The new car was a simple spaceframe , strengthened with curved steel panels welded between the side tubes. A popular choice with specials builders in New Zealand, a Humber 80 engine was selected. This 1600cc overhead valve design matched up to the not-too-strong DKW gearbox.

Dr David Bruton, the intended driver, got the job in exchange for assembling the engine. The car was first run, unimpressively, at Teretonga in November, 1965; teething troubles would take time to eliminate.

With more work completed, the car was entered for a support race at the Lady Wigram Trophy meeting in January 1966, a round of the Tasman Cup. A third in class, after a spin in the wet conditions gave the team a boost, George considering this the moment when his feet were firmly on the bottom rung of the ladder of success.

The following weekend at Teretonga saw the Beggs entered as a team. Both the 650 and 1600 were raced together in a staggered start. Both won their classes. This success made Dave Bruton a possibility for the South Island Special Championship, which he took out with a third at Waimate and a class win at Ruapuna. For the Begg team, this was a moment for great celebration.

Both cars were to be sold later in 1966, the 650 still surviving though the 1600 went on to hold the New Zealand Hillclimb Championship.

Consolidating business

The formation of a new company in partnership with Auckland business man Spencer Allen (and another engineering works in Auckland) gave George a firmer foundation from which to pursue his motor racing.

A sports car seemed the most attractive project to try next. Plans were drawn up for a spaceframed Can-Am style sports racer drawing inspiration from Bruce McLaren’s successful cars, powered by a 2.5-litre Daimler V8. Problems with the engine builder resulted in a 4.7-litre Chevrolet V8 being fitted. The rest of the car was a specials builder’s delight - MGA, Hillman Super Minx, and Austin Gypsy 4WD parts were used, though a Hewland HD5 gearbox had been bought from England.

The finished Begg Sports, complete with near vertical exhaust stacks, was tried out along a straight, sealed section of road in front of G.N. Begg Engineer, as were nearly all of the 18 cars that were built...

Early results were good. The car was competitive despite some technical limitations (mostly in carburation) and a series of placings saw Barry Keen take third in the 1966 New Zealand Sports Car Championship.

George regards the Begg Sports as one of his best cars. It enjoyed more success in other hands and still survives.

Plans for a Begg Sports Mark II, powered by a 5.3-litre Chevrolet V8, never got off the drawing board, as a slump in wool prices caused a downturn in the agricultural machinery business.

By using bits and pieces acquired on his travels, George reasoned that he could build up a single seater for the South Island Specials class. To a basic spaceframe were added Jaguar disc brakes, and a Brabham BT-7 bodyshell. The Begg Special was finished in six weeks and the Chevrolet V8-powered special proved a winner, again in Barry Keen’s hands.

The car’s eventual Daimler V8 engine was developed using Triumph motorcycle engine tuning techniques, Edward Turner having designed both engines using common hemispherical cylinder head and cam profiles. The car was reasonably successful, and did well in Lindsay Tosh’s hands after George sold it to him.

What was significant about the Begg-Chevrolet/Daimler was its value as a test bed for Formula cars powered by V8 motors, to be refined when George moved into Formula 5000.

The Toyshop was producing more than one car at a time by now. During 1967 George built two more spaceframe chassis, one for himself and another for Keith McFadzien. Sixteen months later, George was to watch with horror as the car crashed at Teretonga, killing McFadzien. The cause had been a tyre deflation.

George’s own car, chassis six, was fitted with a Ford 1498cc motor. The car won first time out with Barry Keen and a week later George was to see four of his cars finish 1, 2, 3 and 5 in a New Zealand-built specials race.

George and five of his first six cars; February, 1968

But George hankered after something else. As a race car builder he had done remarkably well from his Drummond base; better, he reasons than if he had been based amongst other builders in Auckland. He harboured a wish to build cars in Europe, so arranged to meet to meet with Bruce McLaren when he came to New Zealand for the 1968 Tasman Cup series.