October 2016 Priceless

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VICMOG OFFICE BEARERS 2016

President: Chris Page

Email: president@vicmog.com.au

Phone:0418 389793

Vice President: Frank Malerba

Email: frank.malerba@gmail.com

Phone: 0417 898001

Secretary/Public Officer: Ted Houston

Email: secretary@vicmog.com.au

Phone: 0438 717303

Treasurer: Ramsay McKay

Email: rev10@tpg.com.au

Phone: 0419367312

Social Secretary: Bill Emerson

Email: socialsec@vicmog.com.au

Phone: 0418 427404

Regalia Officer: Frank Malerba

Communications Officer: Brian Hardy

Email: editor@vicmog.com.au

Phone : 0408 516988

Club Register: Helen Davis

Phone: 0425 742064

Club Plates: Mike Devine

Email: mg.devine@bigpond.com

Phone : 0407 946699

Peter ffrench

Email: phffrench@optusnet.com.au

Phone: 0411 030151

Phil MacwhirterEmail: pmlm@bigpond.comPhone :0417 050791CAMS Delegate Phil Macwhirter

VP MOCA-Vic: Colin Bartlett

Committee Member Phil Macwhirter

Committee Member: Michael Aisenberg

The VICMOG GAZETTEThe Official Journal of the Victorian MorganOwners Group Inc. Reg No: A0029564YCorrespondence to:

Registered Address: PO Box 3044 Rowville, VIC 3178

secretary@vicmog.com.au

October 2016 EditionCONTENTS

REPORTSFrom the President 3Secretary's Report 4Social Secretary's Report 5

ARTICLES37 Year Coma 7The Vicmogger and the VP 8September Meeting Report 12Morgan Miscellany 14For Sale 15

Check out our website at: www.vicmog.com.au(The members password is Plus4 )

and our Facebook page at :www.facebook.com/MorganOwnersGroupInc

EDITOR.......................... Brian Hardy

PHOTOGRAPHERS............ John Beezley & Ron Bayley

ROVING REPORTERS........ Lyle Honess & Ron Bayley

CARTOONIST.................Jim Foley

CONTRIBUTIONS

We are always on the lookout for articles of interestto our readers. We request that copy be providedelectronically, preferably as a Microsoft Office Worddocument file. Photographs should be sentseparately.

Please send all contributions, letters and advertisingenquiries to the editor to: editor@vicmog.com.au

COVER PHOTO

Morgan Corner at the Rolls Royce Club annualconcours Wesley Glen Waverley campus.

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PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Hi all,We have come back to Melbourne for a month or soand are set for a busy time.Unfortunately I won't be able to get to Ted and Bev'son the 16th. We are having a memorial service for agood mate of mine up at Wodonga. He rode bikesuntil he was 78 years old and a few of us want totake him for one last ride, so my next Morganexperience will be the much anticipated highcountry run at the end of the month.

I got the 4/4 carby rebuilt up at Taree and got to useit two or three times before the starter motor gaveup the ghost, at least the flat spot has been rectified- it's amazing how much more power the little Moghas developed. I have brought the starter back toMelbourne to be reconditioned so hopefully I'll get agood run out of the car after that.

There has been a bit going on with our threewheeler restorers - Chris Powell, Brian Richardsonand Mike Devine are all highly motivated, it will begreat when all the cars are on the road.

Life at Oxley Island has become even better since wefound that there are five other Morgans within 30minutes of our place, so plans are afoot for aninformal gathering before Christmas. Maybe I willget to use the cars much more than we do downhere. I also attended a "car club" meeting on our lasttrip. The meeting went for the whole evening, therewere no wives or partners there. It made me thinkabout how lucky we are at Vicmog to have suchinformal meetings and a bigger emphasis onfriendships - we should never get complacent ortake this wonderful club for granted. So long as wehave great office holders such as Ted, Brian, Bill,Ramsay and Frank etc in the club we are in goodhands for the future.

Looking forward to catching up with you all beforetoo long

CheersChris

REMEMBERING THE PAST

A wife was curious when she found an oldnegative in a drawer so she had it made

into a print.

