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OWNERS

Editor: Iain McPherson.Acknowledgements:Photographs loaned by -Graham Malcolm. Iain McPherson, Paul Mosig. Alex Reid. David white.contributors: John Grav, Ed Jensz, Iain McPherson, Alex Reid. Robbie Rowland.Cover Design & Photograph;: Mike Arthur.Illustrations : Terry Corneli us.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by means electronrc,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prioi permission of the copyright owner.Copyright 1988 Alex Reid/tain Mcpherson.

Box 105, Kew, Victoria, 3101. Australia.

f";t4?

Contents

Foreword

Club Spare Parts History

Club Spare Parts of Modern Times .

Austin-Healeys in Competition ..

Victoria's Rare Austin Healeys '.......:International Motor Racing and Sports Car Show 1970 ..

Donald Healey Visit 1977

The Club Car Project

The Classic Car Shows.

Appendix

Owners at Inaugural Meeting at Melton

Foundation Members. .

Presidents

I

iPresidents Message

Memory Lane .

Twenty One Years On ...Concours DElegance ........... 12

InterstateandNationalRallys. .........13

I

4

6

8

Secretaries

Treasurers

Editors .. .

l6

t7

l8

JI

35

35

35

36

JI

JI

38

38

38

38

39

39

4l

Championship Winners

Executive Committee 1988 .

Current Members

2

ForewordCritics will almost certainly say that the flow of books on motor cars and motoring history has reached floodproportions in recent years and it is futile to produce another. Being in agreement with this view I can only offer theopinion that this booklet is special as it is about Austin-Healeys and especially Austin-Healey and the people that areand have been connected with them in Victoria since the founding of the Austin-Healey Owners Club in 1967.

The interest aroused by early Austin-Healeys in Australia has grown enormously since the car's release for sale in1953, and Austin-Healey enthusiasm is by no means confined to the mechanically-inclined or to the historically-minded for the influence of the Big Healey has been vast and the cars arouse passionate enthusiasm in those whonormally would not be interest in the past.

It is for such people that this booklet is intended and an attempt has been made to trace the development of theAustin-Healey Owners Club from Birth to Maturity and to describe the cars and events which represent principallandmarks in our Club.

As one who has been around Austin-Healeys since the beginning, I feel honoured to be writing this foreword.I was present at Austin Distributors in South Melbourne when the new l00S racing cars were uncrated and I will

always remember them although it was 33 years ago, sitting there strapped down to the floor of their wooden crates andlooking very naked as they were not fitted with tyres. I also feel privileged to have driven over the ensuing period four ofthe five l00S cars that were originally imported into Australia.

Although this may read like a resume of my own personal achievements it is only by way an introduction to thisbooklet, the purpose of which is to present a potted hiitory of the A.H.O.C. over the putiZt years, and in looking backover the club records it has been hard to decide on the most notable events as there have been so many.

The task of making this choice has fallen on the shoulders of our current President John Gray, our Co-FounderIain McPherson and myself and I hope that what we have chosen cuits the tastes of Healey enthusiast and clubmember, as well as all other Healey admirers.Alex ReidChairman 2lst Birthdav Celebration Committee.

3

President's MessageBack in 1967 two very enterprising people, Iain McPherson and David Rapley, decided that there was a need fora club to cater for the Austin-Healey Marque.

The decision to form a club has led to 2l years of activity by a number of owners which has grown fromstrength to strength. It is somewhat ironic that at the start of 1967 I had sold my lirst Healey after some twoyears of ownership and consequently was not involved in the early years of the A.H.O.C.

My return to Healey ownership and therefore my first association with the club came about through a

BN2 in 1973.

During these years I have seen the club develop to its current position of what must be one of the more

p.og.essfue one marque sports car clubs. I will not spend time here detailing past activities which are well

iovered elsewhere in this publication, however, I would like to say what an honour it is to be presiding over

such a special club during this very special year in our club life.

It is with a great deal of gratitude that one thanks both lain and David for not only their foresight butalso their dedication and hard work in ensuring the success of the club in its formative years, for without theirefforts the A.H.O.C. of Victoria would not have commenced.

We can now look forward to the next 2l years secure in the knowledge that we have an excellentgrounding for a long and strong future, for this we must all thank our founders and early members who laidsuch a sound base.

John Gray

Twenty One Years

The Austin-Healey Owners'Club was founded twenty one years ago to serve the cars we all know so well.During those years, many owners have joined the Club and have sen'ed it in various ways. This two-wayrelationship has been important in enabling the Club to grow and establish itself as one of the great one-make carclubs.

As we celebrate the Club's important milestone, it is appropriate to recognise those members who have heldcontinuous membership since the first year and who have witnessed the Club's evolution.

These longserving members are:

GARY ELLIOTJIM MCCONVILLEIAIN McPHERSONGEOFF PARKINSONJIM REDDYROB STEPHEN

Well donel 4

5

Tltt' Irtutrgural,)lt't,t in.g ut .lltltLtn | 967

("AOADTQ"#A

Memory LaneSo the A.H.O.C. is twenty-one years old!

As I start to take this idea on board, so many richmemories rush back to me, however I do feel areluctance to put pen to paper for several reasons.Firstly, I have very little in the way of documentationleft, and secondly the A.H.O.C. has been blessed sincebefore it even started, with a most talented 'natural'historian in Iain McPherson - he can always be reliedon, to get the date and the number plate'right'. So itleaves me wondering what I can contribute.

However, whenever I see a Healey, or I'm remindedof the A.H.O.C. along with the good, there also comesa sadness - two of my most valued friends, Alan Jonesand Terry Cleary who were so closely associated withHealeys, are no longer with us. Also, I don't own a100/s

The background to the A.H.O.C. was of all places,Swinburne Tech. Iainwas studying Civil Engineering,Richard Fearon and I, Production Engineering,although the 'study' was mainly of the girls in the ArtSchool! We played a lot of 500 and talked endlesslyabout sports and racing cars. The girls and the carswere were both beyond our financial reach at thetime. Iain drove a'Landy', Richard a 4144 Wolseleyand I, an FJ, with a floor change and no hub caps.For as long as I can remember, I coveted an MGTCwith cycle guards and no bonnet sides. At the time Ihad not driven one and when the day came, I didntlike the experience very much, so on the'rebound'Ibought a 100/ 6. It was December 1965 the price 180pounds. You see, it was very bent and TOTALLYdismantled. We brought it home in Richard's father'sfurniture truck - one trip. My father always had hissuspicions about me but when he saw all the bentmetal and cardboard boxes which I had actually paidmoney for, he knew I was nuts. This was my firstrestoration! I did not have the skills, equipment,knowledge or network'I have now, so it was somemiracle that it was ever finished and steered reason-ably well. I recently completed a similar job on an 8c2.3 litre Alfa, one of the most coveted cars in theworld, so I suppose JPU 668 led to this, but that'sdigressing - go back twenty-three years.

With the 100/ 6 came the realisation that there wereno spare parts to be had, no technical information andno obvious place to ask. Austin Distributors hadfolded some time before and what spares they had,were in cold storage although they did surface withRon Key some years later. I asked, worried, harrassed,and became a bit of a detective. This with the constantcar talk at Swinburne. the idea of a Club to unite theowners, parts and information was a naturalconsequence. We were further inspired by theappearance of a 100/6 at Swinburne in the hands ofAndy MacPherson. It went like hell and he couldreally drive it. Andy repainted it Porsche 'TocoBrown' and of course it was known as the 'FlyingTurd'. My 100/ 6 was duly painted the same colour. Itwas a proud day when they were both parked in JohnSt. outside Swinny, - even it it was a month after wefinished there!

6

Our first circular and the fantastic initial gatheringat Melton will be well known to you, together with theensuing history of the A.H.O.C. However, I doremember that we intended the Club to be'The OneHundred Series Owners' Club' (to prevent beingconfused with the Sprite people) but when some3000's arrived that firstdaywe amended it to A.H.O.C.

It was an exciting time - we discovered Healeys, metinteresting and enthusiastic people all over the place.

- Up to Ballan to see HOH 569 and Peter Young, withhis ever smiling 'young'cousin, Ed Jenz.

- Down to Geelong to visit Jeff Petty's almost new3000 MK 1l l.- Gary Elliot at Pakenham and the legendary 100/6Fast Back

- Ken Wade in Bendigo with his BN/ I

- The thrill when Alex Schiffer opened the shed doorto show me the 100/5 - the one I always wanted toown!

- I discovered Jim Reddy who had already restored his100/4 and knew Healeys backwards. He's still got itand you would have to be pretty good to pass thatcombination on a country road.

- Iain and I found Jim McConville in a pub inWilliamstown. He took us back to his place to see

GNY 927. Do you realise that he ran this car atGeelong Sprints in 196 I ? I took a photo of him 'on thestart' with Rob Jamison jnr. who goes back evenfurther.- I met Jeff Brotherton, Austin Distributors Worksdriver who added a lot of history for us. I have aterrific photo of him and GEF 888 at Albert Park-what a shame this car was lost.

- Great enthusiast lan Virgo from Ararat...

This could go on for pages!

It occurs to me that the big difference then was thatwe used our cars. Generally we had to, as they wereour only transport. The best 'users' and greatestenthusiasts were the Dimboola Boys'- Graeme Rogersand Gary Davies, laterjoined by Phil Nuske. They ateHealeys and drove huge distances at very high speed. Iremember them calling to see me one Saturday orSunday morning on their way to Phillip Island. Afterthe car races they went to Lorne for a swim, returningto Dimboola that night! It wasnt suprising that mostof the cars were discovered in the country - the onlyplace where they could be used properly. No ultimatespeed limits existed in those days and Governmenthadnl latched onto the idea of making money out ofover regulating the roads. I wasnl a fast driver anddidn't take big risks but I do remember going from theoutskirts of Geelong to Hamilton at nothing under 90m.p.h., that was just the way it was in those days!

I was crazy about Healeys. I looked at them all overthe world. Visited Arthur Carter in 1971, and JohnGott, to see SMO 747 and BMO 938. How sad I waswhen he was killed at Lydden Hill in 1972. Only a few

("toJDt#"#\

1967-1988

months earlier he had invited Monica and I to clo a

racing season with him, as Terry Wade had done theprevious year. But we did have one good race withhim! "I1l show you the quickest way to the M I afterdinner". He climbed into his works MGC and we

chased him all over Northhamptonshire in a rentedEscort. He was so fast - and who was going to "book"the Chief Constable anyway? A prized possession is

the original steering wheel from SMO 746 which Johngave me. I said the memories were good and bad!

The first Club competition events were great -Calder and Lakeland where Ian Virgo and DaveHunter had a memorable battle for FTD. We all usedour cars for Concours, Autokhanas, Hillclimbs and

drove them to work. Bob White's JZU 597, Peter

Young's 3000, and Iain's 100/4 ali won Concours and

were in general use.

Warwick Sell contacted me in 1968 about starting a

Club in N.S.W. I have good memories of visiting himand making further 'discoveries' up there. DaveMould showed me Peter Owen's 100/5; it was so

exciting to drive this car even a short distance. Thatwas the start of a made passionate quest by RichardRalph and myself to buy the car. It took eight years

and at the time a lot of Richard's money - and I'm notgame to write down the rest of that story! My greatestpleasure with Healeys was caring for this car for manyyears. Driving it on the road and competing at

Geelong, Sandown, etc. If a 100/S is right and fittedwith a 3.6 differential, it is the nicest car for me on theroad. The ergonomics, the view through the perspect

screen past the bonnet catches and down that row oflouvres!! The beautiful thin steering wheel, the torqueand throttle response, the 'noise' - to me it was so

satisfying and exciting - only rivalled by my 900SSDucati on full song. I will aiways be indebted toRichard for my association with this car. Its a goodfeeling to cometimes unwrap the new spare originalcylinder head... and remember!

Heaieys ieaci me to many other good friendships,many of which endure to this day. Ross Williams andRoss McConneii (who has Ross W's 100/6 still) - howpleased I was when he painted GHE 184 for TerryWade - Terry Cornelius, a great Healey man! AlexReid and DD, Dave Hunter, Colin Thomas, BernieBisseling and John Becker. Joe Jarick whose manyletters from England (and QId) still are great reading.John Gray who seems to have brought us an RR/ 4000,a 100/S and a Prototype! Jeff Berry, Bob Kitchen...Now I am in deep trouble for all those I haven'tmentioned!!

Two important matters till last - GHE 184 andTerry Wade. There isn't room to write about the100/4 and you all know better than I what Terry hasdone for the Healey Movement but - I do want to saythat the A.H.O.C. introduced me to Terry and withhim I achieved some things in modern motor racingwhich will always be important to me. GHE 184 wasthe first Production Sports Car to run in HistoricRacing in Australia, Terry drove it for me at Sandownrn 1974. This was the embryo of Group La as we knowit today. He was also the first and only (I believe)person to break Peter Manton's Under 1500cc. laprecord on the old Calder Circuit in an Austin Cooper'S' which I prepared for him. He also finished fivetimes at Bathurst with my engines.

There is no possibility of the Big Healey becoming'extinct'now - and there never was, because it was justsuch a good product!

Good luck A.H.O.C.! And thank vou forremembering me

David Rapley

STEVE PIKE Spocialising in,a Restoration ol Big H€aleysa Rust Remo/ala Spare PansO Low Bake Oven

7

Twenty OneWho would have thought that way back in early 1965,

when David Rapley and I sat in his FJ Holdenoutside the Swinburne Cafe and discovered that weboth had a desire to own an Austin-Healey, that in1988 I would be reflecting on twenty one years ofassociation with a Club dedicated to the Marque, andwhich we had conceived and influenced.

At that impressionable age we were ourselvesinfluenced by fellow student, Andrew MacPherson,who upgraded his hot Mini for a l00l 6. Andrew wasno slouch when it came to fast driving and fastwomen the need to pass exams seemed a long wayoff!

Full responsibility for being where we are todaylays with David, who later that particular yearbought a severely damaged 100/ 6, which had been hiton one side by a Falcon and pushed into a pole on theother. This one time great car was brought home inthe back of an Austin furniture van owned by thefather of Dick Fearon who has now owned a 100/6tor some years.

The first task was to get the chassis straightened ajob most panel beaters were not prepared to tackle.Fortunately' David was able to locate a specialist inMcKinnon who was able to remove the kink in theleft hand chassis rail without a trace. Another of thestudents, John Neagle, had just completed a rebuildof a TC and he pointed David in the direction of hispanel beater a European craftsman who wasprepared to do work at home. I guess this AustinHealey had some further influence, because recentlyJohn's brother Geoff has bought himself a BNl.

Anyway, back to the story - the problem was toobtain some dimensions so that the front shroudcould be returned to its former shape. Fortunately Iwas at a party at an orchard property in BlackburnRoad when an immaculate 100/6 pulled in anddropped off a girl who trlrned out to be a cousin of afriend of mine. E,nquiries revealed that the 100/6belonged to her father, and was a low mileage carwhich had never been damaged. One Saturday, notlong afterwards, it was descended upon by twoenthusiasts armed with a tape measure. This parti-cular car is now owned bv Ross McConnell and is stillas magnificent as ever.

