May

Tuesday 18^th       General Meeting – Sporting Car Club, King William Road, Hyde Park 7.30pm

Friday 21^st -23^rd WEEKENDER TO PT PIRIE

June

Tuesday June 15^t   General Meeting – Sporting Car Club, King William Road, Hyde Park 8.00pm

Sunday June 20^th Brunch run to Virginia Nursery

July

Sunday 18^th         Mid-Year Christmas and Presentation of Trophies from All Triumph Day

Tuesday 20^th    General Meeting – Sporting Car Club, King William Road, Hyde Park 8.00pm

Socially Speaking for May 2021

The Observation Run went well with 24 participants Thanks to Dean and Lisa for organising the run – it was a lovely park in Mt Compass where we had lunch. Congratulations to Roger and Cherie Lange for winning – and organising the 2022 run!

The Weekender is next on the agenda, and Bill and I did the routing last weekend – all 650km of it! Looking forward to a great weekend.

The 6-hour regularity is at Mallala on May 2^nd – the club is looking for Marshalls – please contact Duane or Neil if you can assist.  Roger is providing lunch, so a good day’s outing is guaranteed.

June is a Visit to Virginia Nursery for Brunch, and July is going to be a mid-year Christmas and Presentation of Trophies, so watch this space for details!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s

Bill and Margie

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – April 2021

We are now in the depths of Autumn and approaching that time of year when we put our Triumph in the garage, hang up our gardening gloves and start searching Google for quality mulled-wine recipes.  But don’t despair; you can work on your Triumph in the garage and enjoy the various Club activities scheduled over the next few months.

On Sunday 18 April, a number of club members attended the Vintage and Classic Car Parade at McLaren Vale and 24 members wracked their brains on the Observation Run.  The Run took us through the Adelaide Hills and the upper reaches of the Fleurieu Peninsula arriving for a Club BBQ lunch at Mt Compass in perfect weather.  Two highly competitive couples won prizes at each event –

Noel and Cindy Schmidt – Best Dressed at McLaren Vale

Roger and Cherri Lange  – Best Answers at Mt Compass

At our last meeting attendance was down slightly but, nevertheless, the level of conversation/discussion was quite lively.  Duane rounded the meeting off with an interesting quiz focussed on Dolomites.  This was particularly relevant given that 2021 is their 50^th anniversary year.  Despite a large groan for getting one of the questions correct, Stephen Wade agreed to continue the quiz at our May meeting.

And while on anniversaries, TSOA Victoria celebrated their 60^th anniversary recently with a drive to Ballarat and a book launch on the Anzac Day weekend.  Hopefully, Greg Page our librarian can get a copy of the book to add to the library.  I believe it has more than 300 pages so it should be an interesting read.

Subscriptions for 2021/22 will increase to $50pa from $40pa this year.  Despite this, a deficit is predicted for the year and our overall cash balance will reduce in line with our aims to promote additional member benefits and maintain a lower level of cash reserves.   The $50 compares more than favourably with subscriptions of other car clubs and is still significantly lower than the level that existed before Covid restrictions were imposed.   Notifications will be sent out in the next few weeks.

In previous Reports I have signalled why I chose my TR6 (because I liked the colour green!) and indicated that I would provide further details later.  Well, that time has arrived.   What follows is an abbreviated version of my ownership of TRSIX6 for just under 20 years and my subsequent purchase of TR8080 4 years ago.

My TR6 &TR8

My first involvement with motorized transport was at Uni when I thrashed around in my mother’s Ford Prefect.  I then purchased a Vespa 150 GS when I was about 19/20 years old.  This was followed by a Toyota Corona when I was 23 and after that I had a random set of vehicles rarely tinkering with any of them or even looking under the bonnet to see what was there.  In my 50’s I thought I might like to restore an old sports car and at an All British Day at Uraidla in the 1990’s I fell in love with a midnight blue TR6, on display with TSOA.

In 2016, much to the amazement of fellow TSOA friends and myself I sold our beloved TR6.  We purchased the car in pieces from a deceased estate in 1996 and I must thank Ron Corso for assisting with the sale.  Somehow, I got the silent vehicle home and into our garage.  It had been converted to RH drive, was mostly complete, rust free and came with a few boxes of miscellaneous spares.

