Octagon Sept 2017

Official Journal of the MG Car Club of Queensland Inc. 

ctagon 

The 

No. 5 September 2017 

The 2017 contingent of ‘That Lot” take a break and give Wayne a chance to 

check his TF for oil leaks. (Read the full story inside, page 52) 

The Octagon - September 2017 1

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 

Name Phone Mobile Email 

PRESIDENT 

Richard Mattea (Carly) 3325 0409 0488 224 105 richard.mattea@yahoo.com 

VICE PRESIDENT 

Ken Wasley (Barbara) 3378 6202 0423 152 723 wasmg11@gmail.com 

SECRETARY 

Malcolm Spiden 3266 6350 spidenm@yahoo.com.au 

TREASURER 

Carly Mattea (Richard) 3325 0409 0410 310 452 moffmat@bigpond.com 

COMMITTEE 

Don Webster (Ann) 3379 2566 0439 526 060 donweb@bigpond.net.au 

Dean Tighe 0419 774 441 sales@tighecams.com.au 

Flavio Paggiaro (Sue) 0412 985 916 admin@kellands.com.au 

OFFICIALS 

Position Name Phone Position Name Phone 

Event Secretary Fred Sayers 3359 2623 

Annette Truscott 0407 494 867 

Ev. Sec. Asst. David Robinson 3255 9037 

Richard Mattea 3325 0409 

CAMS Delegate Gary Goulding 3351 3506 

(Alternative) Ann Thompson 3378 1368 

Chaplain Ken Trudgian 3886 3409 

Club Captain Don Webster 3379 2566 

Canteen Convener (Mt C) Vacant 

Special Interest Vehicle Paul Strange 3398 1993 

Concession Contract pstrange@bigpond.com 

Webmistress Glenda Crew 3341 4397 

Clubrooms Max Johnson 3201 5836 

Regalia Shaun Rankin 0402 450 290 

Library David Robinson 3255 9037 

Point Score Ian Fettes 3803 3858 

Membership Sec. Peter Rayment (Delia) 0407 693 947 

National Meeting Noeline Johnson 0437 220 602 

Co-ordinator 

nlj52@bigpond.com 

Chapter Liaison David Miles 3892 2699 

Far Nth Qld Chapter John Fransen 0448 658 830 

Wide Bay Chapter David Hall 0490 363 889 

Bundaberg & Dist Chapter Eric Beckmann 41529206 

Darling Downs Chapter Gary Lawrence 4696 8314 

Capricorn Chapter Gurney Clamp 4939 4760 

Whitsundays Chapter Cathie Meredith 0427 392 829 

Octagon Editor Elaine Hamilton 3893 2438 0418 870 782 vprojects@internode.on.net 

All enquiries to the secretary: 

Headquarters: 8/16 Collinsvale Street, Rocklea 

C/o GPO Box 1847 Brisbane 4001 

E & OE Hillclimb: Gramzow Road, Mt Cotton 

The opinion of the editor, correspondents and advertisers expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the management 

committee of the MG Car Club of Queensland Inc. and as such the club accepts no responsibility. Published six times a year members 

personal advertisements are free. Club constitution available in clubrooms. Copyright 2013 MGCCQ. 

2 

The Octagon -September 2017

President’s Report 

We have had a calendar full of activities 

again during the past few months. Lot 

of social runs, competitive events and 

social gatherings at the clubrooms and the 

Chapters. It’s always great to see and hear 

of members getting out and enjoying their 

cars and the company of their 

fellow members. 

One of the most recent highlights for me was 

the involvement of MG cars and the MG Car 

Club in this year’s Ekka. The Club, through 

the generosity of several of its members, 

ensured that Brisbane MG’s sponsorship of 

the nightly fireworks was a great success. 

The Club’s participation allowed us to 

distribute information about the Club and its 

activities; hopefully this will lead to a number 

of new members. Congratulations to Ken 

Wasley for organising the event. 