She was pleasantly surprised to see that itwas of her at a much younger, slimmertime, taken many years ago on one of her

first dates with her husband.When she showed him the photo, his face

lit up."Wow, look at that!", he said with

appreciation,"That's my old ‘52 Drophead Morgan"

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SECRETARY'S REPORT

Hi Esteemed Members

A quiet Morgan month has gone by with too muchrain and cold weather. Anyone would think it hadbeen winter. With our lucky President Chris retiringnorth to warmer climates, it is time to ask our loyalmembers to consider offering their services at theDecember AGM, when all the Committee roles areup for renewal. Gee, I’ve survived three years assecretary. Once I couldn’t spell the word secretary,and now I is one! So don’t feel backwards in comingforwards, any input is appreciated and welcomedfrom any member old or new.

Well ,Karma has struck a deadly blow. I usuallyreserve the last Thursday of the month for theglorious Morgan Pensioner run, but this monthagreed to go with some mates on a 4wd camping

adventure to South Australia that coincided with theonce in a hundred year storm. As you can see fromthe photograph, the puddles are quite deep, and Ihad to be winched out with six inches of waterinside the car. I’ll never complain about a little rainin the 4/4 anymore. Oh well, time for its firstservice!

Look forward to seeing you all at the October Clubmeetingwhich is being held at our place inLysterfield on Sunday the 16th. Please let me knowasap if you are coming, as I need to hire table andchairs. My email is emhous@gmail.com

Kind regards

Ted Houston

Visit www.macedonrangesgrandtour.com.au for more details.

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SOCIAL SECRETARY'S REPORT

Hopefully the following weeks may give us clear skiesand sunny conditions for better Morgan touringconditions. Here is what's coming up on the Morganfront.

OCTOBERSunday 16 Oct - VICMOG Meeting/BBQWhen: 12:30pmWhere: Bev and Ted's home at:

16 SHERWOODWAY LYSTERFIELD.

Bring: your own meat, salads and drinks.

Coffee, biscuits and cakes will be supplied by yourhosts.

RSVP: Important!!! RSVP to Ted no latter than12th of October by email to: emhous@gmail.comor text to: 0438717303

Tuesday 25 Oct to 28 Oct - High PlainsDrifterThe RDO Lunch run for October has been replacedwith the High Plains Drifter run

Day 1 (25th) is the start of our High Plains Drifterrun and will take us to Milawa via the King Valleywhere we will stay at LINDENWARRAH for theevening

Day 2 (26th) will allow for those who wish to testtheir skills on a drive up to Mt Buffalo or else aleisurely drive via Beechworth and Myrtleford toTawonga ( Mt Beauty ) staying at the MountainCreek Motel, Ryders Lane, Tawonga

Day 3 (27th) will see us tick off a unique bucket listitem as we travel over the alps on the magnificentGreat Alpine Road to Metung via Omeo where we arestaying at The Moorings.

Day 4 (28th) is a lesiurely run back to Melbourne,

Full details of the itinerary will be forwarded in thenext two weeks to those who have put their namesdown as attending this great VICMOG event

Looking a bit further out, we have a few dates foryour diary.

NOVEMBER5-6 Nov VHRR Weekend at SandownThe Victorian Historic Racing Register is having aweekend event on the 5th and 6th of November.Check out their web site for more details at:www.vhrr.com/wp/sandown

They have sent me discounted passes which I willbring with me to Ted's on the 16th October.

Sunday 13 NOV - VICMOG Meeting/BBQat Mike and Alison’s home at Mt Martha

Thursday 24 Nov RDO Lunch run

DECEMBERSunday 11 Dec Christmas BBQ / AGMat Warwick and Paulette’s home at Coldstream

2017There are a few events coming up next year that youreally need to get your registration in now if youwould like to attend. These are:

Sunday 5 Feb 17 The Great AustralianRallyCheck out: www.greataustralianrally.com.au

19-25 Mar 17 The RACV Fly The FlagAlpine TourCheck out: www.abccc.com.au/FTF/

Saturday 1 Apr 17 The GREAT MacedonGrand TourCheck out:www.macedonrangesgrandtour.com.au

Happy Morganing to all

Cheers

Biggles (Bill) Emerson

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R A L L Y I N G F O R A C U R E

GreatAustralian Rally

The best songs of all time

2017

Melbourne to MorningtonSunday 5th February 2017

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The VICMOGGER AND THE VP

by

A former President and Life Member of the Club

On July 17th this year I was required to make aspeech. The last sentence of that speech will remainwith me for a long time.

“It is now my privilege to introduce the Vice Presidentof the United States of America Mr Joe Biden”.

The story behind this sentence.

I am writing this as a chronicle of what happened, asit actually happened, without any garnishing.