David completed the rebuild late in 1966, and thecar was re-registered JPU-668. During this exercrseDavid quickly discovered the frustrations of the lackof parts, lack of knowledge and lack of interest in theAustin-'Healey Marque which was displayed bypeople who should have been able to help. Indesperation, David recognised the need for a Club tocater specifically for the Marque, which would ensurethat it continued to be enjoyed bv future enthusiasts.

It was during Jhe early part of 1967 that Davidbegan to talk seriously about the formation of a Club,so we decided that once I bought a car then we woulddo something positive about it.

Late in 1966, through David and Andrew, theopportunity to purchase a rundown 100i6 became

8

Years Onavailable. An approach to my father for the balanceof the funds I didn't have. found that he had differentideas on how a student should be spending hisweekends. I had to wait until the middle of thefollowing year, when I had earned enough from myfirst job to purchase BNl, GKN-S17.

How do two people just into their twenties goabout forming a one-make car club? Obviously, wehad no background, or experience, but fortunatelyDavid did know Wally Magilton, who even then hadbeen associated with the MG Car Club for a longtime. He was able to offer a sreat deal of advice andassistance.

David proposed that initially a Circular should besent to owners untii there was sufficient support for aClub for 100/4. M. S. and 100 models.

The first Circular was sent out under the Headingof "100 Series Owners Club" and contained a SpareParts Form and a Register form. During the twoyears leading up to this point I had inspected manyAustin-Healeys advertised for sale and had kept abook on their details. This provided a handy mailinglist, and it was surprising how few of the cars had notbeen sold, which provided a good nucleus of owners.

At the time we were very much aware of thedangers of a Club starting with much enthusiasm butwith interest waning over a period. In the secondCircular we suggested:- That a strong foundation bebuilt up through the distribution of the Circular andthat in the best interests of the Club regular meetingsnot be held.

"It is t'ertain most of us would jind it difficult togive up one night a week to attend a meeting.whether due to pressure of business, night school,or .iust laziness, and since there are possibl.v only200 Heale.vs scatlered around Vic'toria, turn up atmeetings would never be large. How,ever, all o/ usc'ould find time to write a letter stating anv-in/brmation which would be of interest to otherHealey owners. Information received could thenbe put togehter and $ent in theJorm of a Circulor,to all ow,ners. This we.feelwould be more beneficialthan listening to one or two people'holding thefloor'at a meeting."

The response to the initial circular indicated thatthe spread of owners was roughly in the Melbourne.Bendigo, Ballarat triangle, so we thought that Mt.Macedon would be a good venue for the inauguralgathering and barbeque. David took a run up there,but only got part way up the mountain before his100/6 boiled another venue was required. Myparents had a farm at Melton, so this was chosen.

We had no idea how many cars would turn up onthe 23rd October. Even today we get excited when 20plus cars arrive for an event, but back in 196l I don'tthink a gathering of cars approaching that size hadbeen witnessed. lt is probably fair to say that all thosepresent at Melton couldnt believe their eyes as 34Austin-Healeys arrived during the course of the day,including Geoff Petty's BJ8 which was only 4 monthsold.

That impromptu meeting decided that there wasenough enthusiasm to have regular monthly News-letters, with about five meetings a year and, becauseof the 3000s present the Club should be known as theAustin-Healey Owners Club. Time has shown thatthis group of astute owners were correct in theirassessment of the needs of the Austin-Healey Owners.

At the time I was living in Kew, working in Keilor,and traveliing to Moorabbin twice a week to see

Marjorie, so I was covering a considerable segment ofMelbourne. In those days the majority of Austrn-Healeys were being used daily, so this gave me theopportunity to flag down owners and engage inconversation, usually with the result that anotherowner was converted to the way of the Club. On oneoccasion I recall driving my Hillman, and wavingdown a policeman in uniform in his 100/ 6 - I am surepassers-by misconstrued the circumstances and theconversation taking place.

The first formal meeting was hurriedly organisedfor the lst December 1969, and a Constitutionprepared for adoption at that meeting. The newlyformed Club accepted an invitation from the MG CarClub to attend its Inter-Club Concours D'Eleganceon the 17th December. The attendance of 26 carscaught the MG Car Club by surprise as they hadnlallocated enough space for this previously unheard ofClub. Our presence was further felt when the BJ7 ofKeith Jolley came second in its class. Best Post WarSporting Car, which was not bad for a car which hadjust been driven down from Ballarat.

During that first year, the CIub adopted the badgedesigned by John Evans. This design is now used bythe other Australian Clubs, but each with a differentcoloured background. The design for the first coverof the newsletter was the work of Noel Egan andwhen a competition was run for a name, Noelsubmitted some 70 titles. In spite of this effort, he wasnot to be the winner because John Causon came upwith the brilliant suggestion of "Hundreds andThousands". Our current cover design was conceivedby Terry O'Neill in 1970 and has been used on and offover the years. The little caricature sketches of AustinHealeys which appear from time to time in Hundredsand Thousands were the work of Terry Corneliusback in those early days.

At the end of the first year. David reflected:

" Ourfiist 1,ear, and I think a reasonably successJulone, we have finished with about 120 financialmembers, well over half the number of Healeys inVictoria. We have several interstate members andare fostering the l{.S.W. Club which has juststarted. Most of the constitution has beenpartiallyfulfilled already. LVe have traced about 90%a of theVictorian cars, the parts and technical infor-mationfront has been considerably eased and.feware "waiting on parts".

On the social and activity side, we have run twotrials, two film lecture nights, oneeconomy run, two social gatherings and oneAutokhana. This side of the Club hos beenconsiderably bolstered by the generosity of the

Triumph Sports Owners'CLub, the MG Car Ciuband the Junior Light Car Club via their invitationsto compete in their Speed Trial, Concours, andHill Climb respectively, for which we are mostgrateful.

Personally, it has been the most exciting andenjoyable year of my life. I have beenfortunqte tomeet some really nice people, seen what must be

some o.f the best Healeys still in existence and I willnever forget that sight of eleven Healeys lined upin the Lakeland pits.

But 1969 must be better, we must now consolidateoursleves. The initial splash has been made and we

have gained the interest of all the Healey enthusiastsin this state. There is some really good talent andobility possessed by our members and this must be

utilised to mqke this the best One Make SportsCar Club.

The Healey is now no longer produced and theymust never become extinct. Only by commoninterest and enthusiasm can all the examples lefttoday be preserved. I personally won't be happyuntil every Victorian Healey is an active Clubmember. Maybe in 1969?"

Twenty years laters, that summary is still appro-priate, which I believe can be borne out by a review ofthe objectives set out in the original Constitution.

Those initial objectives were:

(a) To provide technical information and servicewhich will enable members to preserve andmaintain the Austin-Healey in the best possiblecondition.

(b) To locate components which are not readilyavailable and to provide an advertising mediumwithin the Club for those members requiringspare parts.

(c) To compile an accurate Register of all AustinHealeys; tracing all cars still in existence.

(d) To encourage the participation of members in allforms of Motor Sport.

(e) To correspond with the English Austin-HealeyClub in the interests of the objectives of theAustin Healey Owners' Club.

(0 To proinote friendship and courtesy on the roadand in competition between members of the Cluband those of other Clubs.

(g) To associate initially and when possible affiliatewith C.A.M.S. acknowledging its constitutionand observing the National Competition Rules.

Over the years there have been a number of articlespublished in Hundreds and Thousands on variousaspects to do with maintaining the Marque, preparingit for racing, and restoration to Concours standard.A number of guest speakers have been invited alongto Club Meetings to discuss a similafhange of topics,and there have been garage nights where the practicalside of Austin-Healeys has been demonstrated. Thishas resulted in the standard of restoration of the carsbeing achieved in Victoria the highest in the world,

9

6*OADhH"#A

1967-1988

and a comprehensive range of restoration servicesbeing provided by Club members.

In an article which follows, Ed Jensz and RobbieRowland detail how there has been an emphasis onlocating parts and providing a service to ClubMembers right from the early days. This hasdeveloped to the stage where the Club is importingparts from overseas, and holds considerable stock forthe convenience of the Members.

The formation of a Register was recognised as animportant function of the Club and it was fortunatethat this was actively pursued during the early yearsbecause as can be seen in the list of the foundationmembers, the majority of the cars were registered andeasily traced. Today a considerable number of ourcars are unregistered and many change hands in thatform making it so much more difficult to locate andrecord accurate information. The Register nowcontains detaiis on some 700 Austin-Healeys whichhave resided in Victoria since 1953. This provides avaluable resource for Owners wanting to know thehistory oftheir car, and probably goes beyond whatwas originally envisaged as the purpose of theRegister.

Over the years members have been encouraged toparticipate in all forms of motor sport, from treasurehunts, and econorny runs, to Inter Club autokhanas,hill climbs and sprints, to open historic meetings andproduction sports car events. In all cases the Marquehas been well represented and continued the imageestablished during those Golden Years of motorsport in Victoria.

Initially correspondence with the English Austin-Healey Club was limited, although David did makecontact with Les Needham who was GeneralSecretary of the Austin-Healey Club. A photo andbrret report of our inaugural meeting at Meltonappeared in Safety Fast, the official organ of theM.G. Car Club. Since that time there has been aworld wide explosion in the interest in AustinHealeys, the formation of new Clubs and a continualexchange of newsletters and information.

Friendship among members is most important,and during this time we have seen a large number ofowners pass through the Club. Some have onlystayed a short time, where others have been with us along time. All have contributed to the character of theclub and established the bond which exists betweenowners. I recall the time Marjorie and I were goingover to Perth for the 1979 National Rally, so I rangJohn & Jenny Reed and asked if we could stay withthem in Adelaide on the way through. They said thatwould be alright, but they would be in Melbourne sothey would leave their key with the next door neigh-bour and for us to make ourselves at home. Onanother occasion Ian Wookey purchased a partlydismantled 3000 MkI in Adelaide, but when he got toMelbourne he found the bonnet had fallen off. Forsome reason he felt it was somewhere between Araratand Ballarat so he rang me to find out if there was a

member up that way who could retrieve it. I rang KarlReynolds at Buninyong who went out to the highwayand found it (unfortunately it had been hit by severalsemi-trailers), delivered it to his Uncle's place inMelbourne, and I took it the rest of the way. It is thistype of friendship which extends beyond the carswhich brought us together in the first place and issomething I have found rewarding.

The Austin-Healey Owners Club through TerryWade and Mike Kirby was instrumental in theformation of the Marque Sports Car Association in1971 involving seven Marque Sports Car Clubs. Thepurpose of the Association was to promote eventsbeyond the financial ability of an individual Club andto promote a united voice for sports car owners.

The Club ws accepted as an Associate Member ofC.A.M.S. in January 1968, and its early relationshipwas assisted by the fact that their Secretary RonParkes was to buy an Austin Healey and become amember of our Club. This relationship was furtherenhanced by Terry Wade who was appointed aMember of the C.A.M.S. Board of Management for12 years and the Australian Motor Racing Panel.

I don't think anyone can deny the fact the Club hasmet its objectives and has excelled itself in thepromotion and public awareness of the Marque.

David and I were determined to ensure that theAustin-Healey Club was not here today but gonetomorrow, but I don't think either of us envisagedthat twenty one years later, it would still be inexistence, let alone gaining in strength year by year.

I think we could now confidently predict, with thecurrent level of interest in the Austin-Healey and thecalibre of our current members, the Austin-HealeyOwners Club will be serving the cars and Owners foranother twenty one years.

Iain McPherson.

10

,toiDK^#\

Club to keep cars together

An Austin

Club to keepcars togefr$?er

by Stephen Cooper, The mailing. list sltow-oalled, altd elght dals be_tol'e the lasl" Healev wasdue to roll off the produc-tiorr line in Ellgland. laslOctober', he lreld a bar-becue at Melton fol hisleaders.

34 CAMETl1irty - four llealeys

al'rived froln aU oter. tireState. Among them were11 from Ballarat, th1'eefron Bendigo, and othersflom Paketrham, Koo-wee-rup and Geelong.

The dfivers includedFalage propt ictors, school-teachers. sl;udents andelen the orvner of a flshand chip shop.

All wanied to for.m aclub to keep their cars ,,onthe road" and shale theirfun with others. llo matterhow far they dro\.e to do1f,.

Their Healeys came in

tto lstnrr to dolninaLetlrejl ljver, tlre 100-4 -u h:ch did slightly over[,]e "Loll" il. blandafdfolm - alrd the 112 mpir100-6.

A "six" n'ith oveldr'.iveand heater sold for 94585ulrtil i[ $'as |irLllallv re-placed in Englal)cl

- lasl,

J'ear by the MG "C" tvDe.The "four.", built in-the

eaiiy 50s, sold for dbout$3000 here, and thev stillfetch more than sl0-00 to-day.

Its sleek and classicIines, a lightened bodv us-ing aluminium. a tilt,ingwindscreetr and 100 nlphperlormaltce made theHealey "the shortest dis-Lance betweeti Lwo poir)t,s'on uheels you could buy.

. In. tl-re hey-day ol pro-oLlctron sport.s-car I'ac- lin3 tltey (lourinated thePhillip tsland tl'ack and '

Ternplestowehillclimb. IBut now their owner.s

enjoy more sedate pas- I

times like car trials, igymkhanas, lecturelnights by plerrious own- 1ers. and iilm nights:showing their race-tracksuccesses. I

'^...-.,,^^.^^l

SPORTS OABdrivers are usuallyenthusiasts. Anhthey wouldn't part wlthlnelr cars even for theplushiest sedan just ofi theproduction line.. So_rvhen Dave Rapleyheard that the AustiDHealey . would go out ofproquc[ron. he was lvor-ried._-How \\'ould he and other.Healey drrvers get on forspare parts?- And w.hen he stoppedlor a roadside talk withother owners, he wonder'-ed if the stories they toldlr'ould die along with thec-rasslc moruters theydrove.

So Rapley, 23. a projectenglneel ot Mitcham. gotto. work and compiled' a.usr or spal.e parts and in-teresting facts about thecar.

He used these to starta monthly newsletter tosome of the 180 owners offour and six-cvlinderHealeys in Victorii.

For these plivileses,Healey men pay $3 ayear

"We have not found allthe ownels in Victoliayet, but the membershipis snou balling as thetiora

- eitJ--r;lnol; siid

secretary Iain MacPher- Ison, a 23-year-old civilengineer of Keu'.

If you have an AustinHealey, or. know someonewiro has, ring 86-9502. i

I

11

Concours DTleganceOne of the aims of the Club is to provide technicalinformation and sgrvice which will enable membersto preserve and maintain the Austin-Healey in thebest possible condition.

Once the interest and desire is there for an owner topreserve and improve the condition of his car therehas to be an incentive in the form of a competitionwith other owners and this has been achieved over theyears with what started out to be the AnnualConcours D'Elegance.

The Club's {-irst event was held at Victoria Park.Creswick in December 1968. Perhaps not the venuewhich would attract a large number of participantstoday, but it was chosen because it would suit ourcountry members. It did attract TV coveragesomething which only a few events since have done.

At that time it was recognised that there were twoclasses of Austin-Healey, those which are used everyday and which may not have fared too well over theyears, and those which had little use or had beenrebuilt. Accordingly, each model was divided intotwo classes to give everyone a chance and maintainsome interest.

That first event attracted 26 Austin-Healeys. Theowners 'r1'two cars in particular, Peter Young BN7(M K I I), and Bob Allison 100/ N,{ had gone to a lot oftrouble to present their cars, and probably all ownershad made some attempt to prepare them. It isrecorded that four owners present had taken theircars along specifically for "the most improved"section, so already the event was having the desiredeffect.