A builder friend lent me some scaffolding which enabled me (and him) to remove the body and suspend it close to the garage ceiling and above the chassis.  This was pretty scary stuff, as I soon realized how much the body flexed when it was not attached to the chassis.  The car was now ready to work on.

At this stage I could put my lack of automotive skills to good use.  Over a period, I was able to remove the wiring loom, engine, differential, gear box, fuel tank, starter motor and other major/minor items from the chassis and their housings, as well as refurbish items such as nuts and bolts and make up a new veneer dash.  In between, I hand rubbed down to bare metal the body, doors, bonnet, and boot (ably assisted by Dave Wilson), removing 2 layers of blue paintwork and having the car resprayed in the original emerald-green.   The interior trim was also beautifully jazzed up by Alan Smith on Regency Road. Some tears on the chassis (where the diff. is fixed) required welding and the chassis was then sent off for respraying.

The engine and diff. were thoroughly reconditioned by Bob and Vin Anderson respectively (thanks guys).  Somehow, I had arrived at a point where I could attempt to reassemble all my gleaming components.  I was convinced it could look like a TR6 again, but this required a range of skills that I was well short of.  So the pieces sat in the garage for a further 2 years.

The hero in this story is another TSOA member Rory Gibson, who was a power station engineer, a good friend and a TR6 owner who had a lot of experience in the intricacies of what went where and why things worked.  Rory joined me at home every Wednesday for about 2 years and finally in 2002 a brilliant emerald-green TR6 was cleared by the Regency Park Vehicle Inspectors.  Subsequently I won 9 National and 6 State awards with the car.  And then I sold it (it is now in chilly Norway), replacing it with a genuinely nice TR8 (green again) which we still have.

I tell this abbreviated story to inspire others as I started with no intricate knowledge of cars and no specific knowledge of TR6’s but an overriding confidence in the support I could get from being a member of TSOA.  Dreams can come true but not necessarily on time and on budget!

Well I hope you enjoyed this story.  FasTRak is a great avenue for members to tell their own individual stories and for us all to get to know each other a little better.  I’m sure there are plenty of interesting stories out there and so I will be calling for volunteers in the near future.

PS Congratulations to Kaye and Laurie Placing on getting SA plates for their Stag.

Kind regards,

Peter Davidge (President)

After months of planning and a cancelled event last year, we were finally able to run the TSOA Display day. Traditionally this event runs towards the end of the year but it was decided by the committee to run it during the autumn months. This is good for me regarding the trophies as I typically only get a few weeks to sort that part of the process out. Less stress this year on A-Class.

With the current global issue, most councils were not permitting the use of their grounds but thankfully, an 11^th hour call back to the Modbury council gave us the go ahead to use the grounds.

My concern during set up in the morning was that there were several other car shows being held on the same day and the short notice of our event could possibly have had an impact. It was pleasing to see the turnout of 40 or so cars across the full range of the Marque.

Several notifications for the day.

The judges were a great support to me once again. I had several that had not done this before for us so thank you to all of those that supported this crucial part of the event.

The federation also sponsored us. They allowed my last minute request for a grant, so again, free for the club.

Café Primo also supported with a meal deal and several took advantage of this during the day.

The event also allowed for a more general presentation of the club and I was able to help with three more cars added to the Historical Rego scheme, a TR6 presented on the day for sale. I had a call later that night regarding the car and was informed the day after that it had SOLD. Great result for the owner. We had a few interested people wanting more details on the club and a lot of interest from the public.

So onto the results: We had five cars enter Concours and a further 23 enter Pride of ownership. Several other cars were on display but not entered for judging. Total count 40 cars all up.

Outright winner : Roger Lange with the yellow Dolomite Sprint.

Concours d’Elegance

First place:           Roger Lange                       Dolomite Sprint               and Overall winner.

Second place:      David Stephens:                 TR2

Third place:         Richard Sellers                   TR8

Marque results.