I joined the committee of the Ivanhoe RSL a bit over3 years ago. In one of the rooms that is not used Ifound a U.S. flag on a staff. It is a silk flag whichmeans it is a ceremonial flag-not the type you seeflying on flagpoles. It was in need of repair with thefringe coming off in parts and stains on it. Enquiringabout the flag I found out it was an Americanheadquarters flag and went ashore with the 1stMarine Division U.S. Task Force at Guadalcanal in theSolomon Islands on August 7th 1942. It was the firstU.S. Flag to be flown in combat in this campaign. AColonel Cavanagh presented it to the Ivanhoe RSL onAugust 15 1957. Why it was presented to us has beenlost in time. Colonel Cavanagh was a director of GMH.Apparently the 1st Marine Division had a depot inLatham St Ivanhoe.

I determined that this is a flag that needed to bepreserved. I obtained a quotation from InternationalConservation Services and lo and behold the framingis done by Recherche which is Neville Crawford'sbusiness in Northcote. Neville is one of the foundingmembers of the Morgan car club in Victoria.

The cost was fairly significant and we could not justifyspending the money as there is a lot of maintenancerequired on our RSL. Some time later a Merren Wardand her husband joined the RSL. Merren had been ahistory teacher and began doing some archiving workfor us. Merren is also an MP (Morgan Perve). I toldher about the flag and she suggested I contact theU.S. Embassy re funding the restoration as the U.S. isvery patriotic about their flag.

I sent off a letter, August 2014 and received a reply afew weeks later from the Acting Consul GeneralCornelius C Walsh. Now there's an American name.The second sentence jumped out at me -”We are

indeed interested in assisting you and yourcolleagues”. A week later the Public Affairs Officer BillFurnish came out. He inspected the flag, viewed it had48 stars and asked about the history of it. Afterprotracted negotiations we finally receivedconfirmation of funding.

In August 2015 the U.S. Ambassador John Berryannounced the funding of a flag.

The restoration/preservation process went asplanned. The next time I saw the flag it was finishedand framed at Recherche. I can remember it well. Iwas a bit overwhelmed as I saw it in its frame andthought what was the cost of getting this flag ashore.

The next step was the rededication ceremony. TheEmbassy wanted publicity from it and rightly so. JohnBerry was going to rededicate the flag. By this time itwas April 2016.They wanted to invite the ForeignAffairs Minister at the time. With the election, thatcould change. I then found out the ambassador'sfather served in the 1st Marine division atGuadalcanal. How fitting he should rededicate theflag.

I was then given a date of July 17th to work towards.Then about 6 weeks before I was told in confidenceJoe Biden was coming out and they were going to seeif he could do it. He was only here for a short timemainly to open the new Cancer Hospital. There werea lot of options on what he could or couldn't do in his

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available time.

The flag won.

The venue was to be the MCC Committee Room.

I was then told they wanted me to make a speech,about a week before, and gave me a very briefoutline. They were not prescriptive at all. This reallygot my mind going.

I had a list of about 16 people I wanted to bringalong. There was seating for 60.

The attendees had to provide:

Full name

Ethnic background

Driving licence number

Passport number

Mobile number-(mainly so they could contact them ifneed be).

This was then submitted by the Embassy to the WhiteHouse. On one occasion an answer was received fromthe WH in about 20 minutes confirming acceptance.The list then went to the Secret Service.

This is the type of email I was receiving-

If you are receiving this email you and associatedhave all been cleared by the White House.

Nothing heard re the Secret Service clearance.

So all looks good

Things were becoming hectic. On Tues 12th I went tothe Weary Dunlop Memorial Service, didn't tell theEmbassy I was turning my phone off. Turned it backon after an hour and there were 8 missed calls and atext 'why was my phone off?' This was from theCultural Affairs Attache, a very nice Australian lady.There was so much for them to do in so little time thefact she couldn't contact me had put her underpressure.

It was quite a job getting the flag through the buildingthey had to plan the path days before because of itssize. Got it to the committee room ok. Oncewemanoeuvred the flag into place and had finished,Tom, the White House person who organises thestage activities, came over to me. He was goingthrough the procedure for Sunday. He said theAmbassador would speak first and introduce me and Iwould speak and introduce the VP. I can stillremember saying you want me to introduce the VP.Yes.

If you thought my mind was going before ……. I hadworked my speech out, so I thought, this put a newperspective on it.

We caught the train to Jolimont and got to the MCGabout 9am. We couldn't enter until 10-30 (a bitnervous maybe). I started reading one of thenewspapers and there was an article about Joe Bidenarriving in Melbourne. About halfway through thearticle it said the second most powerful man in theworld. I put the paper down. I didn't need that then.