Over the years there has been a marked improve-ment in the standard of restoration and presentationof the cars, liom a quick respray to a full chassis uprebuild these days. Everyone thought the ultimateone was Greg Nicholld BT7 (MK II) in 1985 whichscored 600.5 points, but Greg Provan came along in1988 with his BT7 (MK I) and scored 628 points.

The event has not been without its dramas. I recallon two occasions members have resigned becausethey felt they had been unfairly treated over thepoints their cars were awarded. The fact that IanWookey's V8 powered BN4 won the 100/6 class in

1973 created some controversy. However, as wasexplained at the time the event was based on looksand condition and not solely on originality and thatIan's car met that criteria. Today such a car would beplaced in the Special Interest Class and an unoriginalcar would be most unlikely to win its model ciassbecause of the consistently high standard of thecompeting cars.

Monita Raple.t antl ,lenn.t, Turner hesitle John Britron's RJ7.Cotttours D'Elegante I 972.

ln keeping with the original concept of having twotypes of Austin-Healeys, the event became known asthe Healey Day and Concours in 1982, and morerecently just simply Victorian Heaiey Day. Ownershave the choice of having their car judged, or simplyputting it on displa1,, which allows all owners to bringtheir car along and not feel intimidated by the classwinning cars. Anothercomponent of the event whichwas also introduced in 1982 is the Trade Displaywhich allows owners to view and purchase parts,accessories and services at a convenient location anddiscuss their restoration queries with the experts.

The original Concours D'Eiegance has evolvedinto the Club's premier event which creates a greatdeal of interest in the motoring community andcertainly goes a long way to satisfactorily promotingthe Marque.

Iain McPherson.

Interstate and Nationai Raiiies

As a result of the formation of the N.S.W. Club in1969 a certain rapport developed with their committeemembers, particularly Warwick Sell, and a certainlevel of inquisitiveness about the Austin-Healeys theyowned. The obvious solution was to organise a raliy inAlbury over the Australia Day weekend in 1970. Thiswas done with the assistance of our members wholived in the area, namely Terry Cornelius, Colin Grayand Rob Schmidt.

To give you some idea of the spontaneity of thewhole event and the simple pleasures we derived fromit I think it is best if the majority of the report of theevent is reprinted.

"sixteen cars set off from the Ford Factory, butBob White could only go as far as Beveridge as he hadother things planned for the weekend. David Williamswas only going as far as Kilmore because he had to go

to a 2lst in Morwell. However, when we got toBenalla, David was still with us driving in companywith other Healeys sort of gets in your blood.

Early in the trip Stephen Pike started having fuelpump and carby trouble but managed to rectify theproblem. Graeme Rogers was having plug and carbytrouble and at first had to stop every 30 miles, then itwas every 20, 10, and 5 miies. It took him9Vz hours toget to Albury and unfortunately the trouble persistedthe whole weekend, completely baffling the entireTechnical Committee. Just before Benalla SteveMiller had to stop with fuel pump troubie and DavidMarfleet discovered a knock coming from his bigends. Luckiiy he was able to buy another set ofbearings in Benaila and after a few hours work in alocal service station and a few cans of UDL was ableto proceed to Albury.

The few of us who got to Benalla without troublestopped there for an hour for lunch then pushed on. lnWangaratta we met Mike Townsend and Colin Grayfrom Albury in their 100/4s and Adrian Walsgottfrom Swan Hill in his 100/6.

We had another stop in Wodonga, waiting a whilefor the stragglers to catch up and then entered Alburyin a single file. As we were going along the main streetwe happened to come across the Sydney boys comingthe other ways. Immediately everybody started doingU-turns (Jim McConviile even did a hand-brake turn)and caused the biggest trafficjam Albury had seen fora long time. I don't know what the idea was, but we allfollowed them to the motel where they were stayingand choked the car park with Healeys an incrediblesight.

The word went round that we would all meet at a

locai hotel that night before going to a party at thehome of ex-BNl owner Rob Schmidt. One minute allwas quiet outside the Schmidt's home then out of thenight about twenty Healeys descended on the place.The whole thing was too much for Rob, because afterthe Raliy he went and bought the fabulous 100/6 ofTony Brooks. Anyway getting back to the party, therewas a niner turned on, adance floor and music, plentyof local talent, plenty of room to stand around and

talk to the Sydney members, and even a barbequesupper. It's no wonder the turn swung on until 3.00.

Just after breakfast the next morning the local fuzzpulled up half a dozen Healeys in a group. Unfortun-ately, the only one to be booked was Alan Jones in his3000 Mk.I from Sydney for excessive noise - luckyGraeme. Rogers wasnt around.

We all met at the showgrounds hoping to have an

Autokhana, but our Competition Sub-Committeehad left the flags and stop-watches in Melbourne. Itprobably didn't matter much as it was too hot forAutokhanas and most people wanted to go for a

swim. From the showgrounds we ali went to the localWar Memorial, because someone had got hold ofsome movie film and wanted to use it on the Healeys.The cars left the War Memorial in close company in a

single file down a I in 5 grade and around a couple ofbends - should come out great on film.

From here everyone went to the Hume Weir for a

swim, and then onto Tallangatta for a late lunch andanother swim. This road follows the edge of the HumeWeir, has a beautiful surface and plenty of bends realHealey country.

That night Mike Townsend put on a barbeque athis home and the remainder of the sausages from theprevious night were finished off. More tales wereswapped. Jim McConville started talking about thestars, and spent most of the night staring at them.Eventually, the conversation got around to the localcops. Then one of the locals exclaimed 'Burke's a

b......! Let's kill his chooks'. Immediately fiveblokes jumped in two Healeys and set off in pursuit ofthe chooks. Some time later.this merry band returnedsaying they didn't have the heart to kill the chooks as

they were asleep. The barbeque turned into an allnight affair with seven cars racing around terrorizingAlbury and Wodonga until sunrise and at one stagecould be seen proceeding one at a time across theHume Weir wall to listen to the exhaust resonance.

Everybody made their own way home on Monday,but most left in groups of two and three cars.

There was a total of 24 cars and 34 members fromVictoria in Albury at various stages throughout theweekend, plus another 9 cars from Sydney, makingthe Rally a realiy great spectacle.

Unfortunately, the organizing up there was a littlebit rugged, but you have got to start somewhere.Anyway, I haven't heard any complaints so I guesseveryone enjoyed themselves. It has certainly sown theseed for many inter-Club Rallies in the years to come."

The organisation may have been lacking, buteveryone had a lot of fun, particularly those whocamped at the showgrounds. This event sowed theseed for many others to follow - particulariy the Mt.Gambier Rally on the s_ame weekend in 1971 with thenewly formed South Australian Club.

These Interstate Rallies became an annual affair formany years with the ultimate one being held in SwanHill in 1975 when both Clubs took over an entire

13

GAOADhQ"#A

motel, with the exception of one room which was

occupied by a honeymoon couple - they didn't disturbus, nor did they complain about the noise.

The formation of the Queensland Club in 1971 set

the scene for a National Rally. The opportunity was

seized upon by the N.S.W. Club which organised thefirst one in Sydney over Easter 1971' Only a smallband of Victorians ventured north, which included EdJensz and Steve Pike, who were both rewarded withtrophies for their efforts in the Autokhana held at

Amaroo Park. The success of this event left everyone

hoping that a National Rally would be held annuallyin the future. Obviously the formula was correctbecause they have been held every year since, and EdJensz has found them to his liking because he is theonly Owner in Australia who has attended all of them.

froil Vancouver, B.C., and John Chatham fromEngland, joining us in Melbourne.

The most ambitious National Rally was the nextone hosted by the Victorian Club in 1985. John Graytakes over.

"For some time members of the Victorian CIub hadbeen concerned that the increasing size of the club,and the consequent increasing area in which themembers resided would be a problem in staging anyfuture Victorian National Rally.

The main cause for concern was the increasedamount of travel required to attend events, and theresultant decrease in time available to enjoy the Rallyas well as the increased possibility of running foul ofthe law whiie driving to and from such events.

Partitipunt: at tlta 197) Mildura ittl?rslule rulll

The next three National Rallies alternated between

Melbourne and Sydney simply because they were the

largest Clubs, however, it was becoming obvious thatthe other Clubs had the ability and enthusiasm to hosta National Rally themselves the order being SouthAustralia, Queensland, New South Wales, WesternAustralia and Victoria.

For the 1975 Rally we introduced the concept of an

all inclusive Raliy ticket which meant that a partici-pant only put their hand in their pocket once, and thenrelaxed for the rest of the Rally. The Club also

promoted a "Hundreds and Thousands" of Healeys

Day at Como Park with the aim of attracting 100

Austin Healeys, but unfortunately only 93 attended -a number which is still to be beaten.

There was some concern at the time of the firstNational Rally to be hosted by the Western AustraliaClub in 1979 that the distance may have a limitingeffect on the number of people attending from the

other states. The enthusiasm of the Austin Healeyowner overcame that barrier and a number made thetrip over to Perth. We started the trip in company withtwo other cars, picked up more in Adelaide, met

Alwyn Keepance from Queensland at Pt. Augusta,joined more in Ceduna that night, and a final car inNorseman. Each night was a party in itself whichmade the enormity of the trip less daunting.

The following year saw the National Rally take onan International flavour with a contingent of owners,

mainly from the Oregon Club, plus Nell Holdstock

To overcome this problem it was decided to try and

find a venue at which all participants could stay underthe one roof. Such a place was located by GregNichols at Ballarat.

The Ballarat College of Advanced Education was

to be the site for our first National Rally at onelocation. The site was ideal for our requirements andafter a few trips up from Melbourne the committeewas happy to hand over responsibiiity for the Ballaratevent to our keen members in that city.

To help subsidise the cost of holding the event at the

B.C.A.E. it was decide to restore a BNI for the club toraffle and this became a monumental project in itsown right, the resultant fully restored car being on

display during the Rally and the winning ticket beingdrawn by the guest of honour at the Rally, one Brian(BIC) Healey.

Peopie from all states of Australia started arrivingat Ballarat during Friday of Easter 1985 and by thewelcoming party on Friday nrght the festivities werewell under way with Healey owners from all walks oflife staying in the one common surrounding for thenext four days.

Activities included an Autokhana, display of carspresided over by the Mayor of Ballarat, dinner danceincluding the raffle draw, a 60's night and a veryentertaining question and answer session with BicHealey.

For what was a first attempt a't a Rally with thisformat it was generally agreed that the event was agreat success and Healeyites from all over Australiahad a chance to meet each other without having toleave early to return across town to the place of billets.Most people seemed to enjoy the new format andmany seemed to take the opportunity to relax thatlittle bit more without havine to worrv about the drivehome.

There were remarkably few hic ups with such alarge number of people being thrown together, andthe only real disappointment seemed to be that onlyoire person could win the raffle. Murray Streeterdrove down from Sydney to attend the display ofcarsat the Botanical Gardens, then turned around anddrove back to Sydney. A phone call welcomed him onhis arrival with the news that he had won the raffle."

The National Rallies have become an essential partof all the Clubs'caiendars and offer the opportunity torenew old friends and generally have a iot of fun.

Iain McPhersonNational Rall.v 197-1 - Templestoxe Hilltlinth

GARRY BLACKMAN

Specn list Motor Trimmer to theSporfs Car Enthus,ast

"#\TRilMPH$-l:.t1O CALISTA AVENUE, NORTH CLAYTON, VIC., 3168

TELEPHONE: (03) s44 514615

CAOAD-u a\,

1967-

AUSTIN.HEALEY OWNERS CLUB . VICTORIA

Club Spare Parts HistorY

Congratulations to the Austin-Healey Owners Club for reaching its twenty-first birthday. My personal

thanls are passed on to the founding members for setting up the Club on a strong foundation and also

thanks to the present members for their enthusiasm in keeping the Club going.

One of the prime motivations for the formation of the club for big Austin Healeys and their owners was to

improve the availability of spare parts. A spare parts list was attached to the proposal,for the 100 Series

Owners Club, requesting inf'ormaiion on the owner's car and whether they wanted to buy, sell or exchange

spare parts. Cjn." t6e Aistin Healey Owners Club was formed the membership application handout had a

parts list attached to it.

In the early stages of the club the A.H.O.C. Newsletter had a new parts requirements form printed on it.

The form *as ai.'laea into two parts one for new parts you would require immediately and the second part

for new items you would require in the next twelve months. The Club endeavoured to supply the required

parts to club members through advertising in the newsletter and requesting members to supply information

on parts availability.

During 1973 a questionnaire was sent to all club members requesting them to prwide information on the

provisioi for Spaie Parts Location or Manufacture of Spare Parts to suit Austin Healeys. The response was

very favourable and the members requested the A.H.O.C. to increase its activities in the supply of spare-

paris. A Committee was formed to pioduce a register of common spare parts, however, despite great efforts

and plenty of information the book was never completed. lt was displayed at Club meetings for members to

add information or find out what parts for Austin Healey were common with other vehicles.

The Club made its first large purchase of Austin Healey parts from Fred Armfield Motors in Footscray.

Shortly after this purchase s.*u.iat consignments of parts were obtained from A.H' Spares in the U.K. Club

members were required to pay a deposiion stock oidered and they received parts at cost price - additional

Club stock purchised *u, ,oid to ilub members with a small surcharge to cover costs. Thi system supplied

*uny ..-bers with the hard to get items as well as it started many successful rebuilding projects. Gasket

sets and windscreens were purcha-sed locally and sold at discounted prices to Club members, and some Club

members started manufacturing body and chassis repair parts'

As the Club progressed the availability of spare parts improved -due to the efforts of the A.H.O.C.

committee members and also due to individuil CluU members setting up part time businesses in Austin-

Healey restoration.

Ed Jensz.

16

CLUB SPARE PARTS OF MODERN TIMES

Our club ventured into spare parts supply fairlyseriously in 1985 when the club car raffle project hadswelled the coffers sufficiently to allow a sizable orderto be placed in the UK for parts not readily available inAustralia.

The recent trend has been to invite members to orderparts that they will required via the spare parts officer.He co-ordinates the members orders and adds in anorder of parts for the club to keep in stock for sale asrequired. This has been happening roughly twice a yearand because to buy a reasonable selection of parts indecent quantities requires so much money we encouragemembers to think ahead and order their requiremenrsrather than waiting until the part is needed and hopingthat it's on the shelf in the club stock.

The financial incentive offered is, that for partsordered a handling fee of only l016 is charged whichcovers phoning orders overseas and customs clearanceetc. Whereas parts 'on the shelf carry an additional10/6 mark up to cover inflation, price rises, interest onthe money outlayed etc, etc.

This system has been working quite well and hascertalnly been used by a iot of Healey owners bothrestoring or maintaining their cars. Naturally sometimesthe club stock shelves are well filled and at other timesthe stocks dwindle necessitating another parts order tobe placed.

Another area that the club has been able to assistmembers parts requirements with, has been in co-ordinating the manufacture of Healey par-ts here inAustralia, in quantities that allow economic pricing.Over the past eight years we have had hub splinesrebuilt (about 200 of them), had complete gasket setsmade up for both 4 and 6 cylinder engine pipes,mufflers and tail pipes, had new hubs & splines made,had oil pressure guage flexible hoses made. and variousother components in smaller quantities.