TR2 / 3                  David Stephens               also recipient – Register Trophy

TR4 / 5                  Ian Burman                      also recipient – Michelotti Trophy

TR6                        No Entries

TR7 / 8                  Richard Sellers                also recipient – Harris Mann Trophy

Stag                        No Entries

Saloon:                  Bob Cini

Dolomite:             Roger Lange

Spitfire / GT6      No Entries

Master Class:   2500TC                  John Tuohy

Pride of Ownership

TR2 /3                   Vic Neave

TR4 / 5                 Bob Kretschmer

TR6                        Trevor Hawkins

TR7 / 8                  Bob Farrell

Spitfire / GT6       Nathan Parkes

Stag                         Duane Kaak

Saloon                    Roger Lange

Dolomite                Bob Cini

So for next year.

I am open to submissions of venue and also for any ideas that may be added or changed. It’s a difficult day trying to make sure that all cars are correctly represented and nothing gets missed, as it does on occasions but we always check and try to make sure we get it right. I lay out all of the documents again when I get home and do a double check.

After hosting this event for several years, I’m now wondering if anyone would be willing to take on the challenge and run the event for themselves. Naturally, I would be in full support until you were fully in tune with running the programme.

Regards

Ian Rigby

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MARCH 2021

 Well, another month is behind us and in that time, we had an excellent March meeting and a great turnout for the Day of Triumph at Civic Park, Ti Tree Gully.

Attendance at the last meeting was as good as it has been all year.  Members were treated to a hot supper and 2 cars on stage, a 1964Van Den Plas ‘Princess’ and a 2004 Clubman (Mazda MX5 essentials) presented respectively by Stephen Wade and Chez Hobbs. Thanks to the presenters and to Duane for organising the cars on stage.   No Triumphs but both cars were of interest.

Other highlights of the night included

• a quiz by Roger Lange, on Spitfires, won by Duane. This looks like being a regular monthly feature
• a regalia fashion parade and auction and
• display of a magnificent quilt made by Natalie Farrell from National Rally regalia and insignias

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Day of Triumph as I had another commitment at Victor Harbor.  Given the short notice, I was quite concerned that we might be well down on numbers.  However, Ian Rigby, informs me that the day was highly successful, with 40 cars displayed, including those of a number of reasonably new members.  He had great support from all who attended and very much appreciated the Primo breakfast/lunch vouchers supplied by Dino and Lisa Vitesse.

Margie and Bill have a full quota for the Weekender in May.  That is great news and don’t forget the Observation Run coming up shortly on Sunday 18 April.  Details are supplied elsewhere.

And to the left is why I like green.

If you are travelling over Easter, I hope the weather is fine and the roads are safe.  I look forward to seeing you again in April.

Kind regards,

Peter Davidge (President)

The Day of Triumph held at Civic Park was well attended, and it was great to see so many cars. Credit to Ian Rigby and team for a fantastic event.  Lots of new cars and missing some of the favourites but a great day was had by all. Thanks also to Dino and Lisa Vitesse for their vouchers for Primo for Breakfast/Lunch.

Thanks to Peggy and Bill for doing Supper last month, and to Kay and Dean for helping with the raffle, due to my broken wrist.

The Weekender is now full, so if I don’t have your details, sorry you will have to wait till next year!

The Observation run is next, followed by a Club sponsored lunch, so bring along your clipboards, pens, chairs, and drinks – and a sense of humour goes a long way!!

Enjoy your Easter festivities, and don’t eat too much chocolate!

Bill and Margie

TSOA WEEKENDER

MAY 21^st to MAY 23rd

MID NORTH EVENT

Accommodation – John Pirie Motor Inn – Superior Rooms.

Places we are visiting:

Sea Squadron Wallaroo  TBC

RSL Military Museum – Pt Pirie

PADARC Car Club – Pt Pirie

Jacks Large model cars and trucks – Jamestown

Charlene’s Quilting Shop – Jamestown

Discovery Centre – Gladstone- history of the area, and tastings

Gladstone Gaol – maybe closing this year

Ossies Homestead, Gulnare (working farm) Damper & billy tea

Claymore Wines, Leasingham – curated tasting of the current range with 10% discount on wine purchases

Meet: Friday 22nd May:

OTR Bolivar (859 Pt Wakefield Road Bolivar)

8.45am for a 9.00am Departure

Cost:  $200.00 pp (with club subsidy of $50 members) twin share

Individual and Children’s Rates –by negotiation.

