Quick Calendar

November 23rd, 2023. Submitted by Roger.

Oct 15th             (Tuesday) General Meeting, Sporting Car Club 8.00pm

Oct 19th to 27th  – TSOA Nationals, Albany WA

Oct 20th           (Sunday)  MSCA Super Sprint,  “The Bend” – East Circuit

Nov 3rd           (Sunday) Observation Run – Information TBA

Nov 13th         (Wednesday) Mid Week Lunch – Virginia Nursery (Laurie Placing 0407 286 194)

19th Nov          (Tuesday) General Meeting, Sporting Car Club 8.00 pm

Nov 23rd         (Saturday Evening) End of Year Dinner – Information TBA

Dec 30th         (Monday) After Xmas “Apres” Run  – details TBA

Social Report – September 2024

October 2nd, 2024. Submitted by Roger.

The midweek run to the Uraidla Hotel. Was a great success. 20 people enjoyed the meal which was rather large and
a beautiful day and drive to Uraidla. A big thank you to Kaye and Lawrie.

September 22nd was the “Day of Triumph” at the Tea Tree Gully Civic Park. It was a successful day albeit the weather
wasn’t kind to us in the morning but cleared up in the afternoon. A big thank you to Dino & Lisa Vettese for their kind
offer of $10 breakfast voucher at Café Primo, which was very acceptable on this cold morning.

Don’t forget November 3rd is the Observation Run. I know you love this event, but you will have to be in your Triumph
to win. The winner will win a trophy and the honour of setting the run and obscure questions the following year. After
the run will be a Club sponsored BBQ. Just bring your dinks and chairs to the Tea Tree Hotel by 9.30am.

The end of year Dinner and Day of Triumph trophy presentation will be on the 23rd of November. Please could you
ring me to let me know if you will be attending and if you have any dietary needs. The Royal Adelaide Golf club have
available selections for Vegetarian, Vegan along with Gluten Free and Dairy free meals but you will have to let me
know a week before the event. Payment to be paid by the RSVP 12th November. Preferably on line BSB 065 006 No.
00902024. Or at the October meeting.

I was asked for the menu to be included in my report.

3 course dinner – choice of two entrees, choice of two mains, and a set dessert
ENTRÉE SELECTION
1. Grilled king prawns and jamon serrano, creamed avocado, potato rosti and petite herb salad (GF, DF)
2. Cider braised pork belly, sweetcorn puree, beetroot and radish remoulade, white wine jus (GF)
MAIN SELECTION
1. Grilled free-range chicken breast. Parmesan potato gratin, sauteed baby broccoli and blistered cherry
tomatoes, fresh dill and brown chicken jus (GF)
2. Grilled Coonawarra 180g beef tenderloin, chunky steak chips, wilted rocket, charred roots and pepper jus gras
(GF. DF)
DESSERT
Cherry and amaretto trifle, almond sponge, amaretti, vanilla mascarpone, shaved chocolate.

For people who cannot eat the trifle, there will be fruit salad available with ice-cream or cream or fruit salad alone.

More on the after Christmas Run next month.

See you there on the runs.
Natalie Farrell
Social Secretary

President’s Report – September 2024

September 27th, 2024. Submitted by Alex Smithson.

Firstly, I would like to thank those members who renominated for positions on the club executive. The club does not run itself, and without the small group being prepared to take on positions, we would not have a club, despite having over 200 members. Dean Berlemon has been elected to become an executive committee member, and Duane Kaak has taken on the role of competition secretary in addition to holding club secretary.

Members would have seen in the media the sad and untimely death of recently retired Supreme Court Judge, Malcolm Blue in a farm accident a week or so ago. Although Malcolm did not attend meetings or club events, he had been a member of TSOA for many years and owned two TR6’s which he had on the concessional registration scheme.

My wife, Sue and I were unable to attend the August run on Sunday the 18th to Kersbrook Hill Wines and Cider. I trust this was an enjoyable outing. We had a good turnout to the mid-week lunch at The Uraidla Hotel last week. Thanks again to Lawrie and Kaye Placing and everyone who attended this most enjoyable afternoon.

We had two cars on stage at our September meeting being Ian Young’s and Tim Wachtel’s GT6’s. Whilst both were Mark 3’s, they had come quite different journeys, with Ian having set his up for eventual racing, and with a 2500cc petrol injected motor, and Celica gearbox, and Tim having imported his GT6 from the UK, and having had many problems and challenges thrown at him during the process. Thanks to both Ian and Tim for sharing their different stories of each vehicle.