From time to time the club is offered bulk deals onquanitites of new old stock parts and so can purchasethese for resale to members or can because of quantitybuying obtain spares at far more realistic prices thanwould otherwise be the case for purchasing singleitems.

The aim of the club spares has always been to assistmembers through both availability and cost of sparesto keep their Healeys on the road and in the bestpossible condition. We want to see Healevs used fortheir intended purpose not as static museum pieces so agood spare parts section is obviouslv in the bestinterests ol' all Healey enlhusiasrs.

Our spare parts department was set up to assist theclub members and never as a profit making venture.The spares officers order, purchase, sort, keep and seilthe parts on a voluntary basis. We aim to keepwhatever money is available working in the bestinterests of all members so we endeavour not to tie toomuch up on slow moving seldom required parts. Whenwe get invoived in bulk purchases or bulk deals onremanufactured items it is therefore hoped that memberspurchase parts in anticipation of needing them and ineffect keep their own spare parts department to someextent. That way the club money can come back in andbe used for other hard to get or overly expensive items.Again because funds are limited the club usuallv avoidskeeping items that are readily available locally, unlessthey are unduly overpriced. For example the clubdoesn't keep spark plugs or inner tubes as these canusualiy be obtained fairly easily. We also donl stockchassis or rust repair sections or anything else thatKilmartin Automotive Sheetmetal make and stockbecause they already look after Heaiey ownersadmirably. Likewise the two Victorian Healeyrestoration speciaiists: Marsh Classic Restorations(Steve Pike) and The Austin-Healey Factory (Rowland& Dixon) keep spares for Healeys and required forrestoration work and can sometimes supply parts theclub hasn't got.

The Victorian Club spares section often supply partsand orders in parts for members of interstate HealeyClubs and we do try to liase with the other spare partsofficers. We also endeavour to not remanufaitureparts here that are being done by any other clubs butrather to order through them and therefore get thenumbers up and the prices down.

The strength and efficiency of our spares departmentrecent years is largely due to the efforts of Ron & MickSmith who with the assistance of John Grav and BruceDixon really got the new parts area organised and offto a flying start. More recently Ron & Mick have had a.well earned spell and Bruce and I with Johns'help havetried to maintain the standard.

Our club has also for the past 3 years run an unusal'Just Sprots Car Swap Meeting'which has HowardJames'brainchild and had turned into an excellentevent with an enormous array of Healey parts on offereach year.

Hopefully youll never need the spares we've get. Butyou know where to come to when vou do.

Robbie Rowland.

17

AUSTIN HEALEYS IN COMPETITIONSix Hours and Bevond

A summary of Relay races and Historic racing 1970 to 1979.

Almostfromthe conception of the A.H.O.C. memberswere always keen to see how quick their cars wouldgo, and from this friendly competitive spirit grew adesire of a few members to take their cars on to therace track.

Initially a handfull of A.H.O.C. members triedtheir hand at circuit racing only to be outclassed bymore modern machinery, and it was decided that thetype of event most suitable for the Healey possiblywould be a team event such as a Relay race where thereliability of the Healeys would be to our advantage.Over the next few pages is a History of the A.H.O.C.involvement in motor sport on a club level betweenl97l and 1979 which covers the time when the clubmembers were the keenest.

Competition events of all types have been enteredby Healey owners since the car was first manufactured.Hill climbs, sprints, trials, economy runs, and circuitraces seem to be the most popular as it was possible totake your standard road Healey and run it in races inthe 1950's.

In the early part of 1970 three A.H.O.C. membrsran their cars at the Philip Island circuit, they wereBrian Smithers, and Ross Fisher in 100/4 cars whilstGraeme Rogers ran a 100/6, and the sight of theseHealeys out on the track obviously whipped up theenthusiasm of the club members enough for a team torun in the 6 Hour Relay Race the following year.

MAY 1971

Jim McConville the A.H.O.C. team manager forthe club announced that the club would officially berunning a team in the 6 Hour Relay Race to be run atthe Winton Circuit in October. The cars nominated atthat time were to be run by Ross Kenny, WarwickGunther, Brian Smithers, Peter Talbot, JimMcConville, and Alex Reid. As the event drew closerit was reported that - Our team consists of fivemembers, the leader of the team and the one who hasdone the most to encourage participation in this eventis Jim McConville who will be driving his familar BN2which has proved to be quite a car in his hands. Thesecond member of the team is Ross Kenny, who likeJim has owned his 100/4 for a considerable timeRoss's car is a BNl and a very good and original one.The third member is Jim Reddy who is driving AlexReid's l00S engined car which should be quite flyer.The amount of work Alex has done in preparing hiscar is quite considerable as the car has been completelystipped to the chassis and rebuilt from the ground upespecially for the event. Jim Reddy will be driving thecar and his is currently leading the Competitionchampionship and can_not be beaten this year. Fourthmember is Stuart Stubbs who is also inexperienced incompetition but has spent a lot of time and money

preparing for the event. Thejob ofthe team manageris being handled by Steve Pike who has the job ofchoosing which car to run and in what order.

On the 3lst of October another milestone in thehistory of the A.H.O.C. occured - The Winton 6 hourRelay Race. For the first time since the inception ofour club a team of Austin Healeys ran competitivelyon a motor racing circuit, whilst we did not win oreven take a place the experience gained by the club willbe of great value in future events of this kind.

Highlights of the events were - Jim Reddy was firstout and ran consistentlyuntil he was forced to come inas his door was flying open on some corners. RossKenny went out and completed 30 most consistentlaps. Stuart Stubbs was next and whent quite quicklyfor about 17 laps before he was troubled withoverheating. Jim McConville was next with 20 troublefree laps. All the drivers were most excited about theexperience of running on the track and wanted to getback in the race as soon as possible. The experiencegained will be invaluable for future events of this type.

One o/ the first three Austin Heoleys in utmpetition. Entered ht'L.J. Grar. clriven h.r Sruart Cho'rge at Aiberr Park, Octoher1953.

OCTOBER 1972

The Winton Six Hour Relay Race was the bestattended event held so far this year, over 50 VictorianClub members attended and we had I I visitors frominterstate Healey Clubs. Although the team did notwin it was still the Healey Clubs most successful eventfor the year. The drivers for 1972 were Steve Pike, JimMcConville, Alan Ashton, Ian Wookey, GeorgeArato all driving their own cars and Bernie Bisselingdriving Alex Reid's l00S engined 100/4. The firstdriver out on to the track was Jim McConville whoonly lasted for about 3laps and had to come in with aslipping cross shaft onthe accelerator linkage. Berniethen went out for 30 trouble free laps, followed bySteven Pike who had some overheating problems,George Alan and Ian all had their turns without too

18

("AOJDh#"#\

many problems. Bernie spent the most time out,on rhetrack with consistent running. When the flag camedown for the finish we were placed l6th out of 25starters. The enthusiasm by the club members and thecompetitors as well as all the behind the scenesworkers was great to see and gave us all the desire todo it again next year.

SEPTEMBER 1973

This year the Six Hour Relay Race had a change ofvenue from Winton to Calder Motor Raceway. Theteam comprised of all Healey Fours this year with alldrivers having had previous Six Hour experience,they are Jim McConville, Jim Reddy back in AlexReid's car now fitted with an ordinary engine as thel00S engine was having head gasket problems. AlanAshton in his road car, Steve Pike in a newly built racecar and Ian Wookey in a 100/4 built for the event.Last year lan ran a V8 powered Healey. When thechequered flag fell for the finish we were placed 4thoutright and had won the trophy for the First OneMake Team.

Laps completed were as follows:Jim Reddy... 108Jim McConville... 6l

Alan Ashton... 87Steve Pike... 46

Ian Wookey...40

The lastest lap times recorded were:

Steve Pike... 56.9 Jim Reddy... 57.2Jim McConville... 58.7 Alan Ashron... 59.5Ian Wookey... 59.8

There was much jubilation in the pits after the eventby all the crew and Club members present for theexcellent results.

The N.S.W.A.H.O.C. ran a team of Healevs fbr thefirst time this year, but had a lot of troubles with theircars and finished last.

7974

On Sunday 26th September Six Hour Reiay feverwas apparently sweeping throughout the HealeyCiubs of Australia. Victoria, New South Wales andSouth Australia all had teams entered and running.

The A.H.O.C. of Victoria's relav drivers lookedanxiously at the skies and the drizzling rain at 7 a.m.With six hours of driving ahead, wet weather was notallowed for in our plans. Preparations had been goingon for months and at last the big day had arrived. Asthis was the Club's fourth attempt at a'6 Hour'we allhad it figured out how to win. During practice on theSaturday, all the drivers tried to lap at about the sametime with the idea of getting a good handicap. Theofficiai timekeepers timed Stuart Powell and BernieBisseliing at 59 secs. and the other four drivers at 60secs. With all these figures in my mind I sat down andtried to work out a foolproof plan for running thecars. As the race can be won or lost on the mount ofpitstops, I decided to put our quickest and aiso mostreliable drivers out first. My plan was to put StuartPowell out for about 100 laps followed by JimMcConville for as long as possible, about the same Ihoped, and then Bernie Bisselling for 100 laps. Ifeverything was going as planned, we would be so farahead that it wouldnl matter. But alas, this was atheory that did not work out in practice as vou willappreciate when you read on.

The start of the race was in beautiful clear weather andStuart Powell got off to a good start in the middle ofthe field and settled down to steady lapping at around58 2 to 59 seconds per lap. The car was soundingbeautiful as only a 100 l4 car sounds. On the 44th\apStuart signalled he was coming in as he wasexperiencing handling problems and had a rapid risern englne temperature.

Gruentt,Ro,qt,rt l0()'6 in tltc 1tit.s ut Pltillilt t.slottl !970

19

Jim McConville took the track at I 1'25 and ran nlce

and consistently at around his practice time,. so we all

relaxed and setiled down to wait whilst he did his 100

laps. But this was not to be, as after only 29 laps failingoii pressure forced Jim to return to the pits' Bernie

Bisielling blasted out on the track and started lapping

in the high 55's and iow 56's much to everyone's

surprise. 5o ont" again we all thought this will be it ifhe keeps going iike this for 80-90 laps we'll catch up on

the time *.'u. lott so far, but this was not to be' After33 laps the clutch was starting to slip, so another

change brought Steve Pike out on the track in his

100/6. As Steve had competed in two prevlous relay

races and is always quite quick, we thought he will be

our saviour. Steve was running his 100/6 that he had

only recently purchased and reconditioned the engine

a few days blfore the race. Steve settled down to lap in

the high 60's, but failing brakes forced him into the

pits afier only 34 laps. At this stage I abandoned my

briginal plani, as it looked like we were in trouble, but

as it wal on one third into the race we still had a

chance so I sent Robbie Rowland out in his 100/6powered with a alloy Oldsmobile V8. Robbie's car

iounded beautiful as it flashed down the track passing

everybody with a burbling exhaust note' Unfortunatelyhandling problems and fuel starvation forced Robbie

in after only 24 laps. After hasty adjustments to theclutch Bernie returned to the track and was able tostay out for 40 laps before the clutch started to slip

again. Ian Wookey was next out in the Big 3000' Ianran nice and consistently and averaged 6 1 . I for the 43

laps he did before failing oil pressure forced him intothe pits. Whilst all this had been going on, StuartPowell and friends had cured his handling and

overhauling problems so Stuart returned to the track.Then after about 30 laps Stuarts'time began to fallowing to misfiring, but he stayed out for a totalnumber of 32 laps this time.

Bernie had adjusted the clutch and was ready to go

out again, perhaps to finish the race, as there was only

aboul 60 laps to finish and at this stage we we fifth

outright. So on the 290th lap Bernie flashed out on the

track-to save the day, but this was not to be as the

clutch and gearbox gave up completely .at Repco

corner and -Bernie then demonstrated his athletic

ability by running back with the team sash to the pits'

*ut th".t hurriedly despatched out hoping that we

could save the day, but failing brakes forced Steve in

after l6 laps. Stuart Powell went out with about 35

minutes left to go. After a few laps misfiring started to

cut Stuarls'time down' but as race time was running

out it was better to leave Stuart out than loose time in

another change. Stuarts'final run was for 34 laps'

that brought Jur total laps to 45 plus our handicap of30 laps thit gave us a total of 375 laps that positioned

us fourth outright.

FINAL RESULTS WERE -

lst Torana Car Club (Vic)

2nd A.H.S.D.C. (Vic)

3rd Huntingdale Auto Club

4th A.H.O.C. (Vic)

8rh A.H.O.C. (NSw)

23rd A.H.O.C. (SA)

Laps

389

380

379

375

311

360

DRIVERS'LAP TIMES AND LAPS WERE:

Laps Average Fastest

Stuart Powell l2lJim McConville 29

Bernie Bisselling 79

Steve Pike 49

Ian Wookey 43

Robbie Rowland 24

Team Total 345 60.75 OverallAverage

Time

6l .8

60. I

5t.2

62.6

61.I

64.4

Lap

57 .7

59.0

55.4

ffi.258.6

58.4

Bob Attison at Lakeland Hilklimh 1969

6"AOJDh#"#\

1967-

II

t97sIt was becoming obvious that a lot of Club

members were getting very involved in motor racingbecause of the interest being generated by the clubsrunning of Healey's in the past Relay Races. For 1975it was decided to field two teams - one for the Healey'sand another to be called the Healey Drivers Team forpeople who owned Heaieys but wanted to run incompetition in another type of car.

The A.H.O.C. Team comprised of Stuart PoweilBN2, Jim McConville BN2, Daryl Jackson 100/6,Steve Pike BN2, Ian Wookey 100/6 and RobbieRowland BNli V8.

On race day lan Wookey was first car out on to thetrack and had difficulty in running the correct laptimes as he was very interested in dicing with PeterHopwood (NSW) and also with Bernie Bisseiing(Datsun). Ian settled down to a comfortable drive andcompleted 152 laps. Stuart Powell was next onto thetrack and he was called in after I 16 laps with less then Igallon of petrol left. Jim McConville was our thirddriver and he completed only 15 laps before his lefthand shock absorber mounting boits stripped. Ournumber 4 driver Robbie Rowland was having over-heating problems - boiling on the dummy grid.Robbie fixed the problem by coasting down the backin neutral. Robbie completed only 9 laps before anignition wire fell off and had to sprint back to the startline so that Stuart Powell could be sent out for thesecond time. Stuart had to be brought in after only 5llaps as he had spent the maximum time of 3 hours onthe track. Daryl Jackson was sent out to finish the raceand took the chequered flag. Yes the A.H.O.C.Victorian team won the SIX HOUR RELAY RACE.Steve Pike declined to run his car once we found thatwe had a chance of winnrng.

k.$

Healey Drivers Team. The team of four comprised:-Ted Newsome our Competition Secretary and BNIowner running a Turner Ford, Bernie Bisseling ex-BNI ownerdrivingin AIex Reid's Datsun 20005R31 l,Ted Peel 3000 owner driving in a road 2402 Datsun2000SR311, and Jim Reddy BNI owner, ex-ClubPresident driving a LOTUS Replica owned by RossWilliams 100/6 owner.

Our Pian like everybody else was to win but the realHealeys were too good for our team and our finalplacing of 7th outright was well received by the teamon their first try.