Contact Margie/Bill 0438836837

Polish those spokes, black the wheels and vacuum the carpets

    get ready to be judged or just come for the display.

      It’s FINALLY on again the TSOA annual DAY OF TRIUMPH.

       SUNDAY             21^st March

Cars need to be in place early and can’t be removed until the end of the event at 3pm for safety reasons. Gates open around 8.30 am

The rules and scoring are the same as prior years and it will be the point score that wins you the trophy. The car needs to support the class and score ranking it has been entered into.

I will need a lot of help from several people on the day that have an eye for detail. We hopefully have a few in Master Class if they can be rolled out from under the covers.

In the event of a tie, for any category, I will ask several of the more knowledgeable in the group to cast their eye over the cars to come up with the ultimate winner. The decision will be based on an agreed approach that would be around overall presentation and as close to original as possible.

I hope to see a full field across all types of Triumphs so Please join me on the day.

Ian Rigby  0417085083

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – FEBRUARY 2021

This will be a relatively short report as I am still in Melbourne with my family.  Now that SA is opening the border to Greater Melbourne, we will be returning home on 7 or 8 March, hopefully, after 2 more family gatherings.

Well, apart from what we must do to remain Covid Safe, it feels like we are close to being back to normal activities.  Monthly meetings are occurring, supper and cars on stage have resumed, our social calendar is well in hand and a healthy racing program is in evidence.  The National Meeting Committee has also been busy and has a fully subscribed list of delegates who can’t wait to get to the Barossa Valley in late October 2021.  Details should be reported elsewhere in this edition of FastTRak.

My thanks to Vice President Ian Rigby for running the February meeting in my absence.  In addition to supper, members were treated to a

• a quiz by Kaye Placing (thanks a million!) and
• a presentation of Matthew Taylor’s TR7 with Sprint Engine.

An upcoming and exciting innovation is the transfer of our Day of Triumph (Concours and Show and Shine) to Sunday, 21 March 2021 from its normally later date in the year.  As Council approvals have only just come through, we have been unable to give club members greater notice.  Further details are provided in this FastTRak and members will be reminded again before the event.  So start polishing and let’s see if we can significantly boost the numbers the Club has had on display in recent years.  This is a great opportunity to compare your car with others and get some pointers as to what improvements you might make to your beloved Triumph.  Summer is rapidly running out (if we ever had one this year!), so use it as an excuse to get another day out with your Triumph.

And don’t forget the Observation Run and of course our traditional Weekender which are not far away. Details and dates are included in the Social Calendar.

In early January I sent an email, entitled “Your Club”, to a number of members seeking to personally encourage greater involvement in club activities, rather than just enjoying the benefits of historic registration.  In addition to the initial responses received, a further response elicited a rather nice TR8 that I thought was worthy of including here.

                                 .

I look forward to seeing you again in March.

Kind regards,

Peter Davidge (President)

Socially Speaking for March 2021

Eleven people attended the Breakfast Run, to Bethany.  It was a lovely day despite the low numbers, and Alex and Sue won the best breakfast, as they had their grandchildren with them, and had extra breakfasts to cook! Congratulations.  It was great to see Tony Rutter join us at Bethany, following his many months of lockdown in Western Australia.  Dean and Lisa joined us at Bethany with their Caravan, after staying at Tanunda.

Thanks to Dean and Lisa who assisted with the Super at the meeting after our  late apologies for the meeting.

We hope to have details of the weekender soon to publish.

The day of Triumph is next month, so I hope we have a great turn out for that.

Bill and Margie

Hot off the Presentation earlier today at the MSCA “Picnic and 2020 Trophy Presentation Day” held at the Virgara Wines lovely shaded grounds at Angle Vale, is the fantastic news that our intrepid Super Sprint drivers Neil Martin and Duane Kaak both WON their respective Competition Class awards for the 2020 year!

Congratulations you two – you do our TSOA SA Club and the Triumphs we love proud!