Seeking Merlyn Mk 17 owner history

[DaveZ]

As work progresses on my Merlyn Mk 17 FF restoration project and trying to piece together it's ownership history, have recently learned from Clive Hayward at CRD (thanks to Cap Chenowith) that it was the first Mk 17 imported to the US, was originally red in color, and the name "C. Rood" is found in its records. Do any of you out there in Apex-land know anything that could help fill in the blanks between Rood and the late Ted Ross of Carmel Valley, CA? Ted had autocrossed the car for probably around 20 years, ending around 2005 when he passed away. I bought the car from his widow, who unfortunately knew nothing of its history prior to Ted, but general assessment of it's very un-altered originality (including what was probably the original pre-uprated engine still in it) suggests it was club-raced very little prior to Ted. Chassis number is 259/FF/69. Any helpful info will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks and Happy New Year!
DaveZ

[big matt]

Very similar history for my Mk 11A 237/FF/69. Clive told me mine was not exported from new and got here after use in England. Somehow she ended up in SF region 33 SCCA. Logs show her running Solo from the late 70's to late 80's at Sears Point and Laguna Seca. Car was then disassembled at some point and left in boxes until my good friend passed. His widow left the pieces of the car to me. Fortunately I have the log books but still do not know how/when my friend purchased the car. It still has the original Chris Steele non uprated engine and Mk 6 box. I rebuilt the car and she's now in great shape. Still have to test her out, hopefully soon.

Good luck with your 17. Hopefully you get some answers!

Cheers,

Matt

[Lola_T360]

As work progresses on my Merlyn Mk 17 FF restoration project and trying to piece together it's ownership history, have recently learned from Clive Hayward at CRD (thanks to Cap Chenowith) that it was the first Mk 17 imported to the US, was originally red in color, and the name "C. Rood" is found in its records. Do any of you out there in Apex-land know anything that could help fill in the blanks between Rood and the late Ted Ross of Carmel Valley, CA? Ted had autocrossed the car for probably around 20 years, ending around 2005 when he passed away. I bought the car from his widow, who unfortunately knew nothing of its history prior to Ted, but general assessment of it's very un-altered originality (including what was probably the original pre-uprated engine still in it) suggests it was club-raced very little prior to Ted. Chassis number is 259/FF/69. Any helpful info will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks and Happy New Year!
DaveZ

Dave
C Rood is very probably Courtney Rood who went on to be a very useful racer in FB with a Brabham BT29 in San Francisco region. Does the car have a roll hoop stamp? That might help identify region and perhaps user in 1972-73
Rood is still running FF in 1972.
Then in 1973 we have Tim Ireland of San Francisco running a Mk17, and there aren't many of them in the region. Could be your car?

Chris

[Lola_T360]

Very similar history for my Mk 11A 237/FF/69. Clive told me mine was not exported from new and got here after use in England. Somehow she ended up in SF region 33 SCCA. Logs show her running Solo from the late 70's to late 80's at Sears Point and Laguna Seca. Car was then disassembled at some point and left in boxes until my good friend passed. His widow left the pieces of the car to me. Fortunately I have the log books but still do not know how/when my friend purchased the car. It still has the original Chris Steele non uprated engine and Mk 6 box. I rebuilt the car and she's now in great shape. Still have to test her out, hopefully soon.

Good luck with your 17. Hopefully you get some answers!

Cheers,

Matt

Matt

Can help you a bit here. Have a chassis observation of 237 in a programme from an English race in August 1969, driven by one John Higgins at Brands Hatch. What roll hoop stamp does 237 have? That could date when it arrived on the west coast.

Chris

[DaveZ]

Matt & Chris,

Thanks for your replies, both very helpful! Matt, very interesting "parallel" stories about how each of us came to own our cars, and will look forward to meeting you and seeing yours on the track!

Chris, my roll bar is stamped 33-428, so that says it definitely was a San Francisco Region car at some point, and maybe you can find something in your records associated with that number? I didn't start racing in SFR until the 1989 season in FV, but I have several friends here who were racing in the early 70's, so maybe one of them knew or knew of Courtney Rood. That's a good lead, for sure. Will also ask them about Tim Ireland, same questions.

Looking forward to any more info you might dig up, and thanks again!

Dave

[Lola_T360]

Matt & Chris,

Thanks for your replies, both very helpful! Matt, very interesting "parallel" stories about how each of us came to own our cars, and will look forward to meeting you and seeing yours on the track!

Chris, my roll bar is stamped 33-428, so that says it definitely was a San Francisco Region car at some point, and maybe you can find something in your records associated with that number? I didn't start racing in SFR until the 1989 season in FV, but I have several friends here who were racing in the early 70's, so maybe one of them knew or knew of Courtney Rood. That's a good lead, for sure. Will also ask them about Tim Ireland, same questions.

Looking forward to any more info you might dig up, and thanks again!

