Fred Opert Tui and Supernova

[philippe C]

does anyone know the litle story behind those super vee . wich one were Tui and wich were Supernova bh3-4 -5 and what about the supernova of formula ford

[revtom]

I had a tui BH-5 back in mid-90's. The Tui's were made bu Alan McCall, a Kiwi, who worked as a mechanic for McLaren (if I remember right) He constructed F-3, F-2, and Supervee cars, which ver pretty successful for such a small builder, winning the US SV championship in '73 ( I think) with Bertil Roos driving. The cars were well put together, simple, and fast. The death of his friend, and main test driver in mid, / late 70's put a damper on things, as I recall driving a Tui F-2, and the marque faded away. Alan still lives in New Zealand.

[philippe C]

the friend of McCall was bert Hawthorne and he died in a f2 race at hockhenheim in 72 . but what i wish to know is why they were enter in the usa super vee cup as Tui supernova and sometime just as supernova . i think that fred opert racing was the importer of both the Tui and for a very short period of Supernova formula ford . was this just a "branding" . BTW does someone have a picture of any of these supernova FFord

[marc sproule]

McCall also made a small number of Tui BH-2 Atlantic cars.

These are the ones that I have in my Atlantic set. Someday when I get more time in my life I will be adding more.,,,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...57623186773769

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...57623186773769

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...57623186773769

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...57623186773769

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

My Atlantic set....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4668198...7623186773769/

All my sets....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46681980@N03/sets/

[philippe C]

those were the good days , .was there at most of these Atlantic races too

[Merak]

those were the good days , .was there at most of these Atlantic races too

Philippe,

I owned a Tui BH3 Super Vee ex Bertil Roos car entered by Fred Opert Racing. McCall was involved with Tui up to about 1972 and then moved on to other things, one was the design of the Martini F1 car and then he ran the Hexigon Brabham F1 team with John Watson as driver. After McCall left, the cars became known as Supernova Tui then just Supernova. Supernova cars were manufactured in Billingshurst in West Sussex in the UK. McCall's first car was an F3 which quickly morphed into the AM29 F2 car for Bert Hawthorne who sadly died at Hockenheim just feet away from the spot where Jim Clark died. This was somewhat ironic as Alan McCall had been a mechanic for Jim Clark on Lotus before he joined McLaren Cars. After the death of Hawthorne, Tui cars were designated with the pre-fix BH after Bert Hawthorne. The BH4 had a different tub to the BH3 and the BH5 was a development of this tub. The BH5 had wings - Supernova also built a one-off F3 car in 1976 called the SF3. All in all the AM29/BH3 Super Vee cars were quite successful with Roos winning the 1973 SV Gold Cup Championship. Do you have a Tui?

Mike.

[marty7]

Alan McCall was a mechanic at Lotus as well. Initially Cortinas, then the Formula cars. Ended up being Jim Clarks mechanic on the 49. Left due to frustration with the cars breaking and Chapmans autocratic style. For trivia a TUI is a native bird of NZ that is well known for its unique bid song.

Marty

Philippe,

I owned a Tui BH3 Super Vee ex Bertil Roos car entered by Fred Opert Racing. McCall was involved with Tui up to about 1972 and then moved on to other things, one was the design of the Martini F1 car and then he ran the Hexigon Brabham F1 team with John Watson as driver. After McCall left, the cars became known as Supernova Tui then just Supernova. Supernova cars were manufactured in Billingshurst in West Sussex in the UK. McCall's first car was an F3 which quickly morphed into the AM29 F2 car for Bert Hawthorne who sadly died at Hockenheim just feet away from the spot where Jim Clark died. This was somewhat ironic as Alan McCall had been a mechanic for Jim Clark on Lotus before he joined McLaren Cars. After the death of Hawthorne, Tui cars were designated with the pre-fix BH after Bert Hawthorne. The BH4 had a different tub to the BH3 and the BH5 was a development of this tub. The BH5 had wings - Supernova also built a one-off F3 car in 1976 called the SF3. All in all the AM29/BH3 Super Vee cars were quite successful with Roos winning the 1973 SV Gold Cup Championship. Do you have a Tui?

Mike.

[RobLav]

I had a Tui BH5 Air cooled SuperVee that was converted to water cooled but never run in that configuration. Sold the remains of it to Jerry Freeman here on Apex who used a lot of it for an F1000 car.

[marc sproule]

For trivia a TUI is a native bird of NZ that is well known for its unique bid song.

Marty

In '76 I was covering the Atlantic series for Autoweek, not getting expenses for travel, so I grabbed transportation wherever I could.

Part of my travel that year was provided by McCall, as I helped his mechanic Peter Marshall chauffeur the Tui van around North America.

On one occasion we had stopped to get gas somewhere in the middle of nowhere USA. In those days one wasn't allowed to pump one's own gas, the attendant had to do it.

The attendant, who looked like he might have been an extra in the movie "Deliverance" noticed the only signage on the van. A tasteful sticker that said simply "Tui".

Attached to the van was the trailer, which had to have once been a horse trailer, Wooden sides and some plasticized canvas covering the top.

"What's a Tui?" asked the attendant.

"A bird," I answered.

"What's in the trailer?" was the next question.

"A Tui," I said and walked away.

I didn't look back as I walked away.

As I said above, I"m just not a nice guy.

[provamo]

beautiful cars...kinda sorta lika mini McLaren

[jerry freeman]

Still got the car I got from Rob Laverty. I have put most of the parts back on the tub after I updated the FB car over the last few years. It is a roller set up for MC power right now. I wanted to restore it one day with some VW parts I aquired but can't find any pics or info on the original cars. Thought about selling it to someone. It is homologated as a FS car right now with a SCCA logbook.

Jerry

[philippe C]

Philippe,

I owned a Tui BH3 Super Vee ex Bertil Roos car entered by Fred Opert Racing. McCall was involved with Tui up to about 1972 and then moved on to other things, one was the design of the Martini F1 car and then he ran the Hexigon Brabham F1 team with John Watson as driver. After McCall left, the cars became known as Supernova Tui then just Supernova. Supernova cars were manufactured in Billingshurst in West Sussex in the UK. McCall's first car was an F3 which quickly morphed into the AM29 F2 car for Bert Hawthorne who sadly died at Hockenheim just feet away from the spot where Jim Clark died. This was somewhat ironic as Alan McCall had been a mechanic for Jim Clark on Lotus before he joined McLaren Cars. After the death of Hawthorne, Tui cars were designated with the pre-fix BH after Bert Hawthorne. The BH4 had a different tub to the BH3 and the BH5 was a development of this tub. The BH5 had wings - Supernova also built a one-off F3 car in 1976 called the SF3. All in all the AM29/BH3 Super Vee cars were quite successful with Roos winning the 1973 SV Gold Cup Championship. Do you have a Tui?

Mike.

no im just curious .always after historic details about those small marques. still searching pictures or any docs of some of the supernova formula ford .it look that a couple were build and import to america by Fred Opert

[Merak]

no im just curious .always after historic details about those small marques. still searching pictures or any docs of some of the supernova formula ford .it look that a couple were build and import to america by Fred Opert

Philippe, I should probably have mentioned that Fred Opert was the importer for Tui cars. Never heard of him bringing in a Supernova FF car though. I did not even know or hear of a Supernova FF. Do you own one? If so I would love to see a photo.

Mike.

[marc sproule]

McCall and Clark, Silverstone '67