September 2012 WheelSpin

SEPTEMBER.2012 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING All Members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Club to be held on Wednesday, 5th September beginning at 8.00pm. The September General Meeting will follow. Please note that there will be no meal prior to the AGM, however a supper will be served following the meeting.

On the stage for the AGM will be Neil Francis' amazing Napier shown at right!

Below are two of the Mitchell family’s Amilcars. See page 5 for the full story.

The October General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 3rd October beginning at 8.00pm.

There will be a meal prior to the meeting from 6.30pm consisting of chicken and salads. Bookings prior to Friday 28th September are essential for the meal.

Contact Events Office Office Hours 8271 5689

Greetings Members and Friends, By the time this reaches you, the Annual General Meeting will be about to occur, on 5 September.

Don’t the years fly!

It is an important occasion, and I encourage all Members to attend who are able—particularly those of you who we don’t frequently see at the Club, perhaps due to your busy lifestyles.

The AGM will precede the September General Meeting. The election for Management Committee positions will be conducted, reports will be given, awards presented, acknowledgements made, a magnificent car will be displayed, supper will be served and friends will be there!

Not long after the Meeting will be several significant Club events where requests for your participation are now happening. The 60th Collingrove Hillclimb celebrations, the Vintage Hillclimb, the S.A. H/C Championship, the 101 Years of Motoring event at the Parade Ground and the final round of the State Motor Racing Championship at Mallala Motor Sport Park are all approaching. Please participate in all or some of these great activities.

Thank you again to all organisers, supporters and sponsors of our big calendar of activities.

The evening before the AGM, at 6pm at the Club, will be another of the regular Club Forum meetings. This is when there is opportunity for all Section Representatives, and any Member of the Club, to raise and discuss any point or idea.

A concept further discussed at the last one, in July, was the introduction of a Club Register, of Members, vehicles and Member services. There will be more published on this issue.

At the last Management Committee meeting, $ 25000 of expenditure for further upgrade of the Clubhouse building at Collingrove was approved, so the many improvements, including the new entrance, will be apparent by the 60th Celebrations.

A Grant Application submitted by the Club Secretary for $5000 has been successful, and another Corporate Member, Cornes Toyota, has joined us.

Some members of the Management Committee will be standing down, and we must all thank them for their valuable contributions to the Club. Whilst the last year has been very busy, so is each!

This is a big Club with many ongoing and future issues.

I wish particularly to thank Sean Whelan, who has been Club Treasurer for six years through these busy times. Well done Sean!

Wishing you all safe motoring and racing.

Cheers, Ken

101 YEARS OF MOTORING

Richard and Annie Porter George Krinas Brett Vincent Mick West Jack Paisley Garry Parker Jordan Graham Edward Lawrie Harry Comley Oscar Matthews Matt Fairweather Michael Grage Michael Flood David Purdey Anthony Alcock

Basil Mondello Dan Anderson Ben Lumbers Nick Taddeo

Classic, Conditional Reg. Conditional Reg. General General Hillclimb HRR, Hillclimb, Circuit Competition, Hillclimb Competition, Hillclimb, Circuit, CAMS Classic, Conditional Reg. General Competition, Hillclimb, Circuit, CAMS, Conditional Reg. Conditional Reg. Competition, Hillclimb, Circuit CAMS General Classic, Competition, Fleurieu, Hillclimb, Circuit, CAMS Competition, Circuit Competition, Hillclimb, Circuit, CAMS Classic General

September 2012 1

Drive your old Vehicle Day

Veteran Vintage

5

Annual General Meeting

Clubrooms

7

Section Meeting

Classic

8

Come and Try Hillclimb

Collingrove

9

Multiclub 3

Collingrove

19

Section Meeting

HQ

21

Section Meeting

Veteran/Vintage

23

Mid-Morning Run

Fleurieu

29-30

60th Anniversary Collingrove

Collingrove

October 2012

SUNDAY 21st OCTOBER 2012 TORRENS PARADE GROUND ADELAIDE

3

General Meeting

Clubrooms

5

Section Meeting

Classic

7

Vintage Collingrove

Collingrove

13-14

Burra to Morgan Run

Veteran/Vintage

A truly enjoyable day for you, your family and friends.

13-14

SA Hillclimb Championships

Collingrove

17

Section Meeting

HQ

19

Section Meeting

Veteran/Vintage

A great showcase for our Club.

21

101 Years of Motoring

Torrens Parade Ground

VETERAN and VINTAGE SECTIONS NATIONAL RALLIES National veteran rallies in Australia are co-ordinated by the Association of Veteran car Clubs in Australia, which has allocated South Australia the National Veteran 1 & 2 Cylinder Rally for 2014 and the National Veteran Rally in 2016.

The Veteran Section of the Sporting Car Club, as the South Australian member of the Association (each state and the ACT have one member club) has the responsibility for organising these events.

Julian McNeil has undertaken to chair the Rally Committee (thanks Julian) for the 2014 event, and work has commenced to identify exact dates and a suitable location for this event. It is anticipated an announcement will be made by the time this appears in print.

If SCC Members have ideas or suggestions regarding the event please make them known in the first instance to either Julian or myself. It should also be noted that offers to assist with the organisation of this event have been received from members of other clubs.

We wish SA entrants in the National Veteran Tour being held in Ipswich in September a successful event.

COMING MEETINGS 21 September Monthly meeting featuring film footage of past Bay to Birdwood events.

19 October Noggin ’n natter 16 November National Veteran Tour (Ipswich, Qld.) in review 7 December Monthly meeting joining the Classic Section COMING EVENTS 1 September Drive your old car day. Join us for an informal lunch at the Tower Hotel, Magill Rd, Magill at 12:30 pm for an informal lunch. Contact Peter Templer or Diane Pyle.

2 October “Homestead to Hillclimb” A Motorfest event organised by the Veteran and Vintage Sections, based around Collingrove. Entry forms on FHMCSA web site. Further details Diane Pyle. Note: entries close 7 September.

7 October Run to Vintage Collingrove. Meet at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood at 11:00 am. Dedicated parking arrangements will be in place at Collingrove for Veteran, Vintage and Classic cars. BYO lunch.

13 - 14 October Burra to Morgan Run. Details on club notice board 21 October 101 Years of Motoring. Entry forms available from Club website or clubrooms.

