Thanks to Graham Keynes and Richard Sellers for bringing their Stags along to this month’s meeting and having them on stage, for a club “Stag Night”.

Richard has recently sold his TR8 to an interstate buyer and purchased a very tidy white Stag from Collectible Classics at Strathalbyn. Unfortunately, Richard has been through bit of a bad patch, health-wise, and has not driven his new car more than a handful of times but is very happy with how it drives.

Graham has a Tahiti Blue Stag which was at some time previously, owned by past club member, David Treen. I have been going through old photos of club events for a slide show at the 60th Birthday lunch and have seen this car is in several of those photos, when in David’s ownership. Graham is also greatly enjoying the Stag experience.

I am pleased to advise that we have over 80% of members financial as at the writing of this report. If you have yet to pay your subscriptions for 2025/26, please make sure these are paid prior to 30th June and save a lot of unnecessary work for Treasurer Lisa.

The Conditional Registration committee of Ian Rigby, Kevin Foster, Duane Kaak and Graham Dean were once again, hard at work stamping logbooks at the June meeting. Remember that you need to have your logbook stamped and signed by an authorised signatory by 30th June for your vehicle to be legally registered after that date, so please contact one of these committee members to arrange this if you have not already done so. This obviously can only be done if you are a financial member.

Bill and Margie Berlemon organised a fantastic weekend away at Burra from Friday 6th June to Sunday 8th June. We were not blessed with great weather (Saturday in particular, was very cold, wet and windy), however despite this everyone attending had a great time. Bill and Margie have a knack of finding very interesting places to visit. We had dinner at the Burra Bowls Club on both nights and enjoyed great home-cooked meals provided by bowls club members, and Paxton Cottages were very cosy and comfortable, and provided very good-value accommodation.

We are close to 100 people booked for the club’s 60th Birthday celebrations which will be on Sunday 20th July, at Dimples Restaurant and Function Centre at Tea Tree Gully Golf Club. If you have not done so, already, please do this as soon as possible, so we can lock in numbers. As previously advised, this will be great celebration of an amazing 60 years of history and should not be missed. Please see the flyer in FasTrak regarding booking for this very special event. There is a $10 discount for the first 100 registrants which is still available. Get in quick as there are only a small number of places left at this discount price.

Noel Schmidt is putting a photo slideshow together, to run during the lunch. If you have any photos of the early days of the club, could you please contact me ASAP so these can be included in the presentation. We also will be having a memorabilia table and again, please contact me if you have any items that you think would be suitable for display. We will have club perpetual trophies and the like, but I am sure there are other items of interest that we could display on this table.

Orders have now closed for the special shirt being offered to members to celebrate our 60th Birthday and will be delivered at the July meeting, so those with shirts will be able to wear them to our 60th birthday lunch.

Alex Smithson
President

TRIUMPH SPORTS OWNERS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC   60TH BIRTHDAY LUNCH Sunday 20th July 2025

Current and past members and friends of the Triumph Sports Owners’ Association of South Australia Inc are cordially invited to join in celebrating an amazing 60 years of our club, founded by Tony Case and Ron Fergusson way back in 1965.

Sunday 20^th July 2025 at Dimples Restaurant and Function Centre at Tea Tree Gully Golf Club

60 Hamilton Road, Fairview Park

2 course meal (3 choices of main course)

Special 60^th Birthday gift to all those attending

$50.00 per head for first 100 bookings

$60.00 per head for all subsequent bookings

12.15pm for 12.45pm

Contact Alex Smithson – alex.m.smithson@outlook.com or phone 0412 823789 for further information or to book your place.

Payments by EFT preferred – Payment should be made to TSOA of SA Inc – General Account. BSB 065-006. Account # 00902024  

July 15th Tuesday – Meeting at the Sporting Car Clubrooms 51 King William Rd. Unley

July 20th Sunday – 60th Birthday Lunch at TTG Golf Club Restaurant

Aug 17th Sunday – Run to Tea Tree Gully Hotel North East Road, Tea Tree Gully. Leaving
from the Tea Tree Gully Hotel carpark at 10:30am

Aug 19th Tuesday – Meeting and AGM at Sporting Car Clubrooms 51 King William Rd, Unley

Sept 21st Sunday – MSCA Super Sprint, Mallala

Sept 21st Sunday – Day of Triumph – at the Birdwood Motor Museum

Oct 18th Saturday – TR Register Show ‘n’ Shine – at the Hahndorf Primary School

Nov 23rd Sunday – End of Year Dinner – at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club

Thanks to David O’Loughlin for bringing his TR3 to have on stage at our May meeting. David’s car was an original Triumph company demonstrator and press vehicle in the UK and was fully optioned from the factory. David has much original paperwork for this special vehicle, which is in fantastic condition, and is probably the only “Salvadore Blue” TR3 that most of us will see in our lifetimes.