Final Details were:-lst Outright A.H.O.C. VictoriaWinner Alex Reid Trophy for lst Austin HealeyTeam.

2nd Outright A. H.O.C.N. S.W.lst Interstate Teamlst One Make Team7th Outright. Healey Drivers Team.

1976

This year the A.H.O.C. fielded three teams whowere the Healey Drivers team of Terry Wade in a MiniClubman GT, Ted Newsome in a Turner Ford. TedPeel in his Datsun 2402 and Bernie Bisseling also in anewly acquired Turner Ford. The second team wasone of HEALEY FOURs of Stuart Powell. JimMcConvilie, John Gray, Ross Kennv, and RobCongdon. The third team was for HEALEY SIXs andcomprised of Daryl Jackson 100i 6, Steve Pike l00i 6,Stewart Taylor Mkl 3000, Robbie Rowland Mkl3000, and Ian Wookey Mkl 3000.

At the finish of the 6 Hours the results were'-3rd outright Healey Drivers Team5th outright A.H.O.C. Six Cyl. Team22nd place A.H.O.C. Four Cyl. Team.

fI

.lim MtCont,ille ar Lakeland Hi/ltlintb 1976

21

("A'AtQ"#

7-198

Highlights were John Gray l00i a losing his bonnet.Ross Kenny blowing a cylinder head gasket, StuartPowell shearing a distibutor drive, the Sixes finallyproving that they are better than fours for this type ofevent.

1977 A year of change.

Gradually a change was coming over Club Racingand a lot of people were getting interested in anothercategory of racing called Historic Racing. This cateredfor cars that were similar to the road cars in that bigwide wheels and other major modifications were notallowed, and a lot of Healey people decided this was

the way to go in the future. When it was learned thatDonald Healey was to visit Australia in January AlanJones and Alex Reid approached the promoters ofAmaroo Raceway to put on an ALL HEALEYRACE in their Historic Race Nleeting to be held on29 I 30 January 1977 . It took a lot of convincing of thepromoters to do this and they finally agreed only ifthey did not have to provide the trophies. The originalconcept of the event was meant to be for AustinHealeys only but the wording by the promoters left itopen for Sprites and other Healey specials to run andbecause of this the race was changed to a handicapwithout consulting either of the promoters of thisspecial race who had put in all the groundwork to getit al1 together.

The Entrants were:lan Russell 100/6 Roger Miller BNl lChris Gray Sprite Pat Quinn BNllRon Jackson 10016 Peter Hopwood 10016

J. Reineker BNll Roger Wells Mac Healel'

Ross Kenny BN/1 F. Vogel H.-SilverstoneB. Bisseling BN/2 B. Birch BN/2W. Gates BN/2 Alan Jones 100/5Ben Sellers 100/S Phil LYon BN/2Jim McConville 100/S Steve Pike 3000MklJohn Gray 100/S.

NON Starters were Alan Jones, Wally Gates and

John Gray. The race was run in 45 degree temperatureweather and the race was a very exciting one with a lotof reputations at stake as this was the test of the 100/ S

Sebring cars versus the rest (according to the 100/S

owners). The final results were:-lst Roger Wells Mac Healey2nd Ben Sellers 100/S3rd Chris Gray Sprite4th Jim McConville 100/S5th Pat Quinn BN/l6th Bernie Bisseling BN/2.

All competitors were presented with a certificatesigned by Mr. Donald Healey and Jim McConvillereceived a Trophy for the highest placed Interstatecat.

July 1977

The first ALL HISTORIC RACE MEETING was

held at Winton on 25-26th of June and there were 13

Healeys entered and 5 other Healey owners drivingother types of historic cars. An All Healey race was onthe program and this time it was for real Healeys' Theentries were 2 from South Aust.. 3 from N.S.W. and

the balance from Victoria. Non Starters were twofrom N.S.W. Ron Jackson and Ben Sellers.

Ros.: W'illiunts.Hilltlitnh 1976.

Iun Wookt'r und Tttl ,\t'tt.to/rre ut Lukeluttd

22

Results were:-Placelst Jim McConville2nd Bernie Bisseling3rd Stuart Powell4th John Veale5th Steve Pike6th Graeme Marks7th Daryl Duff8th Ross Kenny9th Roger Miller10th Dennis Varleyl lth Chris Lugg

Practice Timesl.l7.91.19.1

1.18.3

1.26.01.26.9

No time recordedl.3l.l1.31.61.32.3

1.27.91.33.0

Most drivers improved their times during the race

by a considerable amount and it was very encouraging

to see road cars running in this event with six of the

cars being driven to the circuit' The fastest lap was put

in by Stuart Powell with a time of l-16.2.

In a later event a handicap was run with ll Healeys

4TRs and 2 Jaguars for 5 laps of the circuit. Steve Pike

won this event from B. Bisseling with a TR2 3rd. The

fastest lap run in this race was by B. Bisseling at l'16'6'

Of the 18 Healey Members competing the followingresults were noted:-lst Placings - 62nd Placings - 5

3rd Placings - 3

1977 Report on the Six Hour RelaY

This year we combined with the South AustralianClub to form a six car team. Darryl Jackson again

entered his 100/6, and the other cars were 100/4s ofPeter Boston, Darryl Duff, John Hindson, ChrisLugg and Kim Tuckey. Saturday dawned clear and

bright and the A.H.O.C. UNIT T'V. Tent was erected

at a very early hour. All cars were present except forthe 100/6 and passed scrutineering without incident.It was decided to practise all the cars present in the

first two sessions which was achieved except for Peter

Boston who had fuel PumP Problems.

We anxiously awaited the arrival of Darryl whohad worked all night with John Hume, putting a new

engine in the car. As they were putting the car on the

trailer at 2pm the clutch went out and so it was

unable to practise, however' on past performancesthe T.S.O.A. generously allowed it to run. Race

day was also fine and Darryl Duff got away to a

fine start only to come in after twenty minutes withoverheating problems.

The next hour was disastrous, as we had fivechanges - Peter Boston again had fuel pump prob-lems, John Hindson a loose bonnet, and then ran an

engine bearing. Darryl Duff blew a head gasket and

Peter Boston again with a slipping clutch. At the twohour mark we nearly were last in a field of twenty-two,however, with longer runs from Kim Tuckey and

Chris Lugg and finally a two hour non-stop run byDarryl Jackson, moved us up into a final fourteenthplace.

The N.S.W. Team went very well until RoyTaylor spun into a ditch and had to run back to the

pits. They finally finished seven laps and one place

ahead of us, however, we were penalised seven laps

more ior exceeciing the handicap time, so lt was a very

even tussle. The Healey Drivers Team peformed very

well, all drivers putting in a very good performance to

run fifth, only six laps behind the winner. They were

very unlucky to miss out on a place as Darryl Duffsuffered slight carburettor problems only thirtyminutes from the finish.

My thanks to all who helped with the timing etc., toour Chief Mechanic Stuart Powell, and DarrylJackson who worked all night to get his car ready for a

race which does not allow it to run anywhere near its

full potential. I hope the South Australians enjoyed

themselves, as without them we probably would nothave had a team.

Maybe next year!!!

Resultslst Outright Mini Club of Victoria2nd Outright Light Car Club of Aust' (Bendigo)

3rd Outright A.H.S.D.C. of South Australia5th Outright Healey Drivers Team of Victoria 3961.

13th Outright A'H.O.C. of N.S.W 3861.

l4th Outright A.H.O.C. of Vic./ S.A. 3791.

Healey Drivers Team

This year was our third try at the Six Hour Race and

all our drivers felt they knew the tricks that help towin. Our team of Healey Owners were driving a

variety of makes of cars that was as varied as the

drivers' abilities. Jim Reddy was driving his LotusMK9 that he has purchased from Ross Williams thisyear. Previously Jim drove this car in the six hourwhen Ross owned it, and Jim has also competed in aHealey or two in other six hour races so obviously he

has a wealth of competition experience.

Bernie Bisseling was driving his Turner Ford for the

second year in succession. Bernie had competed inprevious six hour races twice in Healeys and once in a

Datsun 2000.

Ted Newsome was competing for the second year

running in his Turner Ford. (For the Curious Reader

- a Turner is a small English fibreglass car powered by

a Cortina engine. It was produced in the early sixties

in small numbers).

Our last driver was Graeme Marks, driving AlexReid's Healey. Graeme had competed previously inhis own Healey in Historic Races, but not in the sixhour race before, and had never driven my Heaieybefore practise.

This year saw a change in the system of handi-capping whereby we could nominate the times we

wished to run and had to stick to them. In previousyears a leeway in time had been allowed but this year ifone ran too fast one lost the whole iap. We thendecided that if all the cars ran at the same lap time,which meant that however the handicapping was

worked out we would not be disadvantaged by havingthe wrong car out at the wrong time. All our cars

could maintain the chosen time of 57 secs' with ease

and practised around this time. During the practise

Graeme put down a 55 sec. lap in my Healey whichsurprised both of us, and a few other people.

23

t"d'f,Rlt?/"H\\-/{@ tu-//

v\-'lvN. \',li'il.-.y\:;/\*:r

lint illtCttrtvillt'uttd Sleve Pike at lLirttttn.

Raceday ran perfectly for us with no major troubles,and all the cars staying out for substantial times, onlyone unscheduled change when the fuel line bolt fell outof the carburettor on the Healey, which cut shortGraeme's times on the track but did not alter ourposition. The final results put us at equal fourth with396 laps which was six fewer than the winners. Wewere penalised 7 laps for going too I'ast, so even mymathematics show that with a bit more luck we mighthave had it won, but there is always next year . . .

Jim ReddyBernie BisselingTed NewsomeGraeme Marks

136 laps completed153 laps completed54 laps completed

24 laps completed.

24

Historic Races50th Anniversary of Australian Grand PrixPhitip Island

March 13th 1978

Perhaps this race showed how dominant a well

pr"put.d- 100/4 can be on the right track' Philip Island

is a-ciruit where you need bags of grunt and a driver

who knows how to get that power to the ground' Inthe field of 41 starters there was all kinds of exotic

machinery but when the race was over Bernard

Bisseling in Alex Reid's BN2 was the clear winner

from ei-President Jim Reddy in his supercharged

Lotus replica.

This very important day saw a large number ofHealey CtuU competitors running in a variety ofevents. Also present were a good number of members

seen enjoying themselves on various parts of the

circuit, ispecially around the Club tent which became

u.ry popr.lu. on the day. The members who brought

their-'spectator' Healeys parked them around the

tent, m;king our own little "Motor Show Stand" in

which the general spectators showed a lot ofinterest'Unfortunaiely it rained lightly at lunch time and

continued for the rest of the daY.

Members who entered from various Healey Clubs

were:-

Jim McConville 100/5 Ian Russell (N S W') 3000

Stuart Powell BN2 Ross Williams Elfin

Jim Reddy Lotus Mk9 Chris Lugg (S'A') 100/4

Dennis Russell MG TC Kerry Luckins Lola

Roger Miller (N.S.W.) 100/4 Roger Wells (N S w ) M' Healey

t!.. fietzl enreed or:er 2 mins. - back to Jim Reddy'lllL rrLru rPrvsu v'vr '

George Makin and Bernie Bisseling' After much

interJsting racing and slipping and sliding again, the

winner was John Virgo in his Riley Special, winning

from Laurie Cousins'TR 3 and Terry Butler's MGTwin Cam. Bernie Bisseling was in 4th place.on the

last lap, but blew a rear tyre at MG corner whlch put

paid tb his chances of taking the double and Darylbuff came 6th with Jim McConville llth and Stewart

Powell 12th. Altogether a very good day's sport was

enjoyed by many and watched by a lot of keen Healey

enthusiasts.

Winton Historic Races

June 1978

Another Winton All Historic Race Meeting has

passed and I feel more inclined to write about it than

last year. I can't write as an unbiased spectator butperhaps seeing a meeting through the eyes of a

compititor will be a novel approach to recording the

event.

I left for the meeting on Saturday morning antici-pating intense competition from Bernie in Rubber

buckie, Alex's beloved 100/4, Laurie Cousins in the

hybrid TR3A, Paul Trevethan in the MGA and one or

two dark horses like Steve Pike in his 1005. On past

performances I was bound to be led or lead a merry^dance

with the first three. As the early birds and the

competitors know. practise was on a wet track'Bernie, true to his reputation in the wet, acquired pollposition for the second post war sports car race withLaurie Cousins in the TR beside him on the grid' I was

in third position with Kerry Luckins beside me in the

Lola. By this time the track was drying out and as the

flag fell Kerry Luckins shot in to the lead rounding the

firsl corner ahead of Bernie and myself with the TRstruggling after a slippery start just behind me'

Halfway round the sweeper the Lola dropped a plug

lead and pulled over letting Bernie and myself throughto continue a furious dice. I expect the two big Healeys

thundering around completely absorbed in racing

each other must have presented a great sight to-ourenthusiastic club members who came lrom three

States to watch. I can imagine Alan Jones urging

Steve Pikes 1005 on to greater speeds and Alex quietlycoaxing Bernie to watch the BN2 behind him' Icertainly didn't look in my rear vision mirror once

during that race. I suppose I couldnt imagine anythingcatching up with Bernie and myself, such was the

intensity of the competition. Try as I might I could notget through on Bernie and finally had to be contentwith taking the flag just behind him.

I was able to watch most of the other sports car race

from the dummy grid. It was pleasing to see some ofthe Healeys giving Paul Trevethans MGA a bit ofhurry up. Most of the quicker Healeys were in thisevent and they included Ted Newsome in his beautifulunmodified BNl, Darryl Duff in his BNl, Graeme

Marks in his BNI and David Madrers, Chris Lugg

and Neil Shields in their BNls. David Madrers drove a

fine race to come in second to Paul Trevethan's MGA'

?s

Len Shields

Alex Reid/

Bernie Bisseling BN2

Daryl Duff

Daryl DuffJohn Gray

MG TC Tony Molina MG TC

Ben Sellers (N S.w.) Nota Major

BN2 David Madrers 100/4

Ex-Member John GraY 100/6

The second event on the programme saw 13 out ofthe 4l starters, as members of various Healey Clubs'

The starting grid saw Jim Reddy on Pole positionwith Ross *illiams second fastest, and Bernie

Bisseling third fastest. The four lap event was held in

u"ty *.i conditions with quite a lot of cars spinning

off into the grass surrounding the track. The thirdtime around Bernie was leading from Jim Reddy withGeorge Makin 3rd, and this is how the cars went over

the line to receive the chequered flag. Of the people

running Healeys, the following was their best practice

time:-

Bernie Bisseling 2-25.1JimMcConville 2-32.2Stuart Powell 2-37.8RoeerMiller 2-59.3

2 - 42.42 - 45.5

THE HANDICAP RACE saw most of the Healey

people ready to do battle with the weather, and was

once again tq be four laPs.

The front row of the grid saw Chris Lugg in Healey;

Kel Ricci in TR 3 and John Gough in MG TF: with

Other Healey drivers in my race included IanRussell, Roger Miller, Dennis Varley, Ben Sellers inRay Roberts' 1005, Steve Pike and Tony Bennetto inthe Sprite.

The next day saw the Healey Challenge take place.We were lined up on the grid' poll position going toBernie in Rubbie Duckie. Next to him was yours trulywith David Madrers and Darryl Duff just behind.Steve Pike was just behind them in the ex Ramos DaSilva 1005.