18 November RAA Trophy Day NATIONAL EVENTS September 12 -19 2012 National Veteran Tour, Ipswich, Qld. Refer: www.vccaq.org/ March 10 -15 2013 National 1 & 2 Cylinder Tour, Canberra, ACT. Enquiries: rogerandgillian@grapevine.com.au September 15 -20 2013 National Veteran Tour, Shepparton, Victoria.

May 2014 National 1 & 2 Cylinder Rally, South Australia October 2014 National Veteran Rally, Western Australia Refer: www.veterancarclubofwa.asn.au/ Chairman Veteran & Vintage Sections Committee

CLASSIC NEWS First, as incoming Section coordinator, I sincerely thank the ‘semiretiring’ Andy Morgan for his leadership over the last three years, and all the committee who are continuing their great work and enthusiasm. They run a great calendar each year and you may look forward to ‘living in interesting times’.

COMING MEETINGS Friday 7th September To get us all into the Collingrove 60th Anniversary spirit, we will feature Classic and Historic Hillclimbers (and their cars) on stage, all with great history to tell. I encourage all Members and guests to join us, from 6pm in the Gosse Bar for a pre-meeting lemonade, or the meeting proper from 8pm in the Reg Sparkes Room.

Supper could be something sustaining after our exertions to the top of the Hill !

Friday 5th October Early October evokes for me two special events and to celebrate the Bathurst 1000 in particular, we plan to display Historic Touring cars on stage. No doubt while they may be a little slower, they are more recognisable than the generic modern template V8s!

Racy pre-meeting re-fuelling from 6pm, served by the Gosse Pit Crew, great raffle prizes and supper served with a spray of bubbly from the podium. All welcome, come along and be a winner !

COMING EVENTS Sunday 30th September Classic Section will be planning a ‘combined’ run to Collingrove Hillclimb to help the whole Club celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the venue. All and their interesting vehicles are welcome, don't miss this event, please diary this date. Meet at the Club 9:00am for an early-ish start. BYO Morning tea at Lyndoch (or buy at the bakery across the road) and picnic lunch track-side. Catering will be available. No throwing banana peel on the track thanks!

Sunday 21st October The biggest event the SCC has planned in recent years is the "101 Years of Motoring" and should involve every single Member of the club and every vehicle you can lay your hands on. Pinch your neighbour’s car if necessary, we need a display of all vehicles at least 400 strong to truly represent our Club's long history and involvement in motoring and motorsport in SA. Held at the Torrens Parade Ground, Food outlets on site, or bring your own picnic and be part of the spectacle. Entries closed 17th August to meet printer's deadlines, if you haven’t entered do still come and have a look on the day.

Friday 4th January 2013 Advance notice for Meeting on the Move !

Jason Rowley Classic Section Chair, SCCSA

Conditional Registration The Club has most recently received an offer from John Whittaker to join the current team of Members authorised to inspect historic vehicles for eligibility to the Conditional Registration scheme.

As John lives in the Hahndorf area, he will be able to inspect vehicles within the near Adelaide Hills area. This area was covered until recently by Rex Howard who has since retired from the role.

Our application to appoint John, has been forwarded to the Department of Planning, Transport and Environment and once they have replied with the appropriate documentation the Club will publish his contact details.

John will be a most welcome addition to the current inspection team and will provide much expertise and knowledge, particularly with Mercedes Benz vehicles. For this the Club is most grateful.

Thank you John!

Colin Bourner Club Manager

2012 Tour De Fleurieu Greetings to fellow vintage car owners. Firstly I would like to introduce myself. My name is Angus Mitchell and I am the grandson of the late Murray Mitchell (and son of Andrew) who was heavily involved in the Sporting Car Club for most of his life.

Murray's passion was Amilcar's (a small French voiturette which was sold heavily in Australia from 1921-1929). Over the years he restored many cars, including a 1914 Humber, a 1954 MG TD and a 1925 Star (England) and raced at Mallala in the early 60's in his aluminium bodied Grand Sport (still owned by the family today). His jewel in the crown was his 1927 Amilcar CGSs (surbaisse). This car was imported with its original French body to Australia from new.

I have been planning an event for French Vintage cars for some time. I was inspired by the events I used to attend when I was in my early years as a child. I remember large fields of vintage cars lining up for various runs around Adelaide. The atmosphere was fantastic.

We have not had many of these events in recent years and when they are held, usually the rules are relaxed and more modern vehicles are allowed to enter. Don't get me wrong, I am not having a go at anyone but I believe we need to encourage more of the vintage style events that we held in the 1980's.

Australia has a rich history for vintage motoring, some of the best in the world. This needs to be preserved and encouraged for younger generations. If you are getting old and you have a car sitting around, let your sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces or nephews have a go. It is the only future vintage cars have in this country. This is what my grandfather, Murray did.

The Tour De Fleurieu is being held from November 1-4, 2012.

So far the response has been excellent. Here is a list of the cars which will be attending below. The event is 4 days which has enabled interstate entrants to make a week of it and more of a holiday. The towns which will be visited include Goolwa, Victor Harbor, Milang, Clayton, Currency Creek, Strathalbyn, Myponga, Normanville, Yankalilla and more.

We have over 35 entries for this event, a selection of the vehicles and owners are Richard Creasy (SA) - 1925 Amilcar E/G Colin Magginity (NSW) - 1928 Amilcar C4 Don Harrington (NSW) - 1925 Hotchkiss AM Graham Thwaites (VIC) - 1925 Amilcar C4 Rowan Murray (VIC) - 1925 Salmson Andrew Mitchell (SA) - 1925 Amilcar CGS Angus Mitchell (SA) - 1927 Amilcar CGSs Steen Pederson (NSW) - 1926 Salmson Wayne Smith (ACT) - 1926 Salmson San Sebastian Doug Gordon (SA) - 1925 Amilcar CGS Richard Stanley (VIC) - Bugatti Brescia Richard Thwaites (SA) - 1925 Amilcar E Tourer Andrew Little (SA) - 1929 Amilcar CGSs Max Foale (SA) - 1925 Amilcar E/G special Len Jenkins (VIC) - 1927 Amilcar E/G Special Ian Loader (SA) - 1926 Le Zebre Tourer Adrian Denman (SA) - 1922 Le Zebre Stuart Anderson (VIC) - 1926 Bugatti type 44 John Fitzpatrick (VIC) - 1915 Bedilia cyclecar Fergus Anderson (VIC) - 1928 Delage DISS David Robinson (VIC) - Delage Don Onley (NSW) - 1926 Lorraine - Deitrich Kerry Duke (VIC) - 1922 Lorraine - Dietrich B3-6 Bruce Smeaton (NSW) - 1924 Amilcar C4 John Lawson (VIC) - Delage DM Geoff Chennells (SA) - 1913 Sizaire Naudin For those who don't have a French car and feel that they are missing out - please don't feel this way, because I would like to invite you to join in on the Sunday and meet us at the lunch stop at Penny's Hill winery. The only condition is you must turn up in a pre-war vehicle.