David is a passionate Triumph side screen owner (he also has a TR3A) and we are very pleased that he has decided to be a member of our club, as well as being actively involved with the TR Register.

As advised at the April club meeting, the executive committee has decided to increase subscriptions for 2025/26 to $60.00 for full members and $30.00 for social members. I am pleased to note that we have over 50% of members now financial for 2025/26. Hopefully we can get all renewing members to pay subscriptions prior to 30th June and save a lot of unnecessary work for Treasurer Lisa.

Unfortunately, our conditional registrar, Ian Rigby was a late apology for the May meeting due to coming down sick after his recent overseas holiday. Thanks to Ian’s fellow committee members, Kevin Foster, Duane Kaak and Graham Dean for all their work stamping logbooks at the meeting. The team will be available again at the June meeting. Remember that you need to have your logbook stamped and signed by an authorised signatory by 30th June for your vehicle to be legally registered after that date.

Thanks to Roger and Cherri Lange for organising the run to Middleton Tavern on Sunday May 18th. The event was well attended, and we had a great meal at Middleton.

Bill and Margie Berlemon have organised a fantastic weekend away at Burra starting on Friday 6th June through to Sunday 8th June. As always, this is packed with visits to interesting places and great meal venues. We are staying at Paxton Cottages and Bill has suggested to those attending, that bringing a small fan heater for the bathroom may be wise. Thos attending are really looking forward to a great weekend away.

Lots of members have booked their places at our 60th Birthday celebrations which will be on Sunday 20th July, at Dimples Restaurant and Function Centre at Tea Tree Gully Golf Club. If you have not done so, already, please do this as soon as possible, so we can lock in numbers. As previously advised, this will be great celebration of an amazing 60 years of history and should not be missed. Please see the flyer in FasTrak regarding booking for this very special event. There is a $10 discount for the first 100 registrants which is still available.

Orders close for the special shirt being offered to members to celebrate our 60th Birthday at our June meeting. This costs $55.00 and must be pre-ordered. Please see details in FasTRak and on our website. These will be delivered at the July meeting, so those with shirts will be able to wear them to our 60th birthday lunch.

Finally, Dean Berlemon gave us the exciting news that this year’s Day of Triumph will be held at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood, on 21st September

Alex Smithson
President

The year 1959 was a great year for cars. The Mini and the Ford Anglia were both launched, but the show was stolen by the advent of a remarkable little car that would sell around the world and form the basis of a whole breed of popular saloons and sports cars; the Triumph Herald.

The Herald was unveiled in its original 948cc saloon and coupe versions at the Earl’s Court Motor Show in April 1959. A kitten-healed Miss Triumph demonstrated the front-hinged bonnet, revealing the whole of the engine and front suspension, while a coupe revolved enticingly on a turntable, showing off sleek Italian styling with large areas of glass and two-tone paintwork. It would herald (pun intended) the start of the 1960’s.

More spectacular still was a night at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Bob Monkhouse. Four specifically trained Standard-Triumph apprentices appeared carrying pieces of a Herald. In less than four minutes, they had assembled a fully working car and driven it off stage. The audience was stunned into an astonished silence before rapturous applause brought the apprentices back on.

The amazing assembling act was refined down to three minutes, repeated at European motor shows, and the Herald was launched in style. A newspaper critic asserted that “the Triumph badging sets it in a class above the outgoing Standard 8 and 10 range, which always conveyed an air of ration books and boiled cabbage”.

There was nothing “boiled cabbage” about the Herald. This was the sleekest of Italian chic, distilling sporty glamour of Ferrari and Maserati into an everyday four-seater saloon and delivering it to British buyers as a practical and affordable car.

It has been designed by Giovanni Michelotti, who was commissioned by Standard Triumph to produce a totally new model to set the style of the forthcoming decade. His prototype body shell arrived in Coventry on Christmas Eve, 1957. When the directors saw the almost unbelievably pretty coupe on their studio turntable, they were so delighted, they downed tools and went out to celebrate.

There is an industry legend that the car was named Herald after the Managing Director’s yacht. There was certainly no design by committee. Production models scarcely differed from Michelotti’s concept, showing the excellence of his design and willingness of his employers to accept original genius. Michelotti’s monogram would appear on the chrome bonnet-release catches of all Heralds and the Vitesse, Spitfire and GT6 models that followed.

