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How a WW2 bomber base became a race track: “ Although there had been motorsport activity at Croft (sometimes called Neasham) Aerodrome in the fledgling years just after the Second World War, it wasn’t until April 1962, when the Air Ministry offered about two-thirds of the land totalling 160 acres for sale at a public auction, that things really started to take off.
A group of mainly local enthusiasts decided that it would make an ideal and much needed motor racetrack to serve the North-East so “The Croft Consortium” as they were known made a successful bid at public auction before seeking planning permission. That was granted in August 1963 and in January 1964, they formed a company called Croft Autodrome Limited.
Teesside shipbuilding tycoon Sir Robert Ropner was elected chairman. His son Bruce and nephew John – who were both established racers – became directors along with Bruce’s (lifelong) friend and fellow racer Keith Schellenberg. Another established competitor, The Hon. John “Jock” Leith, was also elected to the board with the legal representation being provided by C.S. Tilley (of local solicitors Tilley, Bailey & Irvine).
That only left one more director – a certain W. Shand Kydd. Like Keith Schellenberg and Bruce Ropner, who were British bobsleigh champions in 1956 and 1962 respectively, Bill Shand Kydd embraced the trappings of his privileged upbringing by becoming a businessman, an adrenaline-fuelled sportsman including being a prolific winter sports athlete so hence the association. He also went on to be a successful amateur jockey and racehorse breeder. For 19 years his older half-brother Peter was married to Princess Diana’s mother, Frances, after her divorce from Earl Spencer in 1967. But perhaps a more controversial link is that with his brother-in-law, John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan – Lord Lucan to most of us. There are various accounts of what happened to lead to his mysterious disappearance, but Shand Kydd was seemingly a prominent figure in the final exchanges between the two”. Stockton & Darlington Times

Programme of the first race event that was a foundation for a special annual event
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Steve

[one-two]

Steve
great video
I saw at lease 3 early 911's there
#10 Dickie Stoop YOU 4
#11 and #2 sand beige?

It is indeed a great video, if somewhat noisy! It may be the Wills Trophy meeting with, perhaps, three different races shown? The 911s would have been classified as Touring cars at that point. I am going to guess #2 might be Gordon Durham - Bahama yellow rather than sand beige - and, with more confidence, #10 is Terry Hunter. Would be great to pin down the details of the race and entry list. Robert

[911MRP]

Thanks Robert. Thought this might be in your bailiwick Will you be going to the Bonhams new bond st auction where, as you will know, the rhd prototype is being offered — I’m thinking of popping into to either the preview or maybe attend the auction sale itself?

My dad’s friend ( think it may have been his boss) used to race at Croft. Lotus Elan. It was our local race track when I was growing so we used to get along there to watch him and other events. Who knows I might’ve been there in short trousers but too young and too long ago to recall. Used to get some interesting races there maybe that’s contributed to me getting interested in motor sport.

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Last time I was there I handed out the gongs at the Lotus Elise single make ( the Autobytel) series we ran in support of the BTCC main event. Stayed with my parents at family home and took my son along to the Croft race. An example of life going full circle, I suppose. Coincidentally been blowing leaves in garden so have on the old Lotus Sport fleece I was given to wear to fly the flag; long relegated to gardening duty
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Steve

[Chuck Miller]

Love the vid Steve !!! ... Cheers

[911MRP]

Another from Croft Autodrome 1970. Sports cars after the single seater event

https://youtu.be/JaYtbAoJ_lE?si=OXxulnSob5EDsCmz

Steve

[911MRP]

The Ford Escort that would prove to be such an important car in the world rally scene saw its earliest motorsport action at Croft Autodrome . As pointed out by the commentator the new (TV friendly) discipline of Rallycross that featured regularly on ATV on Saturday’s multi-sports coverage; it drew huge viewing figures at a time when there were only two channels to watch here in GB:
https://youtu.be/UOBum2GkLzo?si=tA380X0iU1PPvv7q

The Ford factory motorsports team seems to have used Croft Rallycross events to first show and test its rally innovations, this film taken early Feb 1969 at Croft shows the Capri 4x4 in action (also posted on rally thread but the context fits Croft theme so duplicating it here)

https://youtu.be/anb7B6CFO_U?si=c_phHNhsMjWI2xLP
There is a 911 featured that is discussed in more detail elsewhere.
Steve

[one-two]

So back to that Croft video. With huge thanks to Terry Wright, the circuit archivist, it seems the meeting is the Wills Trophy event over the weekend 12/13 August 1967. There are about four races spliced together in the video. The 911s from Saturday's Marque Sports Car Race are #10 Dickie Stoop and #11 Terry Hunter and from Sunday's Glover Trophy Touring Car Race car #2 is Terry Hunter again. Vic Elford was supposed to be in the latter race, if not the video, as #1 in GVB 911D

[911MRP]

…. Then this is the programme cover

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