If you are interested in this event, please call me on 0421 358 110 or drop me an email at mitchell.auto@internode.on.net

HQ HOLDEN RACING HQRR of SA Chairman’s Report 2011/2012 (prepared for AGM 18th July) As Chairman of the HQRR of SA I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank firstly, Graham Boulter (now our Competition Secretary) for all his help and guidance in my role as Chairman in my first year. Thanks also to Cheryl Matthews: Secretary, Gav Porteous: State Delegate, Ryan Crosbie: Social Director, Greg Goding: Assistant Secretary, committee members and everyone else who has provided support this year as we continue the task of running our small group of racers.

There still continues to be a good sense of camaraderie in our group and we welcome all new competitors.

In 2011 we hosted the Shannons HQ Nationals. It was a very successful event made possible with the support of Shannons Insurance, Penrite Oils, U PULL IT, Brits/Mau Motorhome Rentals, Tenafeate Creek Wines, Southern Bay Brewing Co…Ranga Beer (Premium Red Ale) and the hard work of Graham Boulter who successfully managed to put this together.

We congratulate one of our own Bruce Heinrich, for taking out the 2011 National Championship after Spud Wood was ruled out when post race scrutiny found his car to be ineligible.

There was a major change in tyre supplier this year with our new supplier being Kenda Tyres, we acknowledge their great support for our category Nationally.

The Nationals this year were held at Sandown in Melbourne, with a contingent of nine SA drivers attending. Three of them finished in the top ten, the best of them being Gav Porteous and the remainder doing SA proud.

Locally we welcomed the Young Guns being Scott and Klyde Goding and Joel Heinrich and we also congratulate once again Graham Mason who took out the Driver of the Year award for 2011 (three in a row) and the CAMS State Championship.

We look forward to the future with great optimism.

Dean Nicolo HQ Committee for 2012 / 2013: Chairman ……...Dean Nicolo Secretary……….Cheryl Matthews Assist. Sec….......Greg Goding Comp. Sec……..Ryan Crosbie State Delegate….Gav. Porteous Committee: Colin Matthews, Darren Jenkins, Denny Couprie, Graham Boulter

FACEBOOK For Members not aware of the fact, the Club has it's own Facebook page. This was actually initiated

by Daryl Warman as he saw the benefits of Facebook to communicate information about hillclimb activity. The Club has since set up an account to cover all Club activities.

The Club now uses the medium to provide general information, notice of meetings and entry forms etc.

All Members can access the page to read, but need to be invited to allow posting comments on the “wall”.

Because the Club is the sponsor of our Facebook page we are, under the current laws, deemed to be the publisher of all material appearing on the site which in turn makes the Club legally responsible for all comments that appear.

For that reason we monitor all material on a daily basis. We will therefore remove any comments that are inappropriate and if we find we have a persistent user that continues to make inappropriate comment they will be denied further access. For Members who have access to our Facebook page, the message is quite simple, please think before you post a comment!

Members may recall that the Club had a forum attached to our website a few years ago. That forum was closed down because there were comments made by Member(s) that were potentially defamatory, a risk this Club will not take.

The reason this matter has been raised at this time was in response to reading a column "Points of Law" in the local press on 6th August written by Ralph Bonig, President of the SA Law Society.

Should any member wish to read that column which discusses legal issues with all electronic media, I have a copy that I can pass on.

Colin Bourner Club Manager

HILLCLIMB NEWS From President Ken………………………….

Greetings Competitors and Enthusiasts, This will be special, and you are invited!

The 29th and 30th of September 2012 approaches, when we will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Collingrove Hillclimb, and I invite you personally to participate in the unique celebrations.

• It will be a great celebration, a Sporting Car Club Premium Event, with a one-off programme of competition and features over the two days, arranged to commemorate each of the six decades of competition and activity at the Club’s important historic motor sport venue in the beautiful Barossa.

• Firstly, we are looking for strong support from all owners of suitable hillclimb or collectors’ vehicles —either to race, parade or display on the weekend. We are also seeking any Collingrove memorabilia, for display.

• The Hillclimb Committee has been working hard to upgrade our property there, with the Clubhouse facility currently being decked, the new Percy Wien-Smith entrance built, the additional 38 acres shortly secured and pegged, and many other improvements in progress. Come and see it, and be part of making it happen!

• Martin Stow, the 60th Celebration Co-ordinator, has recently circulated an ‘expression of interest’ form to potential entrants, now with a steady flow of registrations—and he needs more, particularly of historic nature, in any condition. What do you have, and what is required to get it there?

• We also invite expressions of interest from volunteers who wish to assist in helping in any way, e.g. sell tickets, circulate posters,

buy trophies, arrange displays, etc. Please advise Abbie on 2715689 to register. You will be rewarded.

• An Entry Fee is required to cover the usual event costs, plus there will be significant publicity and promotion activity to showcase the Club, our Collingrove property, our Sponsors-- and to promote Hillclimbing as a popular sport.

• Now, here is additional information. The base entry fee for the 2-days for early Competitors is the special price of $110 [Min. 80 needed], and $15 for display/parade participators [100 limit]-- with all receiving Commemorative items as a memento of the historic occasion.

• There are other benefits available when entrants complete the official Entry Form, i.e. a Saturday BBQ inc. band and merchandise.

• Please ring the SCC Events Office on 2715689 to register your interest now. Then the initial deadline for formal entries at $110 is 7/9/12, and this will ensure acknowledgement in the Programme for accepted entrants. A $25 late fee then applies to the final entry deadline.

