I'd just like to add to the comments that John Siggery is one of the nicest blokes I've ever met. Back in the mid 70's we were having lots of trouble sorting out our Hilborne injection, it was extremely 2nd hand and we didn't know anything about injection, it took a while to realise that the previous owners had set the barrel-valve up back to front!! When we eventually got it running it still wasn't any good and John came over and helped us, he said that the pump was the problem and the next meeting he arrived with a replacement for which he would take no money!! He helped us get it sorted even though he was pretty busy himself. I always loved his car, I was a Geronimo fan from the first time I went Drag Racing which was around '67.
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Geronimo really was one of the great dragsters of that era, a reliable perfomer, and neat in appearance, and yet I dont think it really received the acclaim it deserved. But I still remember the way that Brian Taylor would call out the name as the car was pushed down the fireup road, like he was jumping out of a 'plane.... here comes "geronimohhhh"...
Some more on Geronimo with a new picture from Mike Brown and a feature from Drag Racing & Hot Rod.
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Great to see more posted about Geronimo - but does anyone have any information about John Siggery's life after he retired from drag racing.
A trawl of his name on the 'net only found a couple of possibilities. One was involved with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) back in 2006 which seems to fit with what I heard about John in the 1980s. Can anyone add anything more?
Tony
A trawl of his name on the 'net only found a couple of possibilities. One was involved with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) back in 2006 which seems to fit with what I heard about John in the 1980s. Can anyone add anything more?
Tony
I do know that they used to run a fairly high load of nitro and the Olds motor gave up in a big way one day. Bruce Brown was good friends with these guys and it was when the motor blew that John told him they couldn't afford to put a new motor in it and he then drove Commuter. I am sure Roy Phelps or the Billington family would be able to verify that.
Just been chatting to John Hall and it seems that Geronimo bite the dust quite a while ago.
When it was broke he had the torsion bar, axle and slicks but that was all .The torsion bar is now on a Nostalgia altered in Holland
The front axle is now on my Cacklecar, he narrowed it by moving the pins inward next to the swept top bend
When it was broke he had the torsion bar, axle and slicks but that was all .The torsion bar is now on a Nostalgia altered in Holland
The front axle is now on my Cacklecar, he narrowed it by moving the pins inward next to the swept top bend
It looked as though they used alot of oldsmobile parts. Maybe they sourced the parts from a parts vehicle?
Here's one of it in the fire up road before squaring off against Weekend Warrior.
Robin
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Robin
Hi all,
Mick Tickner here! Just found this site. One has time when one is retired!
I built Geronimo and raced it in 1968 before I left for California. John Siggery, my chief mechanic took over after I left and did a superb job running it for several years. Frank Wareham, another crew member, was the 'voice' of Geronimo in that voice tapes were made of virtually every run for the rest of its time and were sent to Roger Sturgess and me in California. I made them into CDs a couple of years back.
Thank all of you for the kind words about the car and John. It was indeed a very successful vehicle. I seem to remember it took at least 2 years to build.
John had a terrible auto accident in the middle 70's and finished up in hospital from then to his early death just a few years later. Hence the demise of the team.
My notes say he drove it to a best performance of 9.25secs and 161mph and the nitro load was 85% from about the middle of '69.
We did indeed swop US speed parts for Ford Popular front stub axles - a great currency at the time!
I went on to dirt track 1/4 mile auto oval racing in California and was known as 'The Flying Limey'. I won quite a few of the over 600 races I took part in.
Mick Tickner here! Just found this site. One has time when one is retired!
I built Geronimo and raced it in 1968 before I left for California. John Siggery, my chief mechanic took over after I left and did a superb job running it for several years. Frank Wareham, another crew member, was the 'voice' of Geronimo in that voice tapes were made of virtually every run for the rest of its time and were sent to Roger Sturgess and me in California. I made them into CDs a couple of years back.
Thank all of you for the kind words about the car and John. It was indeed a very successful vehicle. I seem to remember it took at least 2 years to build.
John had a terrible auto accident in the middle 70's and finished up in hospital from then to his early death just a few years later. Hence the demise of the team.
My notes say he drove it to a best performance of 9.25secs and 161mph and the nitro load was 85% from about the middle of '69.
We did indeed swop US speed parts for Ford Popular front stub axles - a great currency at the time!
I went on to dirt track 1/4 mile auto oval racing in California and was known as 'The Flying Limey'. I won quite a few of the over 600 races I took part in.
