Norm Beechey is a retired

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

race car driver, who was given the nickname ''"Stormin Norman"'' by his fans. To some, he was the closest thing

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

had to a star racing driver, before

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

. Beechey competed in the

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

from 1963 to 1972 winning the title in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

driving a

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

and in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

at the wheel of a

Holden Monaro The Holden Monaro ( ) is a rear-wheel drive coupé manufactured by General Motors Holden in Australia from 1968 to 1975 and later reintroduced from 2001 to 2005. It was also manufactured as a 4-door sedan from 1973 to 1977. Three generations of ...

. Along the way, he achieved seven round wins, and one pole position. His championship win in 1970 was the first victory by a Holden driver in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Career

Beechey began racing at the age of 22 in a Ford Customline V8. He came to prominence only a year later when he won the Olympic Touring Car Race at Albert Park, a support event at the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

meeting which was held in conjunction with the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. As the expense of running this and two subsequent Customline V8s proved too prohibitive he reverted to a

Holden 48-215 The Holden 48-215 is a mid-size sedan which was produced by the Australian automaker Holden between November 1948 and October 1953. A coupe utility derivative, coded as the 50-2106 and marketed as the Holden Coupe Utility, was produced from Jan ...

in 1959. After becoming part of David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce team he again returned to V8s, developing a

Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...

with which he won the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Touring Car Championship at

Catalina Park Catalina Park is a disused motor racing venue, located at Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, and is recognised as an Aboriginal Place due to the long association of the local Gundungarra and Darug clans to the area. ...

. He progressed to a

Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...

owned by

Len Lukey Len Lukey (died 28 October 1978) was an Australian racing driver. He was the winner of the 1959 Australian Drivers' Championship driving a Lukey Bristol and a Cooper T45 Coventry Climax. Motorsport career Lukey made his motor sport debut in 1953 ...

and was then instrumental in forming the Neptune Racing Team in 1964. He raced a Holden EH S4 as part of that team alongside Jim McKeown’s

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on t ...

and Peter Manton’s

Morris Cooper S The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

. He subsequently developed and raced a series of V8 powered Touring Cars with which he contested the Australian Touring Car Championship and other events. The first

to race in Australia was followed by a

Chevrolet Chevy II Nova The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a compact car, small automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, and produced in five generations for the 1962 through 1979, and 1985 through 1988 model years. Nova was the top car model, model in the Chevy II lineup thro ...

, a

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

, a Holden Monaro GTS 327 and a Holden Monaro GTS 350. Beechey retired from racing at the end of the 1972 season.Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 fabulous years, 1990, page 111 He was inducted into the

V8 Supercars Hall of Fame The Supercars Hall of Fame is a collection of individuals and events that recognise the efforts of past champions and prominent figures within the Supercars Championship. A new inductee is announced annually at the championship's end of season gala ...

in 2000.

Career results

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Phillip Island/Bathurst 500 results

References

External links

Norm Beechey racing images
retrieved 12 September 2008
1970 ATCC film clips featuring Norm Beechey
retrieved 12 September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beechey, Norm Australian racing drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Living people 1930s births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)