All British Day will have come and gone for 

2017 by the time you are reading this. Let’s 

hope the weather gods have been kinder to 

us than last year. This should be a fairly safe 

bet given how dry it has been this winter, but 

the rain always seems to come at a time to 

cause strife. 

Events at Mt Cotton continue to supply 

a great weekend out for competitors and 

spectators alike. In recent times competitors 

have received typically 10 runs over the one 

and a half day’s competition. The recent Test 

‘n’ Tune hillclimb produced one new hillclimb 

special which will hopefully become a regular 

participant in 2018. Rumour also has it that 

a new turbocharged rotary engine hillclimb 

special should be making its debut shortly. 

The plans continue for the 50th Anniversary 

of the Mt Cotton Hillclimb, what a remarkable 

achievement for our Club. Plans are also 

well underway for the 2019 MG National 

Meeting under the guidance of Delia and 

Peter Rayment. With so many years of 

National Meeting experience between the 

two I’m sure it will be memorable event. 

Thank to Elaine Hamilton and Delia and 

Peter for taking on these important tasks on 

behalf of the Club. 

The Club will be hosting the 6th round of this 

year’s Interclub Challenge. The Porsche 

Club looks to have a pretty stronghold on 

this year’s trophy with a strong lead over the 

BMW Club while we’re back in 5th place but 

we have missed two of the rounds due to 

other commitments. Interestingly when we 

do manage to get a team together we do very 

well with a 1st, 2nd and 5th place (out of 14 

clubs), so well done to all of those who 

have participated. 

I fear that once again after this year’s AGM 

the committee will still be a few members 

down. We meet once a month at the 

clubrooms and do our best to ensure that the 

needs of members are being met and the 

club remains on a solid financial foundation. 

We would really welcome a new face or two. 

To end this report, I would once again 

like to thank all of those members and 

club supporters who have helped out in 

recent months when the call has gone out. 

Remember this is your Club and to continue 

to survive and grow we need input and 

support from all. 

- Richard Mattea 

Ross Kelly 3352 4151 

0407 364 543 

MG ZR, ZS, ZT Ken Wasley 0423 15 27 23 


Some words from Elaine 

Be prepared for something/s a little different 

inside this Octagon! 

For one, we have not one but two Letters to 

the Editor (why do people so rarely write to 

me??) - one of them long enough to become 

an article in its own right. 

It is a thank you letter from one of our hillclimb 

officials who undertook some fundraising for 

a good cause and wrote to tell us the bigger 

story and to show us how we were ‘with her’ 

all the way. 

the translation. You will notice that Wayne 

Kirwan’s MG has made the cover twice in 

quick succession. You will have to read the 

cover caption and their ‘blog’ story to find out 

why! 

Those of you who have ever set a Club run 

will certainly appreciate Gary Duncan’s report 

in the new Bundaberg and District Chapter’s 

contribution to their Chapter report -- instead 

of reports of weather and morning tea, you’ll 

find a box of chocolates waiting for you. Thank 

you, Gary -- and more please!! 

Secondly, there is no hillclimb report - this 

may be a record but it is simply a result of 

the programming of events and Octagons 

which left us with no event on which to report. 

However, this has allowed us to catch up 

on results and reports of a range of other 

competition events. 

Denis Thomas has provided his contribution to 

the ‘Stories from the Stables’ feature and what 

an original idea he and Daffy Duck came up 

with to put a different and very creative twist 

to story telling. Don’t miss it and, if you know 

the answer to some of the questions posed, 

please make sure you let them know. 

Another original method of story telling was 

employed by ‘That Lot’, a group of Central 

Queenslanders, who headed off to the 

National Meeting together earlier this year and 

wrote a daily blog recording their travels and 

then, when looking for something else to do, 

introduced a unique form of ‘sponsorship’ into 

their writing. 

To save you from reading their travels in 

reverse ... as this is how a blog ends up ... I 

have done my best to rearrange their entries 

into a more appropriate chronological order 

and hope that nothing has been changed in 

And ‘more please’ to Robert Martin who has 

once again brought a smile to my face as I 

typed up his rhyming and rhythmic verses. 