Our Day of Triumph on Sunday the 22nd September at Civic Park, Modbury looked like it was going to be a washout early, with persistent light rain through the morning, but clearing in the afternoon to a very pleasant day. Dean Berlemon, ably assisted by wife Lisa, as well as Bill and Margie Berlemon, Ian Rigby and others did a great job of organisation, and we ended up having a strong turnout of vehicles, despite the early inclement weather.

Congratulations in particular, to the top three cars in Concours, being Trevor Hawkins’ TR4A, Roger Lange’s TR7V8 and Lisa Vettese’s Stag, as well as all other class winners. Thanks to everyone to assisted with judging and other organisation. We are also grateful to Dino and Lisa Vettese who provided $10 vouchers for breakfast at Café Primo, Tea Tree Plaza, and which were enjoyed by many of the DOT attendees.

I will be en-route to Western Australia for the TSOA National Meeting at our next club meeting, but I am sure that Vice President Richard Sellars will do a great job chairing the October meeting in my absence.

Alex Smithson
President

DAY OF TRIUMPH 2024

September 26th, 2024. Submitted by Roger.

DOT Report 2024

Our Day of Triumph was held at Civic Park on Sunday 22 September 2024. While the weather wasn’t especially kind in the morning it turned into a lovely spring day.  Thanks to all those who bought your cars out for the day. We had 18 entrants and an extra  8 cars on display.

Winners on the day were remarkably similar to last year:

Overall:                                                              Trevor Hawkins (TR4A)

Second Overall:                                                  Roger Lange (TR8)

Third Overall:                                                     Lisa Vettese (Stag)

Michelotti Trophy (TR4,4A & 5):                   Trevor Hawkins

Harris Mann Trophy (TR7/8):                        Roger Lange

Concours

TR4/4A/5/250:                                                  Trevor Hawkins (TR4A)

TR7/8:                                                                  Roger Lange

Stag:                                                                      Lisa Vettese

Saloon:                                                                 Roger Lange

Spitfire/GT6                                                       Tim Wechtel (GT6)

Pride of Ownership

TR4/4A/5/250:                                                 Katherine Bradley (TR4)

TR6:                                                                     Ivan Powell

TR7/8:                                                                 Steve Ferguson

Spitfire/GT6:                                                     Nathan Parkes (Spitfire)

Stag:                                                                    Chris Marshall

Saloon:                                                                Rob Hanna

 

Big thanks to our judges and helpers on the day Alex Smithson, Duane Kaak, Lawrie Placing, Richard Sellers, Katherine Bradley, Garry Buckton, Nathan Parkes , Rob Hanna and Trevor Hawkins. Thanks again to Ian Rigby for his help and support (I might have progressed from my L plates to my P plates now) and Lisa and Margie for their help scoring. Thanks again to Dino and Lisa Vettese who provided a subsidised breakfast for members at Café Primo – all the reports indicated breakfast was delicious.

Dean Berlemon

2024 DOT Organiser

Dolly’s Day of Triumph

September 24th, 2024. Submitted by Duane Kaak.

Great to see so many members brave the early morning rain and bring out their Triumph’s on Sunday. Best part, all those hours in the shed for a fresh coat of paint paid off, and our Dolly won it’s Pride of Ownership Class. I did enlist the help of my 9yo daughter over the last weeks to help hold,retrieve and fit some parts, with finally her holding the bumpers CAREFULLY without scratching the fresh paint whilst I bolted them up.

Getting Ready for Day of Triumph 2024

August 24th, 2024. Submitted by Duane Kaak.

Due to oil leaking into Plug #3, my Sprint didn’t make last years event. (lucky I have spare cars!!).

This year, I’m currently getting my 1850 ready for the day. It’s had a fresh coat of paint in my garage, and now needs a lot of cut ‘n’ polish. A few years ago at the DOT some of you may remember this car for the two white doors and white bootlid. It’s now finally all the one shade of Carmine Red. If it’s not finished, I can always enter ‘under restoration’?

President’s Report – TSOA 2023/24 Club Year – presented at AGM, August 2024

August 22nd, 2024. Submitted by Alex Smithson.