This deserves the strong support of all participants, from all Sections, to justify the work and commitment for this unique event—and to show the Club to the expected crowd of spectators.

Please now commit to joining us to make the 60th Anniversary event memorable, successful and fun--and please bring your friends!

See you there….

Ken Messenger

FLEURIEU NEWS The Fleurieu program for the balance of 2012 is as follows: September 23rd. An early morning run to Breakfast from the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, Barrage Rd. Goolwa with a 7.15 for 7.30am start. Please advise numbers for catering to John Amos on 0412 716 282 or Cintra on 0400 202 014 or cintraamos@bigpond.com or Ali Roscrow 85552029 or nroscrow@bigpond.net.au October 21st. The Sunday midmorning run and BYO lunch at Rick and Christine's on Hindmarsh Island. A 10.00am start from the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club. Barbecues provided but bring your food, drinks and glasses. Let Rick know numbers on 85552217 or islanders2@bigpond.com.

November 16/18 This year's Weekend Away will be "The 3 Stooges Rally" to the Barossa. No, it's not the "Sunseeker" so come along and enjoy the surprises the Barossa has to offer on Friday November 16th to Sunday 18th For registration details contact Brian Horewood 0488372816 or bhorewood@gmail.com Rick Medlyn & Christine Burgess P.O. Box 622, Goolwa, South Australia 5214 97 Batson Parade, Hindmarsh Island.

(08)8555 2217 0414 271 246

SCCSA MEMBER & VEHICLE REGISTER There is some support from Members to have the Club publish a register of Members and their vehicles. The idea being, that Members wishing to contact other Members, or to seek Members with similar cars will have access to that information from the register.

Currently all that information, or at least the information provided

by Members is held in the Club’s database where it is deemed confidential and inaccessible except upon a valid request only from Members.

Ideally the Club would wish to have such a register, if we proceed, only available on line through the Club website accessed by name and password, this would to a significant extent protect the confidentiality of the information. This does, however, ignore those Members who do not have internet access, so we will look at a published version as well.

If we proceed with this proposal, we will be seeking permission from each Member to have their name, contact and vehicles included. Those Members not wishing to provide this consent will of course not be included on the proposed register.

Before we seek Member support, we would welcome opinion and comments to indicate a general acceptance or otherwise of the proposal.

Colin Bourner Club Manager

Team Kirrihill Wines Celebrating Scouts Rally SA Result The Team Kirrihill Wines rally crew of Sandy Nott and David Langfield put in a strong performance in the recent Scouts Rally SA held in and around the Mt Crawford and Kuipto Forests.

The pair guided their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV to 4th outright 4WD in the Australian Rally Championship section behind three series regulars in more modern machinery. The full time ARC crews run full spec ARC cars which do not have to run turbo charger restrictors like those also entered in the SA Rally Championship class. The result backs up the team’s strong performances in 2011 at Scouts Rally SA and the Coffs Coast Forest Rally, both events yielding top 10 ARC finishes. Sandy and David also won the SA Rally Championship section by a narrow event points margin over new SARC championship leader Declan Dwyer, also in a Mitsubishi Evo. The team made a somewhat cautious start on the opening stages in Mt Crawford Forest following a major overhaul on the car just prior to the event by fellow rally competitor Mike Dale (of Mike Dale Automotive).

“It was hard to judge the conditions at first, especially with the extra power the car is now delivering,” enthused Sandy. “The forest roads were quite slippery and demanded a lot of respect but we soon had great confidence in the car and our notes so we could push hard, especially on the fast council road stages.”

The pair recorded 4th fastest ARC stage time on Sunday morning on the Manthree stage which includes the infamous railway crossing jump that demands care and respect to negotiate.

The team now looks forward to the final round of the SA Rally Championship to be held at the end of October where they will be aiming for a top 5 result in the series.

Team Kirrihill Wines would like to thank event director Ivar Stanelis and his hard working team of organisers and volunteer officials for their dedication to putting on the event.

They would also like to thank Kirrihill Wines, Bridgestone Victor Harbor, McIlroy Auto Group – Victor Harbor Mitsubishi, FPAG, Mike Dale Automotive, Spitwater and Hart Signs and their dedicated service crew who made this result possible.

David Langfield

1937 Delahaye 145

Put this on your bucket list – A mouth watering display Our roving Photo-journalist, George Dostal, came home with a glowing report of Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2012 held on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, and over 600 photographs, with the comment that it is an event not to be missed. This is one of the top annual Luxury Car Events in the world and attracts cars from all corners of the globe.

He has given us a full report from which these comments have been extracted. (We haven’t the space to give you his full report but it is available for your perusal and salivation in the Library, and you should see some of the photos!)

The Concorso took place in two venues. There is the luxurious Villa Este Hotel where the entrants, invited guests and media meet to exchange ideas and admire the superb range of 52 entered cars and several others of interest. In addition to the eight new concept cars on display, there were 30 historic bubble cars and a collection of 30 equally fascinating rare motor bikes.

All these could be viewed while sipping Pol Roger Champagne at A$42 per glass, and that was enough to make our correspondent ‘take the pledge’. The public venue was in the gardens of the historic Villa d’Erba Conference Centre. This part of the Show was a bargain for A$14 (seniors A$9).

Messerschmitt Bubble car

The Best of the Show was the 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Series 6 Coupe with Coachwork by Figoni and owned by Californian, David Cohen.

There were nine categories of cars including, ‘The Graceful Open Air’, ‘The Elegant’, ‘Streamlining’, ‘Little Jewels’, ‘The La Dolce Vita’, Gentleman’s Sports Cars’, ‘The Heroes of Le Mans’ and ‘Prancing Horse Forever’.

Humour was even evident as the beautiful 1969 917K Porsche cheekily had the banner, FERRARI’S EYE VIEW on its rear end.

George has offered some advice about ‘why you should go’, ‘travel tips’, ‘a budget plan’, how you can attend as a ‘Friend of the Concorso’ and strong advice: “It’s better to burn out than rust out” The library has a book on previous Concorsos entitled, Villa D’Este, the Italian Concours, it has some beautiful pictures of some very exotic cars.