Back to the MCG, again, with Sandy and a friend Iserved with. He said to me don't get his name wrong.That's what mates are for. I said maybe I'll say JohnBowden. We got our passes, was swiped by Securityand escorted to the committee room. Swiped againthen left to mingle. A current serving SAS guy I invitedwas already there. He told me he had just rung anSAS mate who is a sniper. He got it in one, he wassomewhere around the roof area of the MCG - adifferent world.

About 11:00 am Tom took me behind the stage anddown a passageway, left into another passagewayand said to wait there, the VP would be arriving inabout 10 mins.

There were about 7 or 8 Secret Service guys around.One in a long black ankle length leather coat open atthe front. What is going through your mind is whatwent through mine.

I could see Tom nodding to someone in the lift. Outcame Joe Biden followed by John Berry. Joe walkedup to me with a huge smile on his face grabbed my,

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by now, outstretched right hand, put his left hand onmy right forearm and giving it a huge shake, saidsomething like “it is so good to meet you John” (Ithink). All I know was that it was a very warm,sincere and friendly welcome. The Ambassador thengreeted me in a friendly manner. We then walked insingle file, as it was narrow, to the back of the stage.Joe started talking about how he had played gridironand he thought Aussie rules was a bit like Gaelicfootball. I'm thinking I could be at a pub with theseguys the way the conversation flowed - it wassurreal. One of the VP's staffers came up and had abook open at the statistics, which were underlined,of the Guadalcanal operation. He noted them down.

I had planned to include this in my speech. I thoughtthere goes a big chunk of my speech.

We went onto the stage, the Ambassador spoke firstand he is an excellent speaker. I was standing back abit behind him thinking I have to follow this. TheAmbassador introduced me as the head of theIvanhoe RSL. Now our president is 95 and has beenpresident for 40 years. He was sitting on the stageand I was told he nearly fell out of his chair. Icorrected that quick smart. My turn came and Istarted off by saying I would have to modify myspeech as the VP was going to talk about the stat’s ofGuadalcanal. He called out “you go right ahead”.

My speech seemed to go ok, didn't stumble - it was abit of a blur. I finished with the sentence at the startof this article. Even received a round of applause atthe end. And yes I got the name right.

The VP spoke and he has a real soft spot forveterans. We, about 60, spent the afternoon withhim and his three grand daughters. I had quite a fewconversations with him.

Neville and Alwyn Crawford were there. At one stageof the afternoon I could hear Neville's boomingvoice, he is deaf. I looked over and here he is givingJoe two of his business cards. Apparently Joe hadsaid he has some pictures of his son he wantsframed.

The VP was telling me he is known as Middle ClassJoe as he doesn't come from a wealthy family. He hashad a tough life. Lost his wife and one year olddaughter in a car accident in 1972 then lost hisyounger son Beau last year. He was telling me hismother was a short strong Irish woman. He is the 6thyoungest person to become a senator 30yo. He toldhis mother at one stage he was going to England andwould be meeting the Queen. She said do notcurtsey when you meet her. Take her hand and say

pleased to meet you Maam. If you meet the Pope donot kiss his ring just say pleased to meet you YourHoliness. This is just to show you how ordinary a guyhe is.

Joe Biden is a very sincere person and everyone inour group thought the same.

He complimented everything you did. I asked forsome pictures with him. Sandy took a couple then hesaid to me let’s go and stand in front of the flag. I

then took a couple of pictures with Sandy, he tookthe phone off me and took a couple of selfies withSandy.

He shook hands with me and in the palm of his handwas a bronze medallion which he put in my hand. Hethen told me next time we meet if I don’t have itwith me it is my shout. The medallion is bronze withdark blue enamel with “Joe Biden Vice President ofthe United States of America”

I hope you have found this as interesting as myexperience was.

The week after was mundane.

Operation Watchtower - Battle of Guadalcanal

From August 1942 to February 1943

It was an Allied operation with a force of 60,000

There were:

7100 lost, mostly Americans

29 ships lost

615 planes lost

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This was the first time the Japanese had beendefeated. It was the biggest operation.

Iwo Jima was not as big. It was a US operation. Thiswas the beginning of the end for the Japanese.

The 1st Marine Division came to Melbourne after thebattle. When they arrived at Station Pier there was aband playing Waltzing Matilda. After being throughsuch fighting and under supplied with food andammunition it was a very emotional arrival for them.So much so that the 1st Division now march toWaltzing Matilda.