Prototypes were driven the length of Africa from Cape Town to Tangier, generating much publicity and showing the reliability of then new cars. When they appeared in Britain’s showrooms, they caused a clamour of excitement. At just over £700, the Herald was priced above some of its competitors but embodied an enviable cachet of sportiness and modernity.

Despite the rakish body, huge rear window, all-round independent suspension, white rubber bumpers, distinctive fins, hooded headlamp covers and overall “swept wing” appearance, the Herald was not as modern as it looked. Standard-Triumph had decided to take what many considered to be a retrograde step of building their new car with a separate chassis rather than use the monocoque style of construction like other major manufacturers.

The idea was to facilitate assembly of different variants including saloon, coupe, convertible, estate car and van using a common chassis. The benefits to future generations of classic car enthusiasts have included superb accessibility giving ease of working and comparatively simple repair and restoration. If a car’s body can be unbolted from its chassis, every panel and component including the chassis itself can be repaired or replaced and many Heralds have undergone more than one “body-off” rebuild to keep them going today.

The gigantic, 1,000-feet-long factory was built at Canley in the West Midlands with a state-of-the-art paint shop and three parallel assembly lines. It was completed in 1960, cost £2 million and built more than 500,000 Heralds along with all the Triumph Vitesses, Spitfires and GT6’s.

The earliest Heralds were slightly underpowered, and their interiors lacked refinement, but subsequent models were given bigger engines, better carpets and wooden dashboards. Sales took off. The cars were especially popular in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: some were even built in Italy for the European market. A version called the Gazel was successful in India.

The now much- sought- after coupe was discontinued in in 1964 – it was deemed to be in competition with the Spitfire, but Herald saloons and convertibles were produced through several upgrades until 1971, the final 13/60 model being the most powerful and best equipped.

I have had a long and happy relationship with the Herald. After learning to drive as a boy on disused airfields, a yellow Herald was the first car in which I “went solo”. In the early years of the 21st century I bought a 1962 Herald 1200 and shared it with my mother as a four-seater running mate for my Spitfire 1500 which had been bought new in 1980. Its dazzling red and white paintwork led some fellow enthusiasts to dub it “Santa Claus’s Herald. It was a stylish and lovable car, and I understand it is still on the road with its current owners. When I drive my Spitfire today, I know it would never have existed without the Triumph Herald.
You’ll always smile when you see a Herald. It has the air of an English Sixties girl smartly suited in Italian clothes with a dash of Fifties glamour. It is rightly valued as a pretty, practical and affordable car.

Note: this article was published in “This England” magazine, Winter 2019 and was provided to TSOA SA by Tom Olthoff.

The Run to the Stockwell Hotel and the midweek run to The Greenman Inn at Ashbourne were enjoyed and well
attended.
The Weekender, where we have a fabulous time with everyone, we will be travelling to Burra this year. Margie & Bill
always provide great eating and sight-seeing including little gems that are hidden in unusual places will now be on the
6th-8th June. Contact Margie or Bill on 0438 836 837. It is on in June instead of May because Burra will be
celebrating their 180th year and we could not get accommodations for May, and because of that the June Run to
Middleton has been changed to the 18th May. Roger Lange has set this run, again nice scenery and great food
ending at the Middleton Tavern 37 Goolwa Road Middleton. Meeting at the Crafers Hotel Car Park and leaving at 10
am.
It is shaping up to be a very impressive social calendar so far, and we have the 60th Anniversary this year as well.
This is on the 20th of July, at the Tea Tree Gully Golf Club Restaurant for Lunch. For the first 100 people the lunch
will be Subsidised by $10 to $50 each, after that it will be $60 each. We are expecting a large crowd so get in early.

On the 17th August Charlie and Carol Onody, new members to the club, are setting a run to the Inglewood Inn for
lunch, Thank you Charlie & Carol for your contribution. It’s great to see our new members enjoying the social side of
our club.
Don’t forget, the TR Register is having their annual Rally in October and have asked us to participate on the weekend
of 18th October to their show and shine at the Hahndorf Primary School Oval 10am – 3pm. Cars on the Oval by
9.30am.
Drinks and food are available at the oval and in aid of the School.
Also, on the 19th October is the Bay to Birdwood parade, and the TR Register is getting a group of Triumphs together
to participate in that as well.