Dave

Dave, from what I know of SFR numbering, that's a 1972 stamp or at latest early 1973 (1972 first year of SCCA records, they got to at least 279 with their own system in 1971)

[DaveZ]

Thanks, Chris, again very helpful! Will let you know what more I learn, but could be that I'm only the 3rd or 4th owner, which will be pretty cool for an almost 50-year old car.????

Dave

[big matt]

Chris,
My roll hoop is stamped twice, 33-1342 and 33-1825. I have the log books and 33-1342 was stamped in error and corrected by WC Wills??? as per the log book started 12/31/78. The other two books I have are stamped 33-1825. Starting in June 1983 the car was campaigned as a sports racer and reverted back to a FF March 1 1987. All in region 33. I am fortunate to have these logs and am waiting on clearing tech for my new book for VARA. Very interesting on the 1969 sighting in England. I understood that most Merlyns were exported to USA. I think a lot ended up back there! A gentleman in England helped me quite a bit in sorting out the front end.

Dave,
I read your story and could not help but think of my cars history. My friend who owned the car and passed wanted desperately to rebuild her and return to Laguna Seca. Sadly he could not and I have been so pleased to be able to build the car for him. I could not go through with his desire to paint the car green though! I have painted his name on the right side of the car opposite that of my driver. His family is quite pleased, as am I.

[Lola_T360]

Chris,
My roll hoop is stamped twice, 33-1342 and 33-1825. I have the log books and 33-1342 was stamped in error and corrected by WC Wills??? as per the log book started 12/31/78. The other two books I have are stamped 33-1825. Starting in June 1983 the car was campaigned as a sports racer and reverted back to a FF March 1 1987. All in region 33. I am fortunate to have these logs and am waiting on clearing tech for my new book for VARA. Very interesting on the 1969 sighting in England. I understood that most Merlyns were exported to USA. I think a lot ended up back there! A gentleman in England helped me quite a bit in sorting out the front end.

Dave,
I read your story and could not help but think of my cars history. My friend who owned the car and passed wanted desperately to rebuild her and return to Laguna Seca. Sadly he could not and I have been so pleased to be able to build the car for him. I could not go through with his desire to paint the car green though! I have painted his name on the right side of the car opposite that of my driver. His family is quite pleased, as am I.

Matt

It's later than I'd expect, given that a Merlyn Mk11 isn't really worth very much in 1978, so why import one from UK when you could get one in California already?

However, I've sent an email to the SFR registrar to see if they can help with a name.
In the meantime, you might do better than talk to the people at Fantasy Junction. Bruce Trenery and James Barton were just setting out with the company back then, and one of the first cars they race in SFR in 1979 is a Merlyn. I can identify the model of all the other Merlyns that year, but not this one. Yours MIGHT just have been that car.

Chris

[big matt]

Dave, I'm not trying to hijack your thread. i'm hoping that this discussion will shed some light in your search. I'd love to see a pic of your 17. Merlyn's are not all that common and ours are very similar. Fortunately I have some documentation in the form of three log books and a stack of photos. That's how I was able to build the car as I brought it home in four truckloads of parts in boxes. I also got some help from some pretty cool sources locally.

Chris, I appreciate your help and am fascinated by FF history. Looking at vintage data on FF showed a huge network of support in the Los Angeles area back in the 60's and 70's. Sadly its virtually all gone now. VARA has a pretty strong FF community and a few Merlyn's. So far I have the only MK 11A.
The first log entry for 1979 was March 3 at Sears Point. Paul Fischer is the driver of record. William Johnson is also listed as a driver and another driver who's signature I am not able to interpret. Unfortunately I cannot link any of the several drivers listed in my logs to the two you mentioned.
The car was dark blue with white accents and ran with minilites and the #17 at that time. In the mid 1980's it was red and wore the #1 plate. I believe it was disassembled at some point in the late 1980's or early 1990's as no further log entries exist and that is the condition in which my friend obtained it.

Thanks for your help.

Matt

[DaveZ]

[QUOTE=big matt;528640]Dave, I'm not trying to hijack your thread. i'm hoping that this discussion will shed some light in your search. I'd love to see a pic of your 17. Merlyn's are not all that common and ours are very similar. Fortunately I have some documentation in the form of three log books and a stack of photos. That's how I was able to build the car as I brought it home in four truckloads of parts in boxes. I also got some help from some pretty cool sources locally.

Matt,

Your car looks great...nice job on the restoration! I'll put up some pics of mine as it comes together....bare frame right now, and I'm having trouble finding the as-it-was pics, but it was pretty sad. Fortunately very original, though, and other than adding a knee roll hoop both for safety and to give me adequate knee room to drive her, she'll still be very original.

Based on the research I've done, and confirmed by Cap Chenowith, the 17 was mechanically identical to the 11A's, the only difference being the bodywork with the separate nose of the 17 vs. the one-piece center section/nose of the 11 and 11A. They did that on the 17's as they planned to sell a lot of them as racing school cars. Like the 11 and 11A, I think the 17 is a very handsome car, and am excited to get it finished and on the track. Again, am looking forward to meeting you and your car!