My tactics were, I suppose, the same as Bernie's toget into the first corner first. At the drop of the flag wewere off with my BN2 just taking the corner in front ofRubber Duckie. Bernie and I stayed like that forabout half the race until fate determined that I was toretire. I retired quietly to the side of the straight justbefore the tank corner with my distributor drive shafthaving jumped out of mesh. I was disappointed thatlack of preparation had been my downfall, not that Ihad ever prided myself in this department, but it isobvious that it is one of the big problems in motorracing. I was to fare a lot better than Steve Pike, whohad put the Sebring into a mound of dirt causing adegree of superficial damage to the front. On returningto the pits I discovered that my right front stub axlewas barely intact and on checking the other side thenext day', found it to be very little better. Thank Godthe distributor jumped out when it did. I broke thestub axie with two or three taos with a hammer onMonday morning.

After that incident I was relegated to the spectatorarea to watch the handicap race in which I would loveto have competed. It was good to see Bernie holdingLaurie Cousins TR in a furious dice and watch theexcellent driving of David Madrers and GraemeMarks in their Section I Handicap. It sounds as

though I only watched Healeys last weekend althoughI did notice that Paul Trevethans MGA is awfullyquick and Jim Reddy put up a fine performanceagainst Ben Seliers in the Nota Major. I bet I haveforgotten to speak to someone about somethingimportant over the weekend for, on race days, like themythical bird, I don't ever know if I'm coming orgoing.

Jim McConville

Sandown Park - A.G.P. and Historic RacingSaturday and Sunday lOth September 1978

Club Members were in force at Sandown competing,spectating, concours entrants in which was probablythe best weekend of motor sport ever held inMelbourne and a weekend unable ever to be bettered.

A few people, including Jim Reddy in the Lotus,practised on Friday, but unfortunately for Jim enginetrouble halted his racing weekend; and Saturdaypractise saw Jim McConville run his bearings in theBN2.

In the only event on Saturday, Ross WilliamsElfin Alpine, Roger Wells Mac Healey and TerryCornelius - Sabrina Austin, had good drives. Rossfinished behind the front runners and both Roger andTerry halfway in the field.

The first race on Sunday saw Terry Cornelius againhaving agreat drive in the Sabrina Austin and then onto Event 3 Historic Sports Car Scratch the race inwhich most Members competed. Grid positions wereas follows:-

lst RowRoss Williams Elfin-AlpinePaul Trevethan MGA3rd RowDennis Varlev BNI4th RowGraeme MarksDaryl DuffMid-wayDavid MadrersNeil Sheilds

BNIBNI

BNIBNI

and bringing up the rear was Chris Lugg BNl, andon the back row Jim McConville - BN2, who hadworked most of Saturday night changing motors inhis car.

When the flag dropped, Ross streaked away andeasily held off any challenge from Peter Candy's MGand Paul Trevethan, while further back Daryl Duffand Dennis Varley were both flying with Darylpassing Trevethan and holding him at bay. Not solucky were Jim McConville who stopped on thesecond lap and Graeme Marks who also stopped soonafter the start carried out some track side adjust-ments then continued on to put in some quick laps.When the flag fell after 4laps, Ross Williams was lst,Peter Candy 2nd and Daryl Duff 3rd, with DennisVarley leading the other Healeys home.

Congratulations to Daryl for an excellent drive andhe is the winner of the Trophy donated by the Club, tothe first Austin Healey past the post.

26

6'AOADhQ"#\

Kleber Six-Hour Relay Race,

Sunday lTth September1978

I must offer my thanks to our drivers and entrants inthe Six-Hour Relay Race also to those who helpedon the Saturday's practise and Sunday's race.

The race started with Graeme Marks'driving PeterBoston's 100/4 who put in a fine start to be thirdacross the line at the end of the first lap. However, onlap 15, the car was retired in the esses and Graemebegan the run back to the pits with the sash. Our nextparticipant was Joseph Beninca, a member of the

Alfa Romeo Club, driving an Alfetta GT. Joe's

enthusiasm and his family-cum-pit-crew's help withthe timing during Saturday's practise and Sunday'srace was like a breath of fresh air blowing through thehallowed Healey halls. The Alfa ran faultlessly allday and completed a total of 152 laps over threesessions, with a best lap time of 54 sec.

After Joe, Peter brought the Gemini onto the trackand settled down to some consistent lapping aroundthe 57 sec. mark. At this stage the team appeared verystrongly situated despite the low number of credit lapswe had in hand. For at the two hour mark we lay in2lst position out of 24 teams. When Peter finally camein after 61 laps he was forced to do so as the carpet andunderfelt were smokins due to the heat from theexhaust system.

At the stage Darryl emerged on the track, we stillhad approximately 3Yz-4 hours racing in front of us

and were slightly behind our pre-race plan. However,after half a dozen laps Darryl had a slight tangle withthe traffic and came in for a check of his mechanicals.Joe then reeled off 20 odd laps before a spin saw the

Alfa limp home with some body damage caused bynudging the armco. Ten minutes work with spannersand screwdrivers soon had the car back through thescrutineers and ready to race again.

Meanwhile Peter had the Gemini out and set the

whip cracking showing the way around the circuit to anumber of cars of larger displacement. He finallytotalled up 116 laps with a best time of 55.2 secs. beforehis accelerator return spring cried enough and forcedhim to come in a little earlier than originally planned.

This time we were hopeful that Darryl could go outand continue to circulate until the flag, but lady luckdeserted us again. Only six laps down and the throttlecable parted, leaving Darryl with a swift sprint fromthe back of the track.

The Alfa filled in for us for another 70 laps beforehanding back the sash to Darryl who had once againreadied for battle.This time the Big Healev circulatedfast and reliably matching pace with an ex-Bathurstwinning V8 Torana and completing 68 consecutivelaps 1il the finish. Darryl's best lap during this session

was a 52.3 sec.

t I I il h\ :t I I I fi\ lf to) i7/ [o) I tvl *i : I r I I Ir I I L\ | ia r'l | | rMonufocturing on extensive ronge of quolity chossis repoir sections, body rusl repcir ponels ond trim-wore fcr your big Heoley - with on emphosis on originolity.

Send ic: your free portslprice list todoy.

Flocn, crossmembers, chcssis roils, oluminium trim finishing sels ore just o smoll excmple of lhisronge.

So, wneiner it be o smoll r,lsted oreo or complele chossis up rebuild, KA.S hcs the polrs fo helpreolize tnct dreom.

KAS Foctory ond Showroom is locoted ol

IVISA iltn

occepted

27

Nti! Sltcill.s. Gruttttt' Marks and [)urrrl Du/l ut W'itttotl

iiiltr

BL'rnit IJisst'Ilinq ut Ll irtrttrt

Amaroo Historic Races

28th January 1979

The second all-historic meeting was well supported by

Healey people; some driving other cars, but the

majority driving Healeys. Entrants were:-

Fred Vogel (NSW) - Healey Silverstone -

Terry Cornelius (NSW) in the yellow Sabrina Special

Len Shields (Vic) in his MGTCKevin Gardiner (NSW) - 10014 dropped a valve inprivate practise.

Ian Russel (NSW) in his newly-acquired Nota Consul

Ben Sellers (NSW) in the Nota Major, and

his l00SAdrian Hari (NSW) in the Read Holden Special

Daryl Duff (Vic) who became a non-starter after apractise accident

Neil Shield (Vic) - 100/aRoger Miller (NSW) - 10014

Jim McConville (Vic) - l00SDavid Madrers (Vic) in his rapid 100/4

Ross Williams (Vic) Elfin - a non-starterAlan Jones (NSW) l00S - after all these years he

finally made itBob Winley (NSW) - 100/6Don Holland (NSW) - 100/6, another non-starter

Roger Wells (NSW) - Mac Healey did not appear

Carl Stecker (QId) was another non-starter.

Owing to the fact that the races were spread over

two days and 3l events it is not possible to give a

report on all the cars, so I have just mentioned the

events that had Victorians in them.

Event No. I - a scratch race saw Len Shields in his

MGTC finish in sixth Place.

Event No. 4 had an assortment of TRs, MGs and

three Healeys running in it and David Madrers lead

all the way, virtually unchallenged for first place and

Bob Winley in the Mk I 3000 was third.

Event No. 7 - a fiveJap scratch race of assorted cars

saw Neil Shield placed fourth.

Event No. ll was Jim McConville's first event but a

spin put him out of any chance of a place.

Event No. 20 was a five-lap handicap and DavidMadrers on the back of the grid drove a very good

race to come in third, considering he had a big slide offthe track.into the dirt on the third lap.

Event No. 21 - Perhaps this should have been the

ultimate event for Sebring fans, starters included JimMcConville, Ben Sellers, and Alan Jones all in theirl00s as well as Bob Winley in his Mk I 3000' However,when the chequered flag came down a TR3 was first,Bob Winley second, and an MGA third. JimMcConville got ran into and once again we have towait to see the all-conquering Sebrings achievevictory.Event No. 28 - David Madrers managed to again get

first place from Lou Molina's MGTC Special in a

mixed five-lap handicaP.

Event No. 3l which for post-war sports cars was

slightly face-saving for the l00S fans when Ben Sellers

in Ray Roberts' l00S finished second outright.

29

Evcnt |Jo. 33 was a "'ictory

for Bob Winley in the Mk I3000, just beating an MGA.

Alex Reid.

Winton Historic Races

June 1979Undoubtedly, this Year's

Historic Races at Winton were one of the best

organised so far and the biggest contributing-factor to

this success was the brilliant weather both days, and

the performance of our Austin Healeys and our club

*"tnb.tt competing in them and other racing cars'

But every high point has a corresponding low and

for us it wis the untimely death of our N.S'W' club

member and friend, Alan Jones, in a car accident on

the Saturday night after practise. Whiist returning to

Corowa with Vic. member, Terry Cornelius, they

were involved in an accident which caused Alan's

death and badly injured Terry and friend' From all

reports Terry is recovering now and we hope to see

him about again before not too long. Elsewhere in this

magazine you will find a tribute to Alan and, like

many others, I imagine it will be hard to realise I wontbe seeing Alan again at a future race meeting or

Healey club event.

This year again we had a good number of compet-

itors and spectators on both days, in fact I believe over

50 were present over the weekend. Many lnterstate

memberJ were also in force, some from S.A' and a

large contingent from N.S.W.

And Winton really turned it on with some great

racing and that beautiful weather I have already

mentioned. Practise started shortly after lunch on

Saturday and after doing'a few scorching laps ofpractise our first casualty was David Madrers in his

1OOT+ *ittr a large visible crack in the corner of his

cylinder head. As he had his Elfin Mono there also

there just wasn't the incentive to get another head

from Melbourne so his car was pushed aside to use forspares by the Midnight Motors Team. And it wasnllong before Neil Shields was borrowing a fuel pump

for his own car.

Others practised without incident except for Ross

Kenny who had only just rebuilt his 100/4 engine and

had decided against running it. After fixing the fuelpump in Neil Shields'car problems were still evident

so it was decided that the head gasket needed

replacing and Neil and David Madrers soon had

things underway. Bernie Bisseling was far from happy

witlrthe performance of Alex Reid's 100/4 as he could

manage only the second row of the grid and numerous

things, such as points, distributor, carburettor, etc'

were looked at in search of the lost power.

Prior to this meeting it was decided that FormulaVee racing tyres were no Ionger allowed and tyres

must be 70%o asPectratio so our Austin Healeys had torun on different tyres for the first time and differentbrands of radial ply tyres were being tried. As it turned

out this new rule tended to equalise things a little and

some of the faster cars in the past found others very

close behind now they were all on radials.

It was evident too that the bug-eye Sprites wereadvantaged by the new rules and the tight turns ofWinton allowed them to achieve lap times closer tothe Healeys than ever before.

After practise on Saturday several races for carsand bikes were scheduled and our first successfulmember was Jim McConville who won event l0 fromBernie Bisseling and Darryl Duff. It should bementioned that Graeme Marks put up a remarkableperformance early in this race by leaping into secondplace and holding this position for some laps beforebeing displaced. He finished in fourth position. Othersuccesses by club members on the Saturday wereDavid Madrers in his Elfin Mono winning Event No.12, Harry Firth winning the all MG race No. 13 andN.S.W. member Ben Sellars winnins event No. 16 inhis Nota Major.

Many more members arrived for the Sunday andAustin Healeys were evident throughout the car park.Our first successful member on Sunday was RossWilliams in his Elfin Alpine. I beieve Ross had gonethough his race tactics during the night after finishingsecond in the same field on the Saturday and it paidoff as he got to the lead early and held it for the race.After leading event No. 24 easily David Madrersmade a rare mistake and spun in his Elfin Mono andrejoined to finish in fourth place.

The highlight event of the weekend for our cars wasto be the Austin Healey/ MGA challenge but it turnedout rather disappointing as we were to find we hadPaul Trevethan's very quick MGA on pole position,mainly due to his having exhumed some old Bridge-stone racing tyres which were quite legal within therules. The MGA was quick to gain the lead; a lead hewas never to lose; in fact our cars behind put on anexcellent race with placings swapping constantly andfinishing with Jim McConville, first Austin Healey,Neil Shields, second (running with his second headgasket fitted that morning), and Darryi Duff third.Again.

Graeme Marks put up an excellent drive to finish4th Austin Healey and others to run were Len Shieldsand other members from interstate clubs.

In the handicaps our interstate members showedtheir skill with first N.S.W. President, Roger Miller,and then Ben Sellars in Ray Roberts' 1005, bothwinning events in Austin Healeys. And so concludedanother Historic Winton, an excellent event whichangles well for the future of historic racing at thisannual event.

A.H.O.C. Members competing at Winton were:-

Ben Sellars (NSW)Harry FirthTerry CorneliusKerry LuckinsRoss WilliamsJim McConvilleBernie BisselingDarryl DuffGraeme MarksLen ShieldsChris Lugg (SA)

Roger Miller (NSW)Kevin GardnerNeil ShieldsDavid MadrersTed Peel

Terry Wade

t00 410014t0-l 4

Elfin Mono & 10014Lynx-Ford

Sandown

Sunday 9th September 1979

The annual Hang-Ten-Rothmans formula one meet-ing was, as usual, supported by Historic races for allclasses.

Healeys were driven by Daryl Duff, Neil Shields,Jim McConville, Ross Kenny and David Madrers.After practise it was noted that Paul Trevethan'sMGA was again quicker than all the Healeys, but atlast year's Sandown meeting Daryl Duffs Healeyoutpowered Paul's MGA up the back straight so wewere all hoping that Daryl would be able to do itagain.

At the start Paul got a bad start from pole position,but Daryl shot thorugh to take the lead from Paul andDavid Madrers. Unfortunately, Daryl's cardevelopedsome gear changing problems in the next corner andfell back through the field leaving Paul leading fromDavid Madrers, Neil Shields and Jim McConville inhis 100S. On the next lap David's distributor poppedout of mesh which handicapped him significantly.Paul was now leading from Neil Shields and DarylDuff was catching up on the whole field. As thechequered flag came down for Paul's first place Darylwas second and Jim McConville third in the 1005.