1947 Volkart Sagitta Fuchs

HOW ARE VALUES STANDING UP? The cover of August 2012 JUST CARS magazine lists the famous Ausca for sale for a staggering $190 000. This made us think about older vehicle values, and how they are holding up. So for an exercise we picked out a selection of cars in the magazine listed at over $50 000. You make your own conclusions. $70,000 1973 Morgan Plus 8 1974 Ford Fairmont XB $50,000 1955 Bristol 405 Arnolt (R) $60,000 1982 Excalibur Series IV $100,000 1969 Ford Mustang F/B $95,000 1965 Chev Camaro $65,000 1957 Chev Bel Air $56,000 1968 Chev Impala $55,000 1914 Hotchkiss AG $65,000 1967 Mustang GT390 $75,000 1986 Commodore VL $54,000 1972 Jaguar E 5.3 $92000 1968 Dodge Coronet $50,000 1958 Alfa Spyder Veloce $75,000 Our most popular magazine features a story on the famous Ausca and has it listed for sale at $195000! It was built by Repco Engineers in the same facility that spawned the Maybach and some other Specials. It was campaigned internationally by builder/owner driver, Paul England, one of our unsung Aussie Heroes.

Read about it in the JUST CARS August 2012 Issue in the Library.

1955 Ford Thunderbird 1968 Chev Camaro SS 1970 Maserati Indy 1970 Ford XC Cobra 1967 Ford Mustang 1955 Cadillac Eldorado 1949 Buick Super 56S 1931 Alvis 12/50 1973 Morgan 4-4 1956 Ford Thunderbird 1951 Jaguar XK120 1970 Dodge Charger RT 1961 Austin Healey BJ7 + heaps of ‘rodded’ cars

$65,000 $52,000 $55,500 $114,000 $54,000 $115,000 $52,000 $65,000 $50,000 $70,000 $90,000 $59000 $62500

DIANA (DAVISON) GAZE PASSES Diana, the much loved and respected matriarch of the Davison family died in early August in Victoria. She was the widow of four time Australian Grand Prix winner, Lex, and current wife of former racing driver and decorated World War 11 Fighter Pilot, Tony Gaze. The mother of seven children, some of whom were involved in motor sport, and grandmother of Will, Alex and James who are present generation racers, she was also a founder of ‘Women for Wheels’ She was an active and successful competitor for many years and you can read about some of her exploits in her ’little Alfa’, and how Lex wrecked her beloved TC in Graham Howard’s book on Lex called Larger than Life, one of the most popular books in our Library and available for loan or for a re-read.

On a personal note: I was there on the day Lex was killed at Sandown in February 1965, and having had a bit to do with him and his FPF Climax it was a real blow to me as also I think that his exploits in the 1953 Redex Trial was a catalyst for my interest in motor sport, and he became my hero. I had been to his house in Toorak, his farm in Lilydale, and listened to many stories.

Automobile Elegance The father of automobile elegance is what the late Sergio Pininfarina, who passed away recently, was sometimes called. His design house had stated aims of producing ‘the finest quality and fabulous dreams’. The Italian company, which lives on, is famous for its awe-inspiring Ferraris and many other makes, and also designs items as varied as high speed trains, boats, furniture and even watches.

The story of the man and his work is well told in these books, and others on body design and stylists.

Pininfarina: 1930 - 1980 Prestige and Tradition, (available for borrowing) Pininfarina: 1930 - 2000 Art and Industry, (available for borrowing)

WANTED

Video Player & DVD Player Do you have a unwanted DVD and/or VHS player?

Or even an old Flat Screen TV The Library has a need for this equipment to run our extensive range of DVDs and Videos for ‘in-house’ and demonstration viewing.

If you can help, it will be very much appreciated.

Please contact the Library or the Office.

Don’t discard it. Let us have it ….PLEASE

MORE ABOUT THE ROTARY MOTOR Dear Editor Having had my little piece published on the last rotary-engined vehicle I feel that I should explain a bit about it. The article came from a Hemmings Motor News Blog and is therefore not my own work.

Rolls – Royce. Mercedes – Benz, Citroen and GM have all tried Wankel engines, but all abandoned the concept mainly for fuel consumption reasons. Only Mazda soldiered on and solved the rotor tip seal problems.

The following facts explain a little about Felix Wankel and his life and development of his engine.

FELIX HEINRICH WANKEL Wankel was born in 1902 in Lahr Baden and he died in 1988.

He was employed in the purchasing department of a scientific publishing house in Heidelburg from 1921 to 1926.

In 1924, he set up a workshop in Heidelburg where he made his first models of a rotary piston engine. Realising that the principal problem with such designs was gas tightness, he spent considerable time attempting to resolve the problem. By 1927, the problems were largely solved.

During World War II, he worked for the German Luftfahrtministerium (Air Ministry).

His engine design was first licenced to Curtis – Wright in New Jersey USA. In 1951, Wankel and NSU signed a contract establishing a partnership to develop the rotary piston engine. The first running prototype was built in 1957; this differed from production engines in that the housing rotated with the rotor. Wankel’s engine is the only rotary to be put into production.

In 1960 the Wankel engine was first discussed in public at the congress of the German Engineers’ Association.

In 1963, NSU launched the Wankel-powered Spider at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Felix Wankel was not the only person to think along the lines of trying to develop an alternative engine to the usual piston, con’ rod, crankshaft variety. Some designs go back to the 1800’s.

Nearly all of these engines would have had problems with gas sealing which is the major bugbear of rotary engines, and some of them are overly complicated. The Wankel was also very thirsty and this does not go down very well with modern emissions technology.

I will list just a few of the rotary engine designs I have come across in my searches over the last 10 years or so; they are in alphabetical order. Some of these are described a little and searches on the internet will come up with descriptions of some of them. If for instance you look up Huttlin Kugelmotor or Gombmotor you will see just how complicated some of these clap hands designs can be:

Bradshaw toroidal engine Catia Kugelmotor a clap hands design using ball pistons ( Kugel means ball ) Cooley a rotary piston engine with an internal epicycloid and enveloping outer chamber 1901 Deville – Negre vane type rotary 1964 Fritz rotary 1961 Gilbert rotary Gombmotor another clap hands design Gray – Drummond rotary like a Wankel 1909 Heydrich a vane type rotary Hüttlin – Kugelmotor another clap hands design ICE a quasiturbine has similarities to the Wankel ( Ice! because it resembles an ice skating rink in shape ) James opposed piston clap hands with curved Pistons connected to con rods and a crankshaft all enclosed in a cylindrical housing Janoil – Sherman a kind of rotary weight 5lb x 5 hp a throw away engine after 500 Hours Kauertz a scissors or pursuing - piston type of rotary Knott eccentric type rotary designed 1842 Leclerc – Edmond – Benstead vane type rotary Mallory another rotary vane engine Mercer rotating block cam engine Morgado similar to the Bradshaw toroid engine q.v.