We would like an EXPRESSION OF INTEREST now! if you would like to attend in one or both events. Contact Colin
Baldock a member of both clubs email colbtr2@hotmail.com or mobile 0405 396 874 or myself.
Hope you can participate with the social side of the club as it is your club, and we would love to see you there.
.
Cheers,
Natalie Farrell
Social Secretary
0455 250 990

Thanks to David Stephens and Ivan Powell for bringing their immaculate, but very different TR2’s to have on stage at our April meeting. David’s car was restored over more than 3 years in Victoria, starting as a relatively small engine bay project, but ending up as a full restoration. This must now be one of the best TR2’s anywhere and has a high degree of originality. It has won several awards at national TR Register meetings.

Ivan’s TR2 in contrast, is a tribute to its racing heritage in the Mille Miglia in Italy and is quite heavily modified. It is also in great condition and turns heads wherever it goes.

As advised at the April club meeting, the executive committee has decided to increase subscriptions for 2025/26 to $60.00 for full members and $30.00 for social members.

We are forecasting a modest operating loss for 2024/25, and we have budgeted some $2,000 for subsidies and other costs associated with our 60th birthday lunch and related celebrations in July. We expect other costs such as hire of Sporting Car Club rooms, and administration systems and insurance to rise next club year, so a modest increase in subs seems appropriate.

Our subs in 2018/19 were $75.00 for full members and were reduced during COVID, as many club activities were suspended at that time. We have managed to keep subs at a low level since then however we now believe a small increase is appropriate. TSOA is still one of the lowest cost car clubs in South Australia, and my thanks go to our treasurer, Lisa Macleod who has been able to keep operating costs down and subsequently, maintain low subs.

You should have received an email advising that these subscriptions are now due, and we ask all members to pay these promptly, and by 30th June at the latest. Lisa has a big job in keeping track and receipting 240 members’ payments, and it is unfair if she needs to chase late payments. Please try to make her job as easy as possible.

We had a great run to Stockwell in the Barossa Valley on Sunday April 6th. Thanks to Katherine Bradley and husband Derek for organising such a great run, which was very well attended. Unfortunately, I had mechanical problems on the North South Motorway coming home and spend some 3 hours at the start of the exit ramp to Port Road, waiting for a tow truck. A new alternator has however now fixed the problem (I hope).

Also, thanks again to Lawrie and Kaye Placing for arranging another well attended mid-week lunch to The Green Man Inn at Ashbourne on 10th April.

Lots of members have already booked their places at our 60th Birthday celebrations which will be on Sunday 20th July, at Dimples Restaurant and Function Centre at Tea Tree Gully Golf Club. Although still a little way off, we are looking to lock in attendees, so please book early. This will be great celebration of an amazing 60 years of history and should not be missed. Please see the flyer in Fastrak regarding booking for this very special event. There is a $10 discount for the first 100 registrants, so get in quickly.

There is also a special shirt being offered to members to celebrate our 60th Birthday. This costs $55.00 and must be pre-ordered. Please see details in FasTRak and on our website.

We now have a workable proposal for the 2027 Nationals, and after the 60th Birthday is behind us, a committee will start the planning for this event. Thanks to those who have already volunteered to join this committee, and please see me if you also wish to be part of the 2027 team.

The Weekender will be in Burra in the first weekend of June. This is always a great event, and Bill and Margie Berlemon have, as usual, arranged an exciting and full program at an amazingly reasonable price. I believe there are still a couple of rooms left, so please contact Bill or Margie if you would like to attend.

Alex Smithson
President

TSOA 60TH BIRTHDAY LIMITED EDITION REGALIA SHIRT

To commemorate our club’s 60^th birthday, we have organised a special shirt, with an embroidered badge designed by our own Noel Schmidt. It is a very smart, pale blue, long sleeve casual shirt with button down collar. Cost is $55.00. This is a limited-edition shirt available by order only.

Contact Sue Smithson – ph 0409 675 343 or email scsmithson@hotmail.com to place your order and advise your size.

Payments by EFT preferred – Payment should be made to TSOA of SA Inc – General Account. BSB 065-006. Account # 00902024. Please include your name and “60Shirt” as reference. 

Thanks to all TSOA members who attended All British Day on Sunday March 2nd. It was very successful with a good turnout of Triumphs from our club, as well as TR Register and The Stag Owners’ Club. We had good weather and no incidents, unlike a couple of years ago.

Special thanks to ABD Committee member Stephen Wade for all his work on the organising committee and the layout of the TSOA display on the day. Also thanks to Dean Berlemon and Lisa Macleod for being marshals from the start, and Lisa for bringing the gazebos, cones etc. She overcame major (modern) vehicle problems with her car being stranded on Saturday with electrical problems, and she had to borrow her mother’s car to bring all the gear. This was dedication from Lisa above and beyond the call of duty.

Numerous members helped on the day with the setting up and dismantling of gazbos, and this was greatly appreciated.