I would like to thank all club members who have assisted to make this club year, my first as president, very successful. We have had a hard-working committee, supported by various appointees, who have put in a huge effort to keep things on track and allowed the club to prosper and grow.
Although Vice President Richard Sellars was not called upon too often, he was always willing to step up, including taking meeting minutes in Secretary Duane’s absence. Richard is very experienced with other clubs and organisations he has been involved in, and I am sure this experience will help the club to improve its operations in the future. Secretary Duane Kaak continues to be a tower of strength within the club and provides us with great service.
Our treasurer, Lisa Macleod has now completed her second year in this position and maintains the books very efficiently. Having had this role for the previous 10 years, I know what a time consuming and at times complicated job this is, and the club owes Lisa a debt of gratitude for her hard work. Whilst we have a deficit this year, this was in line with budget, and has been a deliberate decision to hold subscriptions down and us some of previous surpluses for club operations.
Katherine Bradley took over the Fastrak Editor position two years ago and continues to produce an excellent publication each month. Again, we are very grateful for all she does in this production.
Neil Martin has been Competition Secretary for many years and has also been the mainstay of TSOA motor sport at local and interstate race meetings. Neil has decided to relinquish this role as he is planning to reduce his involvement in motor sport in the future, and we tank Neil for everything he has done for us over the years as Competition Secretary.
We started the year without a Social Secretary, however Life Member, Natalie Farrell volunteered to take on this role. We have had a terrific range of monthly events that Natalie and others have organised throughout the year, and they have all been very well attended, with quite a few of our newer members attending events. Natalie has been assisted behind the scenes, by Lawrie and Kaye Placing in particular, who have also arranged mid-week lunch runs which have a small but keen following.
Ian Rigby has, as he does every year, carried a heavy club load, and worked tirelessly as Conditional Registration Scheme Registrar and Membership Officer. Ian has a band of helpers as Assistant Registrars on his committee and I thank these members for assisting Ian in this major role. Ian is also our representative on the Federation of Historic Motoring Clubs and has been instrumental in gaining grants from the Federation for our Day of Triumph.
Bill and Margie Berlemon have also assisted in club runs, particularly where we have provided a club-sponsored barbeque, and run the Weekender again this year, this time based at Goolwa. This three-day, two-night event was highly successful and enjoyable, and is always a highlight of any club year.
Dean Berlemon was the convenor of the day of Triumph Display Day, as well as taking on Regalia sales this year. Dean assisted by wife Lisa, did a great job and team Berlemon/Macleod remains integral to club operations and success.
We had a great turnout at the All British Day in March, and had two club members on the organising committee, Geoff Ellis and Stephen Wade. Thanks to both Geoff and Stephen for their involvement. Geoff has been on the ABD Committee for some years and has now decided to retire from that committee. Thanks Geoff, for all your hard work on behalf of TSOA.

Our Christmas Dinner continues to be our largest, and best attended function of the year. Life member Sue Gibson is the main organiser of this event, as she has been for many years. Thanks, Sue once again for making this such a successful and enjoyable event.
Whilst we are obviously an aging group, and our raison d’être is the love of a make of car which ceased production over 40 years ago, it is great to see that we continue to attract new members, many of whom have purchased their first Triumph recently. The club’s challenge is to continue to attract new members and to get new members involved with our club, not just be a member to be eligible for historic registration. I hope that any new member attending a meeting or other club function is made welcome and ask all “old hands” to go out of their way to welcome and support new faces at our meetings.
One of my goals as President has been to streamline club meetings, and reduce the amount of non-essential business, but to add “cars on stage” as a key part of each meeting. I have rung new members to invite them to bring their cars and tell us about them, and I hope this has been well received. I hope to continue this at most club meetings in the future.
Bill and Margie do much of the work of providing suppers at meetings, as well as raffle prizes and Margie and Lisa collecting on the door. Thanks to other club members who have assisted for suppers.
We were successful in obtaining a SA Car Club Program grant from the South Australian Government last year and this grant has been fully spent on club equipment and first aid courses. We also received a grant from the federation for this year’s Day of Triumph. Storing and transporting our club equipment remains a significant task, and Ian Rigby and the Berlemons do most of this work. It would be great to see another club member take on this role and Ian, Bill and Margie are already heavily committed to working for the club in many critical areas.
We are coming up to our 60th birthday in March 2025, and we are very fortunate to have our joint founder, Tony Case in our club, and who remains an active (and vocal) part of Club activities. Tony is putting a history of the club together and I know, is very keen to have the 60th birthday celebrated in grand style. I am sure that the new committee will put as an early agenda item, just how we can make this celebration very special.
Our club has two awards for service made each year. The President’s Award is made to the Committee member who has made an outstanding contribution to the running of the club, and the Vice President’s Award is to a club member, other than a committee member.
At the last AGM, Bill and Margie Berlemon relinquished the role of Social Secretary after several years of fantastic service, however no other club member was prepared to stand for the position. Life Member Natalie Farrell called me after that meeting to volunteer for this role. Natalie has had an incredibly tough year, with family tragedies and a couple of unfortunate injuries, however she has been able to put a great social calendar together, which, as I have said previously, have had strong attendance and have all been very enjoyable. I am therefore very pleased to announce that Natalie is the winner of the 2023/24 President’s Award.
Regards
Alex Smithson