Rajakaruna rotary Renault – Rambler rotary, combustion in a 5- lobe housing Rodrigues another clap hands design Sanchez hybrid rotary Sanchez another clap hands design Sarich rotary 1972 an orbital design not successful Scheffel multi rotor Selwood – Hughes orbital engine Sensaud and Lavaud rotary piston engine with internally meshing gears in a Hypocycloid housing. Some test engines were built but they did not live up to expectations 1938 Tschudi another clap hands engine using 4 curved pistons Umpleby often quoted as first rotary. Has a three sided chamber with elliptical rotor Unsin rotary has twin rotor chambers Virmel rotary is very similar to the Kauertz q.v.

Vincent ( of Vincent motorcycle fame ) multi cylinder rotary Walker supercharged rotary with elliptical rotor and two C shaped rocking heads Walley multi rotor engine employing four elliptical rotors Wallinder and Skoog a true rotary piston with toothed meshing interior hypocycloid and internal five pointed rotor in six pointed housing 1923 Walter another multi rotor design Webb engine of 1853 it has a three cornered housing with rocking valves in the corners and a curved rotating piston going around in a clockwise direction Wolfhart another clap hands design Denis Basson

Here #353 sits in front of Goodwood house with the Lotus sculpture in the background.

Representing a looping road, the sculpture had six Lotus F1 cars attached. On the day before the public opening I watched heart in mouth as these six cars were attached with a battery of cranes and cherry pickers. Sir Stirling Moss seemed eager to have a go in the Lotus 12. “What’s she like to drive? I never got to drive one of those.”

Lotus 12 to Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012 Early in 2012 the news broke that the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012 would celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Lotus car company. The objective was to collect together a dazzling array of cars that covered the whole spectrum of Lotus production with an emphasis on the racing cars. Clive Chapman suggested that they really would like to have our Lotus 12 chassis # 353 represent the front engine era of F1 cars. Our car being the one driven by Graham Hill in his and Lotus’ first Grand Prix (Monaco 1958) would be an extra attraction since it had not been in the UK since 1960.

Plans were formulated to be there at the end of June with #353, her first contact with English soil for 52 years. The whole process proved to be painless, Gordon Palmer of the UK who specialises in shipping racing cars around the globe made the arrangements.

With its own 20’ container #353 left Adelaide on May 4th. In conjunction with local company JAS Forwarding the car was sitting ready in the Goodwood pits when we arrived.

Prior to sending the car a complete check over was undertaken, a full rebuild of the 5 speed sequential gearbox and braking system took place. Adrian DiGiusto made up some new parts for the gearbox and I installed two new gears from Crosthwaite and Gardiner to ensure that it would all work properly in front of a crowd that exceeds 160,000 over the three days of the FOS. The array of cars at the FOS was stunning, even a BRM V16 which creates the most amazing sound at speed. We found ourselves in a huge covered pit area alongside rows and rows of Lotus F1 cars. We were the only front engine car, next to us was a F1 Lotus 18 to be driven by John Surtees and next to him another Lotus 18 to be driven by Sir Stirling Moss.

Our team was small, just myself and David Head from Geelong who came along as ‘Team Manager’ and to start the car using its remote battery trolley.

The event was a wonderful opportunity to talk to the myriads of people who stopped by. There seemed to a steady stream of Australians buoyed we guessed by the strong dollar. However the highlight for us was that Merv Therriault from Vancouver was with us. Now 82 Merv was a mechanic at Team Lotus in 1957/8

working on this very car. This was his first sighting of the car since 1958. This car was provided by Colin Chapman to Denis Jenkinson for his Christmas Day drive on public roads in 1957.

This obviously illegal activity took place starting from The Phoenix Hotel in Hartley Wintney Hampshire. Merv being at a loose end that Christmas, volunteered to be present to start and warm up the car in readiness for Denis’ drive. So this reunion was an extra special occasion for Merv and us.

This photograph obtained from the LAT library in London shows the car being delivered to the Phoenix Hotel by Colin Chapman mid day on December 25th 1957. The state of the trailer probably reflects the tight economic circumstances at Lotus in its early days. We have established that these photographs were taken

by Bill Boddy of Motor Sport magazine who lived nearby. The secretive nature of this event meant that only four people “in the know” were present. Colin Chapman, Merv Therriault, Bill Boddy and Denis Jenkinson.

Imagine Colin Chapman, on the verge of being a F1 Team owner, giving up half his Christmas Day to participate in this adventure.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed was attended by guests and celebrities from all walks of motorsport. The highlight for me was to meet Mrs Hazel Chapman who had come along to join in the Lotus celebration. She was clearly moved and justifiably proud of the world class display of Lotus cars and the pride shown by those who owned and maintained them. I was also able to meet both Bette and Damon Hill both very pleased to see the car.

I managed to chat to Hazel as she surveyed the vast array of Lotus competition cars set in a circle in front of Goodwood house.

She was clearly quite emotional seeing the enthusiasm and

the competitors. The array of cars was so large it was quite a challenge just to get around the various paddocks to see them all. Likewise there were major displays by car manufacturers and a whole array of trade stands. dedication that had been invested in these cars on display. They could all trace their heritage to the first two Lotus cars built in lock up garages behind her home at 244 Alexandra Park Road Wood Green N London back in 1948/9. The formal incorporation of the Lotus Company did not occur until 1952 giving rise to the 60 year celebration in 2012.

Clive Chapman, Hazel’s son, who runs Classic Team Lotus had no fewer than nine Lotus racing cars entered for the event and owned a number of the cars adorning the sculpture.

I suggested to Hazel that she might be very proud of the day’s events “Yes I am” she said. She was somewhat taken aback when she heard we had brought the car on a round journey of 24000 miles just to participate for four days. To us of course it was an honour to have been invited to participate.