The Ambassador told how his father camped at theMCG. He was 18 and had lost 40 lbs (18kg) whilst atGC. He went on a tram one afternoon. Theconductor looked at him and said “you look like ayoung man who could do with a decent meal. I finishin 1 hour and you are coming home with me." He did.

Our Thanks to John Beezley for this amazingstory and great bit of history - Ed

1st MARINE DIVISION INSIGNIA

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and tuning of Morgans of all ages

FjORDFOUR MOTORS23 Spray Ave Mordialloc

Contact EDGAR Phone 9587 1588

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Our September Meeting was scheduled to be a picnicmeeting at the Rolls Royce Concourse at WesleyCollege's Glen Waverley Campus.

This is always a lovely day amongst some trulymagnificent motorcars and the Rolls Royce Club arealways the most gracious of hosts.

Unfortunately, an incredibly wet run of weather priorto the event and a dubious weather forecast on theday conspired to depress our numbers to five fourwheelers and one three wheeler.

And of that total one Morgan, a handsome 1988 Plus4 , did not belong to a member of our club. Still it wasa very interesting one. The owner Ray had picked itup some 18 months previously and had undertakensome very well thought out and skillfully executedimprovements including this new dash.

Chris and Marlene in the 3 Wheeler drew a lot ofattention but our small contingent of four wheelerswere also a very popular attraction.

By early afternoon as the skies grew blacker andmore ominous, we decided to call it a day and try andbeat the rain home.

While a shame the weather was not kinder to us, thisis always a fun and relaxing day out and worthputting on the calendar for next year

A big thank you is due to the Rolls Royce and BentleyClub for letting us be part of their special day.

SEPTEMBER MEETING REPORT

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MORGANMISCELLANY

Morgan announces a new

clothing range

There are someinteresting items onoffer but onedisturbing feature isthat the new rangeincludes a quote:"Unisex Retro NavyHoodie" unquote of allthings.

Retro, really? Come onguys, I mean Cloth Capsare retro, Hoodies arejust a current clothing

fad favoured by grafitti vandals and those wishing todisguise their appearance during armed holdups onconvenience stores.

If you would like to see more of the new range checkout the MMC website at:

http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/mmc/shop/

VICMOGMember completes

setting up his badge display

This amazing collection of Morgan car badges coverstwo walls and features amongst other things no lessthan 7 different Victorian Morgan Club badges. Webelieve this to be the most complete collection ofVictorian Morgan Club badges in existence

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FOR SALE2005 Morgan Roadster 3 Ltr. V6.

Price : $125,000

Air conditioning.Full covers including side screen bag.S/steel luggage rack with side screen pocket.S/steel wire wheels.Photographic build album.Wind deflect on head rests.Front suspension bearing modification.S/steel tool box.Modified rear springs.New spax gas shock absorbers.New tyres.49k-Kilometres.

A beautiful car to drive, with comfort and performance, very reluctantly being solddue to health reasons.Contact Gerald Snelling

Ph: 0414 378031 or 07 55378031Email: gsnellin@bigpond.net.au

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FOR SALE1949 Morgan 4-4 Series 1Price : $45,000 o.n.o

• Original 1267cc ‘Standard Special’ overhead valve motor (OHV)• 77.4 cui advertise power, 29.8W/ 40 brake hp, torque 86Nm/63lb-ft• accelerations: 0-60mph 23.3s• weight 735kg/1620lbs• Rear wheel drive, manual 4 speed Moss gearbox• Car N° 52 off production line, Chasis N° JDG 9737• Fully restored in 2002, and final service and outfitting by Morgan garage• registration to 09/16 LKP 766 (original UK Plates)• Imported to Australia 2012• 32095 miles on the clock• New tyres, twin spare wheelThe series 1 Morgan 4-4 Roadster was produced in limited number from 1936-1950,this wonderful example is fitted with its original Standard Special 1260cc overheadvalve engine ( the Special engines were built by Standard Motor Corp for a shorttime and only for Morgan cars), 4 speed Moss gearbox and famous Morgan slidingpillar front suspension. This example is a genuine car, it runs and drivesexceptionally well. The series 1 Morgan is a rare car, this restored example is agreat investment for any car enthusiast.Featured article on this car:http://www.mister-cars.com/Article/1949-Morgan-4-4-Review/1790/Contact : Philippa Hall Ph : 0402 317 042 or pippa@hallfamily.net.au