The first race for sports cars held the previousafternoon saw five Healeys running against 3 MGAs,2 TR3s, 4 Sprites, one Morgan and 2 Aston Martins.Paul Trevethan's very fast MGA seemed to lead all theway to the winner's flag and Daryl Duff was secondl2 seconds behind Paul - whilst Neil Shields was only4/ lOs second behind in third place. Jim McConvillefinished fifth in his newly repainted l00S whilst DavidMadrers only completed three laps before his distri-butor popped out of mesh preventing him fromfinishing. Paul Trevethan's fastest lap in the MGAwas 1.28.9 which was 3.1 seconds faster than thefastest Healey in the race - that of Neil Shields'.

At this point in time it was becoming apparent thatwith the flexibility of the interpretation of the rules inHistoric Racing it was possible to win with cars oflesser engine capacity such as MGAs and as this wasnot a true representation of Historic Racing as

originally conceived a lot of people drifted into racingother types of cars. Whilst there is still a few peoplerunning Healeys today in Historic Racing the Club'sinvolvement has faded away as the cars have becomemore collectable and possibly more valuable.

Perhaps in the not too distant future some of themembers will get all keen again and start another cycleof events which will lead to seeing the BIG HEALEYdominant on the track again in Club Racing.

Alex Reid30

Nota Major and l00SMG TC SpecialSabrina Austin

LolaElfin Alpine

100141001410014100141001410014

1967-1988

Victoria's RareThe number of rare 'Warwick'or factory-built AustinHealeys is slowly growing among the ranks of the

Victorian Austin Healeys Owners Club. After an

exodus of four l00S models some years ago things

have stabilised somewhat and the list of factory cars

in the club now reads as follows: l00S Models -

Numbers 3904,3906,3909, 3910, belonging to lanMcDondd. Ross McKinnon, Jim McConville and Morris

Rushton.

Also John Gray owns the 4000 prototype, a 3000

Mkl Rally car and the preproduction 100.

Of these cars only two of the l00S cars of JimMcConville and Ross McKinnon are original Aust-ralian sold cars, the other cars being imported formthe U.K. in the past decade.

Probably the best way to deal with the cars is on a

chronological basis which would logically dictate

that we start with the preproduction 100, NOJ 392'

followed by the l00Ss, the rally car and finaily the

4000, known also as the Rolls Healey.

The history of NOJ 392 is indeed interesting and

detailed. It was one of four special test cars, orprototype cars, completed after the Earls Courtdebut of the Healey Hundred, these cars being builtwith the raised headlight position required to conformto different countries' registration rules.

Three of these cars were registered on the 24thApril, 1953; their registration numbers being NOJ391,392 and 393.

To digress briefly the history of these cars was as

follows: NOJ 39t was used in the 1953 Mille Migliaand then was entered in Le Mans but was damaged

and did not run. It was eventually rebuilt as a 1005

and was raced as a works car and later sold and

subsequently written off at Silverstone. The engine is

now in lan McDonald's 1005 and the Aston Martinsearbox is owned bv Ross McKinnon.

Austin HeaieysNOJ 393 ran the 1953 Le Mans in place of 391

where it finished fourteenth. The car was laterconverted to the l00S prototype and raced at Sebring

and then later converted to full production 1005

specifications. The car was involved in the 1955 Le

Mans tragedy when driven by Lance Macklin and is

now owned by Jack Scott in the U.K.

The fourth car was never road registered but was

used as a records car, it was eventually broken up bythe factory.

NOJ 392 was used in the Mille Miglia but did notfinish, stopping some fifty miles from the end withclutch failure. it was then raced in the 1953 Le Mans

where it completed the 24 hour race in tweifthoutright position and second in its class behind a

works racing Gordini. After its return to England 392

was lent to Cecil Winby, a piston consultant, who ranthe car at Prescott Hillclimb, this being thecompetition debut of the 100 in the U.K. Followtngthese events 392 was raced at the Brighton Speed

Trials and the Goodwood nine hour race. As well as

these competition outings, 392 was used as the roadtest car for the "Motor and Autocar".

1954 saw the fitting of experimental disc brakes'these being hand made Girling units, the first such

fitted to an Austin HealeY.

With the advent of the 1005 model 392 was nolonger required for works competition and was used

as a "factory hack", most of the time being used byRoger Menadue for his personal transport. The carwas sold by Healeys in 1962, having being acquiredfrom the Austin Motor Co. in 1958 by them, and nextthrough a succession of owners until it was involvedin an accident in 1970. Brian Dermott acquired thedamaged car and started a full restoration only to sellthe car to its present owner, John Gray, in 1981 in anonly slightly advanced state of restoration.

.lohn Gro.r in LtJB lll at TentJtlestortt

31

Jim Goldfinth (61) 3909, and Terr.t, Vol morbida (77) 3906 in the Victorian TouristTroohy. Albert Park 1958.

The peculiar features of the car are its all altoybody, which inciudes all sub frames which are handfabricated, the chassis which is hand fabricated as arethe dashboard, exhausts and instruments etc. Theengine uses the same nitrided crank as an S and theparts are all stamped with a number, this being the"works" part number as used on the 1005 etc.

The next car rn order of age is the l00S of IanMcDonald, AHS3904. This car is an ex U.K. importhaving arrived in Australia, as did many other cars,through the efforts ofJoe Jarick.

3904 was registered RLF 500 in the U K and was anex-road test car f'or the Scottish publication, MotorWorld. It was during this road test that 3904 waswritten off and was subsequently repaired by CarlawCars, Austin agents in Glasgow.

3904 was bought by one of Carlaw's directors, TedEvans, who raced the car extensively before it wentthrought a number of owners until it came to residewith Keith Brading on the lsle of Wight, minus itsl00S engine.

Joe purchased the car from Keith and despatchedit to Australia where its new owner Barry Darleykeenly awaited its arrival. The BN I engine wasreplaced with an original one which Joe had obtainedfrom the wreck of NOJ 39 I and it was in this guisethat the car was purchased by lan McDonald andshipped south were a complete restoration wascarried out on the car.

Today Ian uses the car for road use and it is a greatexampie of the highly desirable model from Warwick.

l00S number 3906, currently owned by JimMcConville, was originally delivered to the late StanJones by Austin distributors Melbourne. Ron Phillipswas the next owner and he raced the car extensively

around Victoria before it was sold to a SouthAustralian driver by the name of Goldfinch who alsoraced it considerably. After some time 3906 wasbought by a N.S.W. club syndicate which includedRoss Bond and Alan Jones.

From Sydney the car was sold to Pittsworth(Queensland) panel beter Ray Jorgansen who rebuiltthe car and painted it Regency Red and used it inmany Queensland club events for many years beforeselling it to Jim McConville of the Victoria club.

Jim has the car still and has used it in many historicoutings around Victoria, thus completing a full cyclein the cars history with its return to its original state.

The next l00S in numericai order in Victoria is3909 owned by Ross McKinnon, having been recentlybought by Ross from Rick Schoullar in Brisbane.

3909 was one of the original l00S models sold inMelbourne by Austin Distributors and had achequered career around Australia before returninghome.

This car was built by the factory on the originalprototype chassis and has many unique featuresincluded in its specifications.

In its current guise the car runs one of the rareAston Martin gearboxes used by the works cars.

Ross is currently undertaking a refurbishment ofthe body ofthe car and it should soon be back on theclub circuit.

The last l00S numerically in the club is also the lastnumerically in the production run of cars. 3910 wasoriginally sold to A.G. Hans Osterman, Sweden andremained there for many years during which time itwas believed to have been used in the 1955 SwedishGrand Prix. During its life the l00S engine was blown

32

f"AOADtK"#\

up and replaced with a handbuilt 100 unit anci in this

form was acquired by Bo Frick, who also owned an

MG K3. The car was sold by Bo to Glyn Lambert inLondon who bought it for Peter Davies of Mel-bourne. Peter acquired an original S engine for the

car and eventually sold it to current owner MorrisRushton. Morris is currently restoring the car to itsformer glory, this being a car that is fully worthy ofmuch attention being the last of the 50 production Ss

to be built.That brings us to the six cylinder "works" car of the

club, the first being the 3000 rally car of John Gray.

Before people scream in protest I should stress thatthis car is not a "Warwick" built car as the 3000 rallycars were built and maintained by the BMC Compe-titions Department at the MG factory in Abingdon.

UJB 143 was the number for a works Sebring 3000

but after the 1960 Sebring race the car was sold toDavid Dixon who put his own personalised plate,DD 300, on it. UJB 143 was then put on a new rallycar being built for the works team and so began thesecond stage of the life of registration number UJB143.

In the rally car guise as now owned by John UJBwas entered in the 196l Midnight Sun Rally where itwas driven by Peter Riley, alas only to retire. Thecar's main claim to fame came in the 1961 Tour ofCorsica where driven by Pat Moss it won the sportscar class.

The car was bought from Irish enthusiast BrianWilson in 1977 by Glyn Lambert who sent it to LaurieLynch in Geelong. Shortly after its arrival Lauriedecided to sell the car and Roger Rayson purchased itand undertook a comprehensive rebuild on the car.

In 1984 Roger Rayson sold the car to John Gray.

iv{osi of the features of the rally car remain intacttoday including four wheel disc brakes, alloy bodypun"1r, triple two inch SU carbs etc., and the car is a

iabulous example of a most successful bygone era ofHealey competition.

The last of the cars is the Healey 4000 or the RollsHealey. ADO24,as the project was code named, was

a result of the Healey family building one car to show

Austins "what could be done" with the then currentengines etc., from the BLMC range.

The hierachy of Austin liked the idea sufficiently toauthorise a prototype run of six cars. The car nowowned by John Gray is the first example of these six

cars and in fact was the only one completed, being

used by Donald Healey as a "hack" after the projectwas killed off. Car number two was started but notfinished, this left four chassis and body sets etc.

ADO24l1002, as it is officially known was sold offand the new owner one night skidded on some blackice in Wales, hitting a low fence, twisting the chassis

and other things. The car was returned to the

Warwick's factory where one of the spare chassis was

used to repair it, thus making the number left three,

as it is today.

The car was sold to Steve Pike of the Victorian club

who subsequently sold it to John Gray in 1917 , whostill owns it to this daY.

The above seven cars represent a great cross

section of Healey history and the Victorian club isindeed fortunate to have these examples among its

numbers to compliment the other excellent cars ofmembers.

John GraY

33

r"AoAD/.ru L\,

q

12sg=o +lAllG ti 'r..cLuBNttrCS- ii . i'' -rr-a i in' i-

il/.

.7

E8ff*".oWn tl?ciSP€X

':. ';,--'*i"i r-

. | .i ..1 .,'r'f ,'1,', "" i :.

..t ,/ \. , | .j ,'... i .

-.;'':- ! ;-" "'/ ; ,t':'- .- ''/.....'; -- .: i

PRssAe ett,lAf

Rating Car Shou'. lllustration o/ Club Stand h) Terr.y O'Neill.

34

International Motor Racingand Sports Car Show 1970

This month we are tackling by far our most ambitiousventure as a club, and that is a club stand at theRacing and Sports Car Show being staged at the

Exhibition Buildings.

The International Racing and Sports Car Showfrom the l2th to the 20th of June gave our club the

opportunity to promote itself to the sports car publicand also to locate parts and cars as well as enrol new

members. THe Austin Healey Owners Club standconsisted of an area of400 square feet on which was

displayed the President's (Jim Reddy) BNI Con-cour's-winning car. The Treasurer had on display his

100/6 set up in racing trim with aero screen and

numbers on the door etc. Also on display was an

engine and gearbox displayed by David Stuckey.

Decoration on the stand consisted mainly ofphotos of Healeys supplied by David Rapley and

sketches and descriptive boards on Healeys drawn byTerry O'Neill. Terry actually set out the stand and itlooked very good. Jim Reddy's BNI looked like ithad just come off the showroom floor and it attracteda lot of praise. Graeme Rogers'racing 100/6 was afavourite with all the budding John Chathams and

Ross Bonds. If everyone who took a membershipform joins the club then we should have close to 20

new members.

Donald Healey Visit 1977In late 1976 a group of members of the Victorian clubfelt it was possible for the Club to organise a visit toAustralia by the founder of the Marque, DonaldHealey.

After many months work and organization thevisit took place during January l9l1 and was held inconjunction with the historic races at Amaroo Parkin Sydney over the Australia Day weekend.

Donald Heale.tvisit 1977

This event was supported by Brents Motors whograciously provided the air fares for Donald's visitand provided the venue for a display of cars at theirOakleigh show rooms.

The visit consisted of a series of events not unlike a

National Rally, these being an official welcome at

Tullamarine on the Wednesday, a B-B-Q lunch at theproperty of ex-100M racer Ken Pitts, at Eltham onthe Saturday followed by an evening party at IanWookey's house.

Sunday evening was a Dinner dance held at theOld Melbourne Motor Inn, where Donald was

staying, and this event saw many people attendingwho were accociated with Healeys in past years.

This event was the Club's first venture into bringingout to Australia one of the Heaiey family, and it was

to prove to be most successful.

All people who took the opportunity to attend thisevent and meet Donald were immpressed by his

willingness to discuss his association with the Marqueand his amazing stamina during the weekend.

One other very important side benefit from thisevent and the.associated publicity was the introduc-tion of many ex-owners to the club, many of whomare still active with the club to this day.

The visit of Donald Healey during January 1977

was certainly a most important achievement for the

Club.

John Grav

The Club Car ProjectDuring the end of 1983 the Club purchased fromBruce Dixon a BNI which was in need of a totalrestoratlon.

The purpose of the restoration was to providefunds for the 1985 National Rally to be held inBallarat.

The restoration proceeded during 1984 under the

guidance of Robbie Rowland and an enthusiasticband of merry men who met each month at BruceDixon Motors in Clavton.

/int Retltlr'.s B,\'I ut tltL' (-lul, Srand

35

("AOADhQ"#A

The Cluh Car Prttietr

The restoration project was assisted by Kilmartinsproviding many of the required parts for the rebuiltchassis and many hours of work on the panels byRobbie and Co., finished off by a paint job by RossMcConnell. The interior was completely done byGary Blackman aiong with the hood and side screens.

During this time the engine was rebuiit by Bruceand a number of keen assistants while the gearboxand overdrive were rebuilt by John Needham. Thecompleted car was displayed at the Victorian HealeyDay at Como Park in 1985 prior to being taken toBallarat where it took pride of place at the Rally.

On the Sunday night Brian Healey drew thewinning ticket from our raffle barrel and MurrayStreeter from the Sydney club became the ecstaticwinner of the fully restored Healey blue BN l.

The project was a great success and provided manymembers with an insight into what Healey restorationis all about.

The club owes a great deal to Robbie Rowland andall the other helpers involved in this most successfulproject.

John Gray

The Classic Car ShowsThe first of the Classic Car Shows was held at theExhibition Buildings in 1985.

The Club's stand was planned and built by IanHatton with the cars of Boyd Fox (BNl), GreigProvan (100i 6), Greg Nicholls (3000 MK2). IanHatton (3000 MK3A) and Morris Rushton (100i S).

The amount of work that Ian put into the standcould only be appreciated by those who saw thedisplay but it was truly magnificent and thoroughlydeserved the award as the best display of 4 cars ormore. As well as this award the car of Greg Nicholiswas also presented with an award for an outstandingvehicle.

The stand attracted a great deal of interest and 17

applications for membership were taken by thosewho manned the stand.