I rounded off the Goodwood weekend with a visit to Classic Team Lotus in Norfolk. This is the business run by Clive Chapman that restores and runs Lotus racing cars at historic motor races around the world.

I spent some time with Bob Dance, Jim Clark’s mechanic from the 1960’s who is assembling two gearboxes similar to the one in the Lotus 12. What better way to finish a fabulous trip to the UK?

101 YEARS OF MOTORING SUNDAY 21st OCTOBER 2012 TORRENS PARADE GROUND ADELAIDE

Bonhams held a major car auction at the FOS on Friday 29th June. It was held in a marquee that must have been 80 metres long. The mammoth auction lasted close on 7 hours. There was a vast array of the world’s best collector cars on sale. We watched amazed as a ‘Birkin Bentley’ made 5 million pounds followed by 1912 Rolls Royce at 4.7 million pounds. An 8C Alfa followed up with a sale price of 2.7 million pounds. In all the entire sale grossed 22 million pounds. Here, Doug Nye, a consultant to both the FOS and Bonhams seems to be coaching Merv Therriault on his bidding technique! Merv proudly wears his BRDC jacket. Colin Chapman signed Merv in as a BRDC member way back in 1957/8.

A truly enjoyable day for you, your family and friends.

A great showcase for our Club.

The Goodwood events are most lavish, the entrants are treated to full daily catering in a private marquee, a lavish black tie party with floorshow, and of course a wonderful camaraderie among

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SUNSEEKER CLASSIC 2012

This was the first Sunseeker Classic Car Run entered by my lovely wife and myself, and what a fantastic trip it was.

The flag fell at 9.00 am Saturday morning at the Sporting Car Club King William Road, and the parade of 45 modern, classic and vintage cars rolled along the usual route to the South Eastern Freeway to Talunga Park in Mount Pleasant for our first morning tea break The first to arrive had the choice selection of hundreds of mouthwatering cookies and cakes baked by Marion Patrick, Jean Taylor, Kay Pope, Judy White, and Diane Lewis.

Having satisfied our thirst and appetites we headed off towards Tungkillo and then along the Palmer-Murray Bridge Road onto Mannum for lunch at the Mannum Community Club, where we neatly parked our cars on the lush green lawns alongside the River Murray. The timing was perfect, as we arrived the Historic River Murray paddle steamer chugged its way up the river as if to say, look at me, I’m a classic as well.

After our meal and a hearty dose of social chatter we sunk into our vehicles and drove along the Mannum Sedan road to Cambrai, through Keyneton, and on to the club’s Collingrove Hillclimb property. As we were all driving along the roads in a nice orderly file we now found ourselves driving up the hillclimb in a nice orderly file and down again.

Our next driving test was to see how close you could stop to a parking stick without touching it, then before we were allowed to leave we had to see how accurately we could move forward one full wheel length, it was a surprise and delight to hear this competition was won by Jean Taylor. She must have spent weeks practicing this formidable task.

As the sun was setting, we also set off, to Tanunda, and our accommodation at the Weintal Motel.

Saturday night meal was accompanied by raffles, amusements, an outlandish neck tie competition, won by Ross Pope, the most ostentatious jewellery competition won by Sue Grant. A table quiz, matching cars with makes and models, was won most convincingly by the enthusiasts on table 4.

The following day, Sunday, was met with a very misty morning of fog and drizzle, with the occasional enthusiast cleaning and wiping the mist off their vehicles to win points for the best presented clean vehicle. I did my best while standing under cover of the verandah watching and assessing the activity of the Motel carpark.

After breakfast the cavalcade headed for Burra via Nuriootpa, Dutton, and Robertstown. We then had time to mingle with the locals and put in a good half hour of tourist shopping, café sipping and strolling around before positioning our behinds on seats and devouring a nice lunch in the Burra Hotel.

On reading the next route directions (TR) with my wife, we turned right onto the Barrier Highway A32, and proceeded to drive back to Tanunda. While happily driving along, discussing the scenery and observing the roadside signs we came to the conclusion we had made a mistake, and had spent the last half hour heading towards Broken Hill. I then made an executive decision to make a U turn and join the rest of the Sunseeker group.

Sunday night dinner was a formal occasion with the glitz and glamour of an Oscar night with our MC host Gordon Taylor. To our surprise and excitement we were entertained most delightfully by special guest Marion Patrick, performing her unique repertoire of how she was able to wear different styles of bathers over the last 40 years, although she did have some difficulty getting into them while on stage Monday was the last day of our Sunseeker run and this turned out to be even more exciting than the previous days. Our first port of call was Carl Lindner’s car collection. Carl’s collection was magnificently presented with a collection of E Types, a rare early 1934 Jaguar 2 door tourer, other Jag saloons, and the spectacular unveiling of Carl’s new enterprise, his Jag. replica business, specialising in building C and D model Jaguars.

If that wasn’t enough, off we drove to the “Hermann Thumms” fine Antique Collection in the Chateau Barossa building in Lyndoch.

Hermann Thumm and his wife arrived in Australia in 1947 and founded Chateau Yaldara. Over the next 35 years they amassed a large collection of fine antiques and porcelain from Australia, England, France and Europe. This is recognised as the best collection of 19th century porcelain in Australia and a must to see when you are in the Barossa Valley.

This was our first time on the Sunseeker run, and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, the towns we visited, some old small towns we had visited for the first time, and especially the companionship and chatter with a very friendly group of cheerful motoring enthusiasts.

I would highly recommend this exciting motoring weekend to everyone in the Club Mark and Gerry Bloustien

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SUNSEEKER CLASSIC 2012

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BACK WORDS

By Paul Murrell

Wasted road space.

It constantly puzzles me why some perfectly good parts of public roads are declared “no go” zones. I am referring to those areas, often on the inside of corners or to the left of freeway exit roads, that are painted with white stripes or, even worse, covered in menacing lumps of concrete. If they weren’t meant to be used by traffic, why were they built that way in the first place? If anyone knows the answer, maybe they could enlighten me.

Reliability issues.

We have come to take reliability for granted in modern cars, but issues still arise. A worrying trend of late appears to be manufacturers not ‘fessing up to the problems but dealing with owners on a problem-by-problem basis, but only after they have been presented with the problem. Just because a car is out of warranty does not necessarily absolve the manufacturer of the responsibility for making good. A case in point came to my attention recently. The owner of a four-year-old 60,000km Volkswagen Golf diesel experienced a problem on the freeway.

