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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia
• Sale Date:
  27 Nov 2016 ~ 2.30pm
• Lot #:
  46
• Lot Description:
  1957 MOLINA MONZA RACING CAR
  POWERED BY A SUPERCHARGED HOLDEN 'GREY' ENGINE WITH REPCO HIGHPOWER HEAD
• Notes:
  Australia saw its racing Specials in the 1950's developed to a degree well beyond most other nations, largely due to the shortage of pedigree racing cars and components, being so far from the epi-centre of engineering overseas. And so, the local racer had to improvise and invent in order to be competitive. This was the age when gentleman drivers contested in the spirit of camaraderie mostly for fun as the stakes available to professional drivers nowadays were unheard of. The Holden engine was a boon to local racing car constructors as it was eminently suitable for development and gave a long life span in a high state of tune. Of all the modified Holden powered specials in this era, the Molina Monza is by far the most beautiful and was amongst the most powerful ever built. A larger than life character, Melbourne restaurateur and racer Lou Molina, built the Monza Holden, along with assistance from his close friend, Sil Massola and the extra-ordinary artistic skills of coachbuilder Brian Burnett, who was very active in the 1950s. The design of the body, with its high-swept tail fins, incorporated in-swept side portions to provide good airflow over the brakes but kept the exhaust pipes within the car's overall body dimensions. Both technically sophisticated and aesthetically breathtaking, the design can be compared to the finest coachwork of the era. The aluminium body is an extremely rigid welded structure, reinforced with aluminium channel and angled sections. Brian Burnett, who also built the body of the famous Maybach and assisted Sil Massola with the development of Lou Molina's earlier racing car, the MM Special, never used design drawings as the entire creative concept took place in his head, indicating a designer and craftsman of considerable genius. The resultant precision of the beautiful bird-like ripple-free body, achieved by using a wooden dolly and a sand bag, appears though several prototypes had been made but in fact it is a one-off. Molina, Massola and Burnett commenced work on the X-braced tubular chassis in January 1955. The chosen Holden 'Grey' motor with a Repco Highpower crossflow head, gained additional power from a Marshall blower and the use of a special SU carburettor. This carburettor was one of the three carburettors used on the famous Maybach prior to its historic crash in the Australian Grand Prix at Southport in 1954. The gearbox was a Jaguar "Moss" box connected by a short tail shaft to a de Dion-type rear axle. Steering was Citroen rack & pinion and the front brakes were from a HWM Jaguar. In testing on the Repco dyno, 199 bhp @ 6,000rpm was claimed. The Monza's competition debut was at Rob Roy Hillclimb in May 1957 where it performed impressively. The on-going development was extensive and Molina's racing exploits have been comprehensively covered in other text. For its early appearances, the car raced without a bonnet and for most hillclimb events, without its bodywork. On occasions, it ran with dual rear wheels. 1959 saw the release of the movie 'On the Beach' which was based on Nevil Shute's post-apocalyptic novel by the same name. This movie included Hollywood greats Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and featured Lou at the wheel of the Monza in racing scenes at Phillip Island. In February 1960, the Monza Holden was sold to the accomplished sports car driver, Bryan Thompson. Later that year, Thompson had a roll-over which considerably damaged the body. It went through a different incarnation being fitted with a hardtop to comply with Grand Tourismo regulations. Thompson sold the Monza and through the 1960s it was raced by several owners until it was bought by Roy Williams of Melbourne in the early 1970's who had the intention of rebuilding the car. By this time, both the chassis and body were begging for restoration as the car had fallen off a truck and was badly damaged while in Tasmania. It was flown over Bass Straight in a Bristol Freight carrier and subsequently sold to Paul Chaleyer after Williams' plans were aborted. Chaleyer's challenge gained little momentum and c1980, it was sold to father and son, Gavin and Bryan Sala. During the 1990s Bryan attended to its restoration, and saving every remaining usable part of the tubular chassis, with some 60% being saved and 40% being of new steel applied to the chassis structure. Most importantly, the main components of the cross members and stays are original. In March 2000 the Molina Monza made its debut, driven by a young Bryan Sala at the Australian Grand Prix Historic Demonstration which was themed for Australian Specials. The vendor acquired the Monza in January 2013 from Bryan Sala. Upon purchase the car underwent extensive works at Ben Henson Motorsport with an emphasis on preservation of the historic character of the car while addressing safety aspects as far as practicable. This included the complete strip down of the car with all components being serviced and crack tested. A brief summary of other mechanical work includes: dampers rebuilt; drive shafts rebuilt, balanced and serviced; the Hildebran differential completely rebuilt with Modena LSD centre (other ratios with spares are included); the gearbox has been rebuilt; new Tilton race clutch installed; a new radiator fitted; the wire wheels have been totally serviced and fitted with new tyres; the brakes rebuild and the generator upgraded to alternator in the original generator's body. The historic SU carburettor has been rebuilt with parts sourced from SU Carbs, UK. At this time the engine and supercharger were totally rebuilt with the engine benefitting from new internals and forged pistons from Savy Motorsport, and machining works being undertaken by Crankshaft Rebuilders of Blackburn. The engine was fettled by Allan Joyce and the car has run for approx. 1 hour in testing since all this extensive work has been completed. Allan recorded the engine putting out the impressive 290 bhp at peak on a dyno. With over $150,000 spent since January 2013 the Molina Monza has indeed been made ready for its next custodianship and could be used in anger again on the racing circuits of Australia. It has a current CAMS log book and would be eligible for Group Lb equivalent events around the world. In this case, it could be competitive against the best factory racing cars of its category. The "fabulous Monza Holden" was invited to compete in the prestigious Sussex Trophy race at Goodwood Revival in 2013, but unfortunately the restoration was not completed in time. In the 2015 National Gallery of Victoria exhibition 'Shifting Gears', the Molina Monza was one of an elite selection of all-Australian built and designed cars, specially chosen for their contribution to Australian automotive history. Such is the aesthetic beauty, engineering excellence, historic significance and future racing potential of the Molina Monza that it is impossible to find an equivalent. Mossgreen is extremely proud to offer this highly important Australian racing car at auction. This vehicle will be sold unregistered
• Estimate:
  A$250,000 - 350,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Automobiles & Accessories

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.