Please don’t let me be the only one telling him 

how enjoyable they are. 

This time he has even gone the extra step -- 

yes, OK, under a bit of gentle duress from me 

-- of providing his own illustration. 

With the calendar of coming events shrinking 

in size as the year rolls on, not as much space 

is needed for the centre calendar lift-out so 

there has been room to include a Regalia 

Order form for those of you wanting to get in 

early to do some of your special Christmas 

shopping. 

And, just to make the end of the year come 

even closer, I need to remind you that the next 

Octagon is the November one with a cut off 

date of the end of October for contributions. 

After reading some of the original material in 

this one, hopefully there will be others of you 

inspired to come up with your own original 

contributions - or maybe even a letter to 

the editor or something visual -- a puzzle, a 

cartoon, a visual depiction of a Club event??? 

Off you go... 

4 


Notice Board 

The Clubrooms are open on the first and third Friday nights of each month with hot food starting at 6.30 

pm priced as low as $3. The goal will continue to be to have something special happening on the first 

Friday of each month. Your suggestions are welcomed. 

Working bees are held at the hillclimb on most Wednesdays and are therefore not listed below. For 

further information, contact Malcolm Spiden. 

(P) indicates that the event is pointscoring for Club trophies. The rules for pointscoring for trophies can 

be found on the News page of the Club website. The pointscore is updated throughout the year by Ian 

Fettes so you can see how competitive you are. Please contact Ian with any queries you may have. 

Please consult the online calendar for any update and also for Chapter events to which all members 

are always invited. You will also find that motorsport events promoted by other clubs and also events in 

regional areas are listed in our online calendar. 

OCTOBER 

6 Fri Noggin ‘n’ Natter at the clubrooms 

15 Sun HSCCQ Motorkhana at Driver Training 

Centre, Willowbank (P) 

20 Fri Noggin ‘n’ Natter at the Clubrooms 

25 Wed MGCCQ - Midweek run organised by David 

and Meryl Miles 

NOVEMBER 


2/3 Sat/Sun CAMS State Championship races Round 3 

(P) at Morgan Park 

12 Sun Rd 9 of the Interclub Championship - 

HSCCQ Khanacross at Driver Training 

Centre Willowbank (P) 


22 Wed MGCCQ - MidweekChristmas run to 

Redland Bay Golf Club (Organised by Bruce 

Ibbotson). The start point is Springfield 

Lakes UDB ref: 237 E 19 at 9.00 for Morning 

tea with departure on run at 10am for Lunch 

at the ‘Redland Bay Golf Club’ at about noon. 

25/26 Sat/Sun Mt Cotton Hillclimb series Rd 6 (P) 

DECEMBER 

1 Fri Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

8 Fri Presentation of hillclimb series trophies 

New members 

We welcome the following new members and 

wish them a long and happy association with 

the Club. 

Ian Finglas 

Ian Gilmour 

Roxanne Gilmour 

Trevor Pewson 

John Tyson 

Barry Niland 

David Bradbury 

Dilys Bradbury 

10 Sun Christmas party at the clubrooms 


Bits’n’Pieces 

It is not unusual for the Club to get requests regarding the use of an MG for a special event 

but there have been a spate of them lately and members from our Club have readily put 

their hands up to help. The requests and those who have gone out of their way to help are: 

1. Red MGB Roadster needed for wedding -- Thank you to Robert Jones who has offered 

to help with this request. 

2. Request for assistance with celebrating an 80th birthday -- Thank you to Ian Kirkpatrick 

who helped with this celebration. 

3. Request for MGs at the EKKA -- Brisbane MG requested a T type for display for the 

duration of the Ekka and also an MGB for transporting Costa from ‘Gardening Australia’ in 

the Grand Parade on Ekka Wednesday. 

Thank you to Dick Sorensen whose TC 

(pictured) was on display in the MG Motor 

area for the whole of the show and to Craig 

Beaven whose MGB was used in the grand 

parade on Wed and carried Costa from the 

ABCs Gardening Show chauffeured by Ken 

Wasley. 