The car restarted and he was able to limp it home, but next morning, it wouldn’t fire up and had to be towed to a repairer.

The repairer (a VW specialist but not an authorised Volkswagen dealer) quoted $3400 to replace the injectors. The problem is not an isolated incident – there have been numerous reports of similar problems with 125kW TDI Golfs and Passats.

Fortunately, at my suggestion the owner phoned VW head office, explained the situation and was advised that the Siemens injectors have had a history of problems and carry a sevenyear warranty. To VW’s credit, he was told to get the car to an authorised VW dealer where they would be replaced with VW injectors (which have a two-year warranty) at no cost to him.

All well and good, but if the owner hadn’t phoned VW, he would have been up for the total replacement cost for a problem that is well known to VW and, presumably, its dealers. So why haven’t owners been notified? Or a recall instituted to replace the injectors? The owner was left with the towing bill but it could have been much worse. If you have a problem with a not-veryold car, go online and see if it is common to your make and model. If it is, talk to the manufacturer and see what can be done.

Fixed servicing costs.

One of the unexpected consequences of European car prices dropping to levels we used to think were only available on Japanese cars is that owners are often unprepared for the higher servicing costs and spare parts costs. Some companies are addressing the problem by offering fixed price or capped service deals and these can be well worth while. Of course, it isn’t limited to European cars; Kia had just introduced a scheme that covers annual servicing for five years with no mileage limit and roadside assist on all models. Even better, the scheme, called Kia Connect, applies retrospectively to all current-model vehicles still under Kia’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty.

Hyundai has also introduced three-year capped-price servicing to all vehicles sold after August 1, 2012. Although not as groundbreaking as Kia’s offering, it matches similar deals from Subaru, Holden, Ford and Toyota.

I just want one!

Holden was somewhat embarrassed to discover 140 V8 engines and 175 heavy-duty transmissions missing from their inventory.

SA Police have arrested seven people, including a Holden employee, in connection with the $2 million heist from Holden’s Elizabeth assembly plant. To date, police have identified and

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BACK WORDS

By Paul Murrell Barina, in contrast, would have cost $2574 in repairs and the Nissan Micra, the cheapest car on test, came in second at $6056 (35.6 percent of purchase price). On those numbers, a light car (especially one that’s a few years old) involved in any sort of crash carries a real chance of being written off, even if the damage appears minor or superficial.

recovered 30 of the missing engines and 103 transmissions.

The police investigation began in January of this year following a police search of premises in Salisbury East that uncovered two Holden V8 engines still in their shipping crates. Police allege the engines and transmissions have been sold on eBay, through word-of-mouth and that some purchasers were solicited directly via email. If you’ve recently purchased a 6.0-litre or 6.2-litre Holden V8 for a too-good-to-be-true price, keep your receipt handy.

Infiniti’s SA snub.

Are you one of the 3000-odd people who have expressed interest in the new Infiniti? You may want to wait until the dealer network is extended beyond the eastern States. According to Infiniti general manager Kevin Snell, Infiniti’s two new models will go on sale in August, but plans to extend the dealer network to Perth and Adelaide are planned for “late next year”. For most people, I suspect, Melbourne is rather a long way to travel for scheduled servicing, and by the time the company decides to grace us with a local dealer, the initial enthusiasm may have waned somewhat. The official launch is in Queensland in September; I’ll be asking some pointed questions about why SA and WA customers are being ignored.

False economy?

Nobody is thinking of a car crash when they buy a new car, but perhaps we should be. The NRMA’s latest round of low-speed crash test results on light cars highlights some worrying variation in the cost of repairs, and that, in turn, will have an effect on insurance premiums. A Toyota Yaris or Honda Jazz, for example, is more than $10,000 more expensive to repair than Holden’s Barina. The tests assess both the front and rear bumper of a car in a typical rear-ender crash at 10km/h and investigate not only the cost of replacement parts but also ease of repair. Most of the cars in the test (Barina, Yaris, Jazz, Nissan Micra, Ford Fiesta, Suzuki Swift, Mazda2, Hyundai i20 and VW Polo) cost more than 50 percent of their purchase price to repair. The Yaris, despite crashing at a mere 10km/h was found to cost up to $13,440, or 70 percent of its purchase price to repair. The

To all entrants In “101 Years of Motoring” Thank You For your entry in this very special Club event We trust that it will be a truly enjoyable day for you and your family, and a great showcase for our club You will receive your car number and further details by post in the first week of October 2012 The souvenir catalogue is now being created and the description of your car(s) will of course be included. The catalogue will be free to the public on the day.

WANTED Volunteers who can assist periodically on the day for marshalling and/or club PR activities For further enquiries contact the “101” Organising Committee Members 0419 036402 Sunday 21st October 2012 Torrens Parade Ground Adelaide 22

MARKET

FOR SALE or WANTED

FOR SALE Delage chassis no 16T01. Type D.I series 3 Engine no 3540 circa 1924. Martin and King body, straight, tidy and close to original. Seen at numerous SCC events in the 1980’s. Much work done on engine, clutch and brakes.

Close to running again! Needs new enthusiasm! $35,000 neg. Discuss with Peter Bradey on 08 8326 1915.

1980 Nissan Pop-Top Campervan with annex (new canvas), 3 way fridge, 2 burner stove, auxillary battery etc. Optional solar panel and 30 cuft fridge/freezer.Fully equipped. Phone Ross Brown 0419842220.

4 of Goodrich Classic Tyres 15x7.10 white wall tyres and tubes (hardly used) $100.00 each. 4 of Vintage Tyres 21x5.50 and tubes (hardly used) $75.00 each. These tyres are 15-20 years old but have had little use. Phone John Whittaker on 8388 7418 or sms mob 0438 848 874.

Classic Vintage Ski Boat Clinker fibreglass, Era 1960's, Holden 186 Dog Clutch, Detailed rosewood rear inner deck area, Period windscreen and gauges, Trailer, custom made tautline cover, Very good condition, $11,500 ono, Mobile: 0413184664 WANTED Beg, borrow, rent or purchase MIG welder for small rust job on project car. With or without gas cylinder.

Phone Ross Brown 0419842220.

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