President’s Report – July 2024

August 22nd, 2024. Submitted by Alex Smithson.

Thanks to all those members who have paid their subscriptions by 30th June, and had their logbooks stamped. For anyone yet to do both things, can you please be proactive and make sure you are financial as soon as possible. The jobs of club Treasurer (Lisa Macleod) and Conditional Registrar (Ian Rigby) are arduous enough as it is, and chasing unfinancial members make the tasks that much harder. Please also remember that you need to be financial and have your logbook stamped for 2024/25 for your car to be registered. You should not drive your car until this has been done.

Lawrie and Kaye Placing organised a great mid-week run to the Green Man Inn, Ashbourne on 10th July, and we had a large turnout for the “Christmas in July” run through the southern Adelaide Hills to the Old Noarlunga Hotel for lunch on Sunday 21st July.

We had our traditional thankyou night for committee members and other club helpers prior to the July meeting, with pizzas provided by the club. There is a small but very hard-working group who keep the club and its events ticking over, and I am most appreciative of all those who help to make this happen.

Special thanks to Katherine Bradley who stepped in at the last moment to take the minutes for the July meeting. Our hard-working secretary, Duane Kaak was away in Bali, and his deputy and Vice President, Richard Sellars came down with RSV and was also unable to attend. Richard had called me earlier in the day, and certainly sounded like he was suffering. Hopefully he makes a quick recovery. Kat’s joke telling at the meeting maintained the rich tradition of excellence in humour that we have come to expect from our incumbent secretary.

It was great to see Terry and Sue Dowden’s TR6 on stage at the July meeting.  It has been a home coming for this car, as it was owned previously by Jon Williams (and also briefly by Roger Lange) and had only recently migrated with Jon to Queensland. Terry and Sue love the car and it presents very well.

We are now only a month away from the Annual General Meeting after August general meeting. All positions in the club will be declared vacant. It is not too late to call me (ph 0412 823789) or email me (alex.m.smithson@outlook.com) if you wish to stand for any position in the club or are prepared to help.

Alex Smithson

President

ABD 1997

July 27th, 2024. Submitted by Roger.
This photo shows the gate pass to the All British Day at the Uraidla Oval in February of 1997 and the jointly owned entrant being the extremely rare 1968 Triumph Herald 13/60 Estate of Tony Case and Tom Long, both former TSOASA Presidents and current Life Members.
The car was jointly restored by Tony and Tom and sadly, after being sold on, was stolen from the owner and torched. It did not survive.

From the Archives

July 27th, 2024. Submitted by Roger.
Below is a photo of the cover of the Triumph Monthly Review of May, 1971 as it was back in those times before it became TRak magazine in 1976.
At the time the President of the TSOASA was Fred Cullen, the Secretary was Andrew von Neidermuller, the Treasurer was David Hurling, Competition Secretary Geoff Cousin, Social Secretary Rick Robertson, Assist. Secretary Vin Anderson and the Editor was Bob Burke.
Notably the Official Typists were Helen Bidstrup and Deb Chernoff.
General Meetings in  those days took place at the Brecknock Hotel in Adelaide and invariably were followed by a film.

ABD 1999

July 27th, 2024. Submitted by Roger.

 

Above is a photograph of the 1957 Triumph TR3 roadster once owned by Tony Case and the gate pass to the 1999 All British Day at Uraidla in February of that year. The car was fitted with Minilite wheels and Bridgestone 205/60×15” performance tyres, aero screens, anti-sway bars at the front and rear, bonnet louvres and twin Lucas flame thrower spot
lights and seven speed overdrive gearbox.