As well as the Healeys on the Club stand the exJack Davey l00iS, until recently owned by RichardRalph, was on dispiay as part of the auction and the

(-ar S,4orr'.r

ex Pat Moss 3000 Rallv car was part of the t'eaturestand.

A great deal of thanks is due to all those whohelped with the stand by officiating or providing carsbut an extra special thanks must go to lan Hatton fora bnlliant job.

Foliowing this success another display was organ-ised for 1986 consisting of the cars of Manfred Knuth,Rod Bennett, lan Mclexman, Chris Coghlin, to-gether with parts of a car provided by Peter Sodaitis.

The reception to this display was again very goodand the show goers spent much time admiring thedisP1a1,.

For 1987 the club displayed the following cars,Joan Kaiser (3000 MK3), Ron Smith (100/6), KenStyles (BNl) and Peter Lewis (100/6V8). Again thereception by the public was excellent and the clubwon another award for the best stand in its class.

Unfortunately the show has been cancelled for1988 but will hopefully be reintroduced for 1989 whenagain the A.H.O.C. will be to the fore.

36

Owners at Inaugural Meetingat Melton - 23rd October,1967

Name Suburb/Town Model Reg.

GGY-057JVB-792HXU.45IGKN-722JNN-34IGHZ.I64HKO-963JV,4.-603GGF-I9IGKE-575HUX-726GVV-284HU5-652JVP-677GHF-583JLW-296GKN-8I7HWH-661GPE-649JOO-139HXJ.888GSW-817JUF-999JKH-470GDW-468JPU-668HTX.357HBM-963HDJ-673HRC-293JMZ-341GMC.519HOH-569GKB-42I

tsiil Cai'twrightJohn CausonGreg ChappleStephen CooperPeter GondonPeter ConstableChris CoughiinTerry CorneliusJim CrozierGary DaviesKeith DibbleJohn DixonGeoff DowdleBrian DunlevieGlenn DraffinJohn DraffinDavid EdgarNoel EganBill ElliottGary ElliottJohn EvansRoger EynaudPeter FazackerleyRoss FisherMax FloreaniTony GardnerRoger GilmoreJohn GoodKim GuestBarry GunstonRoger HaasPaul Hannon

Bob HansenRussell HawkinsRobert HeppellNoel HerrettRobert HeywoodGreg HuckerDavid HunterGordon JonesPeter JuniperRobert KennedyMike KirbyGary KohlmanRay LaceyAndrew LeaDavid LewisTimothy LewisGraham MarshallPeter MaxwellTrevor MawerAndrew MerryJohn MoirJohn MooneyKeith MorcombColin Morris

Paui MosigKen MurieDoug McConnellRoss McConnellJim McConvilleIain McPherson

West MelbourneOak ParkBulleenBrightonSt. Kilda EastPortlandMalvernCorowa (NSW)MalvernDimboolaBeaumarisDoncasterCorowaOakleighClaytonEast DoncasterEssendonNewportStrathmorePakenhamBrightonBox HillAdelaide (SA)Mount WaverleyBendigoPascoe Vale Sth.BalliangNorth BalwynHighettWest HeidelbergEast MalvernKensington Park(S.A,)

Koo Wee RupGlen WaverleyMacleodIvanhoeParkdaleBallaratRingwoodHamptonBallaratEast BentleighCambellfieldHamptonHeidelbergCaulfieldPascoe Vale Sth.Mont Albert Nth.MoorabbinCaulfieldMalvernIvanhoe EastMcKinnonSt. Kilda EastMaidstoneNunawading

WestgarthChadstoneBoortFrankstonWilliamstownKew

GK5.999GKE-549GND-038GHJ-947GFR-907GUZ-549GZS-OO3EEA-999JYR-4OIGZS-248HXA-222HGF-396EWL-146JVA-603JRR-639JHB-330HHD-038HNF-718GGF-I91JCX-7I8JJW-427GPS-502450-859GXU-801GDR-684HUX.126HAF-7IIBNK-547JWF-122GTK-4I1HSC-383

Unreg.Unreg.

GLE-444GVV-284HU5-246GMS-564HZL-IgOJTB-600JWT-344GHF-583HHH.167JDW-919JJF.299GLC-\46ESY-303JLW-296HWH-229JUH-OOOJWT-338JVB-939JNM-123HXJ-888GLP-709GSW-817GUR-338GLC-846JAT-560GPA,O73GMK-704GNY-927GKN-8I7

BNIBNIBN2BNIBNlBNIBN4BN4BJ7BN4BJ7BNlN84BNIBNIBNIBN7BNIBNIBN4BN4BN2BNIBNIBNIBNIBNIBNIBN2BN4BNl

BNIBN4BNIBNIBN4BN4BN2BNlBJ3BN4BNIBNIBN4BN4BNIBNIBN4BNIBNIBNlBNIBN2BNIBNIBN4

BNIBNIBN2BNIBN2BNI

David Alexander Caulfield BNIGeoff Berry Mulgrave BNIJohn Boag West Brunswick BNIRoss Blackwell Surrey Hills BNIBrian Broadbent Bendigo BNIDavid Campbell Bacchus Marsh BNISteve Crossley Glen Iris BNIBrian Dunlevie South Oakleigh BNIBill Eiliott Essendon BNIGraeme Elliott Bendigo BNITony Gardner Pascoe Vale Sth. BNINoel Herrett Ivanhoe BN4Keith Jolley Ballarat BJ1

Peter Juniper Ballarat BNIRobert Kennedy East Bentleigh BNITim Lewis Nth. Mont Albert BN4Iain McPherson Kew BNIGraham Marshall Moorabbin BNIRob Moffat West Brunswick BN2Bruce Montagnant Pascoe Vale Sth. BN4John Mooney East St. Kilda BNIColin Morris Nunawading BN4Geoff Petty Geelong BJ8Ian Prain Malvern BN1

Bill Polley McKinnon BNIDavid Rapley Mitcham BN4Graeme Rogers Ballarat BN4Peter Smith Seaford BN4Colin Thomas East Malvern BN4Blake Thompson Ringwood BNIKen Wade Bendigo BNIRoy White Murrumbeena BN2Peter Young Ballan BN7Hoost Not Known BNI

Owners Without Their Cars

Gary ElliotJohn EvansRoss FisherBob Hansen

PakenhamEssendonMt. WaverleyKoo Wee Rup

BN4 JCX-7I8BN4 JJW-427BNl GXU-8OIBN4 HXL.863

Foundation MembersName Suburb/Town

David Alexander CaulfieldBob Allison WindsorPeter Ashford BalwynRussell Barty South YarraIan Beattie ChadstoneBruce Beaumont RosannaGeoffrey Berry MulgraveRoss Blackwell . Surrey HillsWarrick Blackwell Box Hill SouthJohn Boag West BrunswickMilada Boublik FrankstonRod Boyle West HeidelbergBarry Buxton BlackburnGene Canner Essendon

Model Reg.

BNI GGY-057BNI GJA-OsIBN GLA-337BN2 GMD-36IBN4 GTS-284BN4 HUS-246BNI JVB-792BNI GKN-722BNI JWK-551BNI HXU-45IBNI GKA-259BN4 GTS-sOOBNI GLY-33IBNI JXD-6I6

37

Foundation

Phil NuskeJohn O'DowdDavid PattersonRobert PawleyDavid PeardonEdward PerryGeoff PettyBill PolleyIan PrainBryant PridgeonAlan RamageDavid RapleyJim ReddyKarl ReynoldsAub RickardGraeme RogersMichael RosebyIan RossJohn RuddAlex SchifferBob SchmidtWayne SchniederJim SharpeTim SheridanPeter SmithBryan SmithersGeoff StephenJohn StephensMichael StricklandDavid StuckeyFrank SweeneyColin ThomasRichard ThompsonToine TurnerIan VirgoArnis VolfsbergsRoy WhiteJohn WillmanRoss WilliamsPeter Yoiung

Members

DimboolaBrightonMooroolbarkBrunswickMerinoPoint CookGeelong WestMcKinnonMalvernNhillSt. KildaMitchamFrankstonBuninyongSpringvaleBurwoodToorakBrighton EastKatamatiteGreensboroughAlbury (N.S.W.)DimboolaArmadaleBrightonSeafordLalorTrafalgarBalwyn NorthHighettKewBroadmeadowsMalvern EastBrighton NorthSouth YarraGardenvaleBrunswick WestMurrumbeenaBendigoHawthornBallan

BN2 GMP-494BNI HWH-66IBNl GFX.672BNI GGM-579BN4 HMF-221BNI DMU-58CBJ8 JUF-999BNI GDW-468BNI JKH.47OBN2 GMY-I31BNI HLB-540BN4 JPU.668BNI Unreg.BNI GTK-787BNI GHN-I5IBN4 HTX-357BNI GNF.3O6BNI GFZ-88IBN4 HAY-543r00i s GKE-008BNI EUG.7O9BNI GJH-373BNI .IDC-625BNI Unreg.BN4 HBM-963BNI JWL-254BN4 HJE-022BNI GKA-554BNI JWZ_986BNI COZ.369BNI .ILF-597BN4 HDJ-673BNI GLC-680BNI GEZ-222BNI HWB-760BNI HNS-I32BN2 GM-5I9BNI JMZ-341BN4 GYM-312BN7 HOH-569

PresidentsFounding President

David Rapley lst December 196l to 25th March 1969

John Causon 25th March 1969 to September 1969

Jim Reddy October 1969 to December 1970

Alex Reid January 1970 to January l97lJim Reddy January l9ll Io March 1973

Iain McPherson March 1973 to March 1974

Ed Jensz March 1974 to December 1974

lan Wookey January 1975 to December 1975

Ed Jensz January 1976 to December 1976

Pete Davies January 1911 to December 1977

Terry Wade January 1978 to December 1980

Harvey Lewis January l98l to December 1982

Rob Rowland January 1983 to December 1983

John Gray January 1984 to December 1985

Howard James Januarv 1986 to December 1987

SecretariesIain McPherson lst December 1967 to February 1970Terry Wade March l9l0 to January 1972Ed Jensz January 1972 Io March 1974Steve Pike March 1974 to December 1974John Wilson January 1975 to December 1975Jim McConville January 1976 to December 1977Ed Jensz January 1978 to December 1979Harvey Lewis January 1980 to December 1980Laurie Trickey January 1981 to December 1983Chris Couglin January 1984 to December 1987

TreasurersJeff Berry lst December 1967 to October 1968John Causon November 1968 to March 1969Graham Rogers March 1969 to August 1971

Steve Pike August l97l to March 1973Mike Holloway March 1973 to March 1974Graeme Marks March 1914ro December 1974Bruce McGorlick January 1975 to December 1975Steve Pike January 1916Io December 1976David Biner January 1977 to December 1977Peter Gunston January 1978 to December 1978Bob Foster January l9l9 to December l98lEd Jensz January 1982 to December 1983Ross McKinnon January 1984 to December 1985Ken Styies January 1984 to December 1987

Editors1968 Iain McPherson/Graeme Rogers1969 lain McPherson/Graeme Rogersl9l0 Terry Wade/David Stuckeyl97l Terry Wade1972 Terry Wade1913 Terry Wade1914 Margaret Ashton1975 lain McPherson19"16 Terry Wade197"7 Vicki Wookey/Alex Reid1978 Stan Griffith1979 Graham Malcolm1980 GrahamMalcolm/IainMcPhersonl98l Terry Wade/Iain McPherson1982 Graham Malcolm1983 Lyn Williams1984 Howard James1985 Howard James1986 Jan Miller1987 Suellen Gray1988 Suellen Grav

38

GAOADtQ"#\

Championship lVinnersDuring the inaugural year it was decided that insteadoftrying to "rustle" up a trophy for each event, or notgiving one at all, a Club Championship would be run.Points were allocated to members competing in clubevents throughout the year to establish a ClubChampion for the year. This was subsequently givenfurther thought and it was decided to hold twodifferent championships to encourage two differenttypes of members to participate in club activities.

Over the years the formulas used to allocate thepoints towards the championships have varied, butthe basic principles have remained the same.

In 1983 it was decided that separate trophiesshould be awarded to the ladies who took an activepart in the club activities.

Competition ClubYear Championship Championship

1969 Jim McConville Graeme Rogers1979 Ed Jensz Warwick Gunther1971 Jim Reddy Alan Ashton1972 Jim Reddy Bernie Bisseling1973 Jim McConville Jim McConville1974 Ian Wookey Ed Jensz

Stuart Powell1975 Stuart Powell Stuart Powell1976 Robbie Rowland Denis Varley1977 Stuart Powell Ross Hodges1978 - Denis Varley1919 David Madrers Terry Wade1980 Rob Congdon Greg Kilmartinl98l Greg Kilmartin Greg Kilmartin1982 Robbie Rowland John Gray1983 Robbie Rowland John Gray

Rosemary Rowland Suellen Gray1984 John Gray John Gray

Rosemary Rowland1985 Ron Smith Ron Smith

Mick Smith Mick Smith1986 Howard James Howard James

Maressa Zylstra Sandra Jamesl98l Harvey Lewis Howard James

Enid Nankervis Sandra James

Executive Committee 1988PresidentJohn Gray1046 Toorak Rd.,CAMBERWELL 3124299 2248 H.

Vice PresidentGraeme Moloney,3 Ruskin Close,TEMPLESTOWE 3106

842 6067 H.

EditorSuellen Gray,1046 Toorak Rd.,CAMBERWELL3124299 2248 H.

CommitteeJohn Hope,19 Epping St.,MALVERN EAST 3145

2n 3020 H.

Committee/RTA PermitsRoss Chilianis,35 Derinya Drive,FRANKSTON 3199781 2528 H.557 8088 B.

National Rally Del.Rob Rowland,105 Whittens Lane,DONCASTER 3IO8

842 1142 H.

Spare PartsRob Rowland,105 Whittens Lane,DONCASTER 3IO8

848 n42 H.

Assist. Comp. SecretaryHerbert Kaiser,80 Bradleys Lane,WARRANDYTE 3113

844 2004 H.

CAMS DelegateDavid'Coulter,16 Park St.,FITZROY NTH.3065481 7511 H.

RegistrarIain McPherson,8 Kathleen Grove,BULLEEN 3IO5850 3261 H.

1988 Birthday CommitteeAlex Reid,14 May St.,GARDENVALE 3185596 62s2 H.

Membership SecretaryMarg. Moloney,3 Ruskin Close,TEMPLESTOWE 3106842 6067 H.

SecretaryHarvey Lewis,38 The Greenway,HEATHMONT 3135

729 4818 H.

TreasurerKen Styles,34 Lechte St.,MT. WAVERLEY 3149233 4571H.

Property OfficerGary Blackman,10 Calista Ave.,NTH, CLAYTON 3168

544 5146 H.

Social SecretaryBarb Meredith,42Warcingah Cresc.,ELTHAM 3095439 9039 H.

Competition SecretaryJohn Hope,19 Epping St.,MALVERN EAST 3I452lt 3020 H.

M.S.C.A. DelegateDavid Coulter,16 Park St.,FITZROY NTH. 3065481 75ll H.

Assist. Spare PartsBruce Dixon,I Worthing Crt.,MULGRAVE 3I7O560 0785 H.

Assist. Comp. SecretaryDavid Coulter,16 Park St.,FITZROY NTH. 3065481 75ll H.

LibrarianMaressa Zylstra,105 Whittens Lane,DONCASTER 3IO8848 |42 H.

39

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