Costa from Gardening Australia on the 

Grand Parade in (maybe ‘on’) Craig 

Beaven’s B. 

Thanks go also to Ken Wasley for 

organising all the cars and for taking care of 

Craig’s B was he was away overseas. 

6 

The Octagon -September 2017 

Thanks also to Pauline Graham for the 

promotional material on the Club and 

children’s activity sheet she created as 

part of the display.

An artist’s view of the Brisbane MG display near the Old Museum 

Rebirth of the T-Series Register 

Expressions of interest are sought from 

members who are T-type owners willing to 

re-establish a register of cars whether they 

be going or not. Could owners of T types 

contact one of the people below with their 

intention to participate. They will then be 

sent a short questionnaire asking for contact 

details and details of their cars. After that, 

who knows? 

Don Webster donweb@bigpond.net.au 

3379 2566 0439 526 060 

Terry Jones terry.50.j@gmail.com 

3288 2739 0417 789 709 

CAN YOU HELP? Pictured is Brian Tebble in 

action at the first hillclimb held at Mt Cotton 

on 18 Feb 1968. With the 50th anniversary 

of that event being celebrated next year 

we’d love to see this car there BUT we don’t 

know where it is. Do you? This TD was 

Brian’s pride and joy and was affectionately 

known as Gertie. About 9 years ago, 

Brian’s nephew, MGCCQ member Andrew 

Willesden, chanced across the person 

who had Gertie and was restoring her but 

the contact details have not survived the 

years. We are hoping that someone reading 

this will know of Gertie and her current 

whereabouts. If you can help, please email 

Elaine Hamilton at zzehamil@gmail.com. 


If Gertie can be found 

and we can get her 

to the hillclimb for the 

birthday celebrations 

next year, she will join 

at least three other cars 

which competed in that 

significant event. 

Gertie achieved fame 

and her driver, Leonard 

Teale - well known actor 

in the 60s - achieved a 

degree of infamy with his 

skill at damaging cars 

which he was given to 

drive at Mt Cotton. He is 

seen here inspecting the 

damage he inflicted on 

Gertie on one of his visits 

to Mt Cotton. 

Pictured is the car which won that first event at Mt Cotton - Ray Jorgensen’s RJ1 - which has 

been faithfully restored and ran at Leyburn in August. It is pictured here in Feb 1968 and as 

it is now. 

Meantime, Peter 

Rayment (pictured), - 

the current owner of 

the the Cooper Ford 

which was run in the 

inaugural hillclimb at Mt 

Cotton in Feb 68 by Tim 

Harlock - is busy getting 

it ready for its return to 

Mt Cotton at the 50th 

anniversary day at the 

hillclimb next Feb. 

8 


During Andrew and Michelle Lake’s recent hike across England, apart from seeing mostly MGBs in various states 

of repair, at a remote café in the Yorkshire Dales they saw these perfect examples of British motoring. They are 

(L-R) • Thunderbird, Jaguar XK120, Riley ???, MGB, MGB GT, MGA, all in near concours condition. The MGB had 

overheated and the driver said he didn’t how we can make them run in Australia! 

LOST MG 

poem and artwork by Robert Martin 

Off on a holiday 

We went on a spree 

Just the Missus and I 

Myself and me 

Longreach our destination 

Jumped on the train 

To a place way out West 

With no drizzle or rain 

While walking in bushland 

I spied from afar 

The outline of something 

That looked like a car 

On closer inspection 

You’d tell at a glance 

This rusty old girl 

Had had her last dance 

With most of it missing 

I noted with glee 

VIN plate Made in England 

The Company, MG. 

The wiring was shot 

I can only stress 

was powered by Lucas 

Prince of Darkness 

How did it get here 

No record will show 

But MGs never die 

As most of you know! 

Letter to the Editor 

(Ed) Those of you not in the Brisbane area 

would not be aware that the Club had a 

number of requests come in at about the 

same time for people to offer the use of their 

MG for a special use. One was for cars for 

BrisbaneMG (the sellