Over the years a few tracks have attracted some drivers who just liked to call a place home and have no wish to travel widely. Long lost Aycliffe was one, understandable in light of its location even after it joined the BriSCA ranks in 1966. In the 2000s Coventry also had a hard core of local driver support. There may be others but the subject of this offering put his roots down in Manchester and rarely strayed far from the track which has now passed into legend, the Shangri-La of stock car racing; Belle Vue! OK racefans, unlike Shangri-La , BV was anything but remote and exotic, being handily placed on the 53 bus route. I could just have said it was the dog's b******s but I am trying to inject a bit of class here, in introducing a Gentleman Sportsman.

Alan Heap was born around 1910 and had an interesting life; typical of the youth of any day I let most of the tales float past me, but there was some mention of lumberjacking I am fairly sure. Alan was quite deaf and had to use a hearing aid which was less efficient than modern ones, which made for some interesting conversations. The hearing loss was down to his job testing Rolls Royce Merlin aero engines, one of which was destroyed when he dozed off! He was a big motorcycle fan and rode competitively, his ACU bone dome helmet was used throughout his subsequent four wheeled exploits, even in the casual pre-H&S days this skidlid was a bone of contention with the Belle Vue scrutineer.

The arrival in the UK of the stock car novelty was bound to attract someone who would try anything once and thanks to the way things are documented by enthusiasts today there is a record of Alan Heap racing with the number 282 from as early as 1955. Apart from his Belle Vue outings Alan raced at the one meeting held at Fallowfield in 1955, and recounted that the track was actually out of bounds for racing; drivers were told to use the infield only and stay off the high banked concrete oval. In the absence of an actual safety fence the track surface was a virtual one evidently. The Fallowfield track itself survived until 1994 but was not used for anything other than its intended velodrome application again. The dimensions of the place were pretty much the same as New Brighton (500 yards and 30 degree banking). One that Mike Parker missed?

There was a gap at the end of the fifties, possibly business or family intruded, but come the 60's the name of Alan Heap appeared in the programmes again, next to the number 88. He opened his account with a Heat win and Helter Skelter runner up spot, as the last race of the night was called in those days. That last race was not always offered at Belle Vue, 9.00pm was the witching hour after which you were shooed out of the stadium to hopefully spend some more brass in the funfair. The management took the view that two hours was damn good value for 3/9. That is just under 19 of your new pence by the way. At a subsequent 1961 meeting (thank you BriSCAF1stox) Alan went one better and matched a Heat win with victory in the Helter Skelter, after missing out on the Final by a single place, losing out to Johnny King, this may have influenced later developments.

The car used by Johnny King had been built by Johnny Brise and recorded two World Final wins for JB and a second place for JK. You may think that a "World" bounded by England's coastline is rather a small one but the pedigree impressed Alan Heap enough for him to buy the thing less engine.

Naturally the car required a motor, and of course it came with a story. It was removed from a Ford Thunderbird and was the best of the Y Block V8s, a 312 incher. This piece has been poorly regarded by history, overshadowed by the famous Chevrolet small block but it was all Ford had until the big block FE surfaced. It had the benefit of light weight and revved well having solid lifters. The story was that this engine had been in the car written off on the London Embankment by its titled lady owner!

The car that this lump was fitted into was well used but suited Alan in the same way that an old but comfortable jacket can. The basic package was still as raced by the builder, the coil sprung rear end put the power down well and was remarkably durable. The front axle was still a WOT2, which was becoming rare and as for the supposedly Mercedes chassis it separated the axles even in its now slightly sinous state. The whole car was asymetrical to some degree and a plan to draw up this historically significant vehicle for a model car magazine was quietly shelved. Model Cars magazine had already featured the car raced by Derek Walker (43), another Belle Vue stalwart, and wanted another piece. Yet another BV regular, Ken Carter (115/116) had a newbuild in hand and that got the nod.

Well bent or not, the Brise car gave Alan Heap his finest hour, on a streaming wet night at the Vue, on a Bank Holiday Monday of course. Simple survival was a triumph and as the laps in the final wound down the 88 was grinding it out better than most. The car was painted silver that year and ghost-like under the lights. Your humble scribe had the 88 in front, hopefully the lap scorers agreed, but they were impartial of course. A fly in the ointment appeared in the shape of Ellis Ford and dreams of glory evaporated.

Even superstars cock it up now and then, Ellis failed to turn up for a lap and Alan Heap did. The word came down and confirmed the biased view as the right one. The cancellation of the Helter Skelter was not even announced several thousand spectators acted as one and hit the street. No lap of honour but the win is still in the books. Grades were set according to points scored in 66 but Alan being old school handicapped himself with a blue roof for the next BV which was mainly for white and yellow tops. People who never featured normally had a chance to shine. Alan placed second from the back of a 28 car consolation and saw this race as his best effort to date.

For 1967 a brand new piece was crafted, this was a first for Alan. Bernard Tennant, the much loved Belle Vue commentator had been touting the 88 with its World Winner attribution, quote "but only the steering wheel is original" unquote. Alan took issue in the next meeting programme, the car was quote "brand new, not ex-anybody" unquote. Alan was rewarded with his picture in the programme and a recommendation for folk expecting a happy event to contact Alan at his shop. Alan's rice bowl was partially filled from the sale of prams and renovations of same from his business about a mile from the BV stadium. Alan Heap may be the only pram salesman to lace in and throw his leg in it, but it is safe to assume he was the only one to do it in an ACU pudding basin helmet.

The new car had been crafted by the previously mentioned Ken Carter who will feature in an upcoming epic if it is thought bearable.

Suffice it to say that the new piece featured a Mini body, quarter elliptic springs in the rear and the now standard LD bits up front (scary thought, if God never made LD vans would stock car racing as we know it still exist? Would car boots have happened without banana boxes? Too much thinking dudes!)

Prime mover for the new chariot was a Rocket 88 Oldsmobile, a stock car staple mainly because Olds was the first manufacturer to have a modern V8 as far back as 1949, there were just more of them about. This one came out of a stock car owned by Peter Richards (387) who had moved up from his first car (that fits into another profile) to a classic example of the Belle Vue spaceframe, Topolino body and all. For the curious, page 56 of Keith Barber's RED book has an exact likeness. Alan took the Olds motor and the bonnet, which may tell you all you need to know about the BVSF.

Alan had been the parts chaser for this new build, the builder was less than pleased with the result. Not quite the right chassis, not the best material for the roll cage, minor details really; the engine was resprayed GOLD! Builder remorse notwithstanding Alan took three wins in 1967, including a Consolation at the first Nelson thrash. Having been invited by that nice Mr Parker it would have been churlish to refuse. En-route to his win he lost the bonnet, shaken loose by the less than perfect surface. Harry Holt (84) was third man home and advised Alan that in lieu of catching him he had made a point of running the bonnet over on every lap. Somebody called Doug Cronshaw was runner up. Heat winners were Jim Esau and Chas Finnikin, the Final went to Ellis Ford. Old school drivers, old school track, but Alan never went back. Nelson turned out alright anyway.

The next matter of moment was the Golden Olds blowing up, something which started with the camshaft possibly but was certainly terminal. Mobility was restored with a 331 inch Cadillac built by Ken Carter, Alan was thinking in terms of winding down a little, apart from stock cars and the prams there was a 130 mile drag to Abersoch every week in season looking after hire caravans. Alan also played with boats and water skiing. Naturally the job called for the highest horsepower outboard fastened to the smallest boat possible.

1968 resulted in qualification for four Finals and at the last meeting of the season another Heat win. Car sold, job done. Not quite!

1969 was a fallow year. The 88 was still on track, wheeled by a certified idiot who managed to do more damage to the car in two laps than Alan had managed in two years, and Alan was not easy on the kit. Axle out, every weld in the (crap) rollcage broken. Oh yes, chassis twisted and driver with a battered cocyx. Alan remarked quote "Silly man" unquote. Quite restrained really. The car honoured its next booking in slightly refettled form (idiot driver remember) but spun a bearing and locked the engine on the grid, which was all for the best really. Alan bought the corpse back back.

1970 gave us a driver change for the 88. Out with the idiot and in with... Alan Heap! In his 60th year Alan had commissioned another car, this time from Derek Walker. Derek went back as far as Alan, he was Old old school, the writer saw a freshly installed "roll bar" in his car before it was painted, it had a sticker which read VONO Titpton! Derek had suffered a heart attack some years earlier but still ran Don Car Spares behind the cinema of the same name in Ardwick (might have been Ancoats). Alan evidently took heed of whatever remarks had been made by his previous builder, and sourced a real LD chassis and sufficient 2x2 SHS to build a strong car with a roll cage that would actually do the job if called on. Alan was running a Jaguar at the time for his road car that was as you might expect rotten as a pear, the engine and box dropped into Derek's creation, the donor must have been fairly ancient as it still had a Moss gearbox sans overdrive. One point missed by all, including the ex-idiot driver now retained as a slightly less idiotic mechanic/gopher who fancied himself as a bit of a tech-head, was the retention of the standard LD springs on the rear end. Standard practice was to use front springs all round, in the Smithy manner.

Alan took the new piece to BV and knocked off a Heat third with was nice, the old 3.4 went rather well until Alan blew the thing to bits shortly after attending the first Rochdale meeting which ran under Belle Vue management from '70-'72. Derek Walker had some tricks up his sleeve ref tuning Jags and had done his best to wring everything out of the engine. The Jaguar engine revved freely but exceeding 5500rpm was done at the users peril, unless a full race engine was involved. The cause of the blowup was most likely Alan's habit of dipping the clutch just a touch to keep the engine "on the cam". Whatever, as they say in this pig ignorant age, the holes in each side of the block were impressive.

Alan's enthusiasm was undiminished, he really liked the new car, and he quickly came up with a Cadillac, sourced from a drag racer, Cive Lingard is the name recalled, if not then excuse writer and E & OE applies. This motor looked beautiful, chrome valve covers and everything but it went back as not fit for purpose. Idiot tech head suggested the best way to go would be Pontiac as a value for money option which as it happens was not a bad call for the early 70s. The Pontiac that went ino the 88 car was sound in mechanical respects but defied every effort to make it run on all cylinders. When the deadline came and the Bank Holiday Belle Vue was in Alan's face he elected to honour the booking with what he had.

Alan was gridded in Heat One that night, the track was sodden and traction would be hard to find so he reached into his grab bag and came up with a pair of brand new 650x16 Trak Grip Dunlops for the back end. The clutch start looked like a slow motion replay, but Alan Heap emerged from the front row ahead of the rest and hugged the curb, the pace could only be described as sedate. Wille Harrison was on Alan's back bumper by half distance but that was all she wrote. The report from the "Stock Car" magazine put it best. "The wily Stretford driver stuck to the inside line, the only place where there was grip". Mr Harrison gave it his best shot, but shifting the Wily Alan proved beyond him in the conditions. His target must have seemed super cool but the fact was that the leader was flat out on maybe five out of eight cylinders, he simply lacked the power to get it wrong. Over the last couple of laps the 2 actually lost ground.

That was it for Alan Heap and Stock Car Racing. Happy Days.

Words and photos by John Nolan (The idiot!)