Tasman Revival

For the better part of two years now, you’ve witnessed an ever-growing amount of articles, photos and event coverage originating from Australia, here on the pages of Vintage Racecar. Throughout this same period, we have been steadily building a “crack” team of writers and photographers “Down Under” to better cover what is certainly one of the most active and vibrant historic racing scenes in the world today. This month, as part of the new Tasman Revival weekend being held at Eastern Creek in December, we have devoted this entire issue to the history and personalities of the South Pacific’s 2.5-liter Tasman era. As such, this special issue is also serving as the focal point for our “official” launch in Australia, which will take place during the Tasman Revival weekend. To all our new Australian friends, reading Vintage Racecar for the very first time, I’d like to extend a very warm welcome from the rest of your brethren reading Vintage Racecar in Europe and America. Like them, we hope that Vintage Racecar will soon become your magazine of choice.

As you’ll read throughout this issue, the 2.5-liter era of the Tasman Series (’64–’69) was a magic time, not just for Australians and New Zealanders, but for the top-line international drivers, as well. Grand Prix drivers from Europe headed down to the Tasman for something of a “working holiday.” They were able to escape the cold of the European winter by racing in a series of races, held jointly in Australia and New Zealand that were competitive, but also fun-filled and relaxed. For the antipodean drivers, here was an opportunity to race against the best that the world had to offer, and for some, a very valuable chance to have their talents scouted by Formula One team principals like Colin Chapman (Lotus), Tim Parnell (BRM) and “local boy” Jack Brabham.