Planning of our 60th Birthday celebrations are well under way with a 2-course lunch planned for Sunday 20th July, at Dimples Restaurant and Function Centre at Tea Tree Gully Golf Club. Member Sue Dowden, who is also the financial controller at the Club is helping with organisation of the event and giving us an extra special deal. We are aiming for a big turnout of existing and past members for this very important event.

Noel Schmidt has used his creative flair to design a logo for special regalia for the event, as well as a great poster. I hope that all members will try to get to this lunch, celebrating an amazing achievement of 60 years. Please see the flyer in Fastrak regarding booking for this very special event. There is a $10 discount for the first 100 registrants, so get in quickly.

Vice President Richard Sellers has circulated the new Life Membership criteria to all members and has made some minor changes as a result of this feedback. The document will now be adopted by the club and will be available on the club website.

As previously advised, the 2025 TSOA Nationals in Port Stephens NSW are fully subscribed, but there is a waiting list. Please see me if you want any further information. I have also been advised by TSOA Queensland that planning is well advanced for the 2026 Nationals, at a location is west of Brisbane.

Our turn to organise the TSOA Nationals comes up again in 2027, and although this seems a long time away, we need to start planning now to make sure we can put on a high-quality event. We have limited options, as we need a venue with 50 rooms, and with access to a range of activities and dining options for 100 people, at a reasonable price. As many attendees tow their cars on trailers, secure parking for tow vehicles and trailers is also a necessity.

I am looking for volunteers to join an organising committee. We have some “old hands” already on that committee, as well as some newer members who have volunteered, however new ideas and enthusiasm would be gratefully appreciated. Please see me if you wish to be part of the 2027 team.

The executive committee will consider the budget for 2025/26 prior to the April meeting and set subscriptions for next club year. Subscriptions will be open after the April meeting.

Alex Smithson
President

Our Club website needs your help!

There is little to no input from our members to make the site interesting.

Surely one or some of you have something to share.

If you need help with posting an item, contact me and I will happily assist.

Otherwise, this site will die a natural death . . .

Roger Lange

TSOA SA Website Manager

We are back to our regular club program in 2025, with a well-attended February club meeting. There were three cars on stage, and thanks to members Charlie Onody, John Golding and Ron Corso, for bringing along a Mark 3 Spitfire, Herald coupe and TR3B respectively. Each of these cars are somewhat of a rarity in our club and it was great to hear their respective histories and be able to look at such well-presented cars close up.
As advised at the meeting, the new life membership criteria policy document has been reviewed by existing life members and will now be circulated to all club members for any further input. My thanks to Vice President Richard Sellars who has done a great job in instigating this initiative and preparing the document.

The committee has decided that the comparatively low numbers at the informal January meeting does not justify the expense of hiring the room at Sporting Car Club, and that we will look at having an off-site location for future January informal club meetings.

At the time of writing this report, the All British Day is scheduled for next Sunday, 2nd March. I know that our ABD committee rep, Stephen Wade has done a lot of work in the layout of the ovals, and the Triumph marque clubs (TSOA, TR Register and Stag Club) display area in particular. I am sure this day will be a great success, and I thank Stephen for all his work with ABD on our behalf.

The committee has agreed in principle to having a celebration lunch to commemorate the 60th birthday of TSOA SA on Sunday 20th July, and we will shortly form an organising committee. More details are to follow, but I would like to see this as a major celebration, and hope that many of our club members who we don’t see regularly these days will attend.

The date of the Christmas dinner has now been set for Saturday 22nd November, and we plan to again hold this function at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club. More details to come closer to the event.
Unfortunately, registrations have filled for the 2025 TSOA Nationals in Port Stephens NSW in October, and there is now a waiting list. Previous Nationals attendees were given the first opportunity to register, and all spots were taken by these previous attendees within a few days of release. If you are interested in being placed on the waiting list, or would like to know more about this event, please call me on 0412 823 798, or log onto the TSOA NSW website.

Social Secretary Natalie Farrell continues to organise great social functions, ably assisted by Lawrie and Kay Placing who are organising mid-week runs. The MSCA picnic on 23rd February and All British Day at the start of March has curtailed other club activities for this period, but we will be getting back into the swing of things on the 6th April. See Fastrak or the website for more details.

We have two of our life members, Bill Berlemon and Rory Gibson on the sick list at present, and both were not able to attend the February meeting. Both Bill and Rory have been stalwarts of our club over many years, and I know all TSOA members will join me in wishing them both speedy recoveries. We hope to see Bill and Margie, and Rory and Sue back at club meetings in the near future.

Alex Smithson
President