[DanW]

Hello Dave,

By some chanced did your Merlyn have some slight chassis damage to the left rear suspension pickup point?

[DaveZ]

Hello Dave,

By some chanced did your Merlyn have some slight chassis damage to the left rear suspension pickup point?

Hi Dan,

Sure does...bottom of rear-most bulkhead, below the LR a-arm inner pickup point, has had some pretty good pavement engagement...ground down probly 1/8". And the LR shock has been changed, doesn't match the other three Spax's, and its upper mount tabs were modified to fit the replacement shock. Also found damage to LF lower a-arm, leading edge tube bent in about 1/4", and the LF steering arm also bent.

Repairing and/or replacing all, but please tell me what you know, Dan, anxious to hear "the rest of the story"...!

Thanks,
Dave

[DanW]

Hi Dan,

Sure does...bottom of rear-most bulkhead, below the LR a-arm inner pickup point, has had some pretty good pavement engagement...ground down probly 1/8". And the LR shock has been changed, doesn't match the other three Spax's, and its upper mount tabs were modified to fit the replacement shock. Also found damage to LF lower a-arm, leading edge tube bent in about 1/4", and the LF steering arm also bent.

Repairing and/or replacing all, but please tell me what you know, Dan, anxious to hear "the rest of the story"...!

Thanks,
Dave

This car was "the one that got away" from me. I looked at your car about 17 or 18 years ago. I saw it on Craigslist, my son and I went to Milpitas to look at it. It was sitting on an open trailer with a tarp over it. It had been sitting under the tarp for a long time. It was owned by two guys who had bought as partners it to go to drivers school and race it regionally in the late 80s early 90s.

The owner told me the "story". One of the guys went to drivers school and then was in his first race as a novice at Sears Point. He had done about 5 laps when the leaders came around to lap him at just before T4. The lead pack did not expect to see him ahead. A Swift DB1 climbed over his left rear wheel, over the roll hoop and left some of Mr. Goodyear's finest rubber on the top of his helmet. The left rear links were bent, the shock piston rod was bent.

Neither had the money to repair it, so they agreed the one who never got to drive it would either keep it or sell it and keep the proceeds. It sat under the tarp for years. The chassis was full of leaves and debris. I was ready to buy it, had brought a checkbook since it was a Saturday morning. Another fellow walked up and offered cash on the spot, said he wanted to turn it into a land speed record car. The owner decided he liked the cash better than my check.

I think searching region results from the mid '80s to early 90s from Sears Point may provide some info.

edit: I looked at the new region web page. They no longer show the old results. I guess Gary Horskorta would be the source of info.

Best of luck,
Dan

[Lola_T360]

Guys

You are lucky. I have the Wheel, complete bar a few issues, from 1973 thru 1989.
Eventually oldracingcars.com - who I work with - is going to publish full results for SCCA single seaters, including FF, for this period, starting with No Pac division. (We are quite close on some years for SoPac too) I recently shared the first lot of these (1978) with Gary, the historian at SFR.

So, I found Paul Fischer. The first date given in the log book is actually for a School at Sears Point, and Fischer (from Alameda) graduated in the Solo group. So, I guess that he didn't race the car but used it in Solo as a Class D Modified. Results for that are included in the Wheel, but they aren't as good as for the races, where after 1976 we get very full detail. He's not in the early season points tables, so wasn't scoring in the top 10 of a class which could attract 20+ runners.

I begin to think that this Merlyn has been around SFR for most of its life. No one in their right mind would import a 10 year old car to run Solo! So, it probably came to USA when it was about a year old and then for whatever reason didn't run in 1972-78 when it would have got a hoop stamp. Then Fischer rediscovers it. I will look in ads for 1978 to see if I can find a Merlyn for sale that might be a likely suspect.

[big matt]

That's awesome Chris! Unfortunately I cannot ask my friend about where and when exactly he found the car. I know he was specifically looking for a MK11A. I am not sure why because, like me, he was well over 6 feet! I can get in the car but there is no way on earth I could drive it because I can't move my legs when inside. I just build them, my buddy is the driver.

You are correct, importing a potentially worn out race car would be silly. Clive told me that it was sold in England and he had no more record of it other than the green color and Chris Steele engine and Mk 6 box.

My logs do indicate it was run in Solo at least most of the time. My event entries peter out in the mid/late 1980's when the car went into hibernation again. It was in pretty rough shape in the last pictures where the car is complete. When I picked the car up it was completely disassembled. I do know that my friend had the frame stripped and xrayed. I have the receipts for that. He had found a few parts on ebay and had a new windscreen made. Learning how to build a Mk 6 Hewland from a box of parts was entertaining, especially when parts are missing. Clive also sent me chassis setup measurements and the car is remarkably straight.

I enjoy hearing about the history so your efforts are very much appreciated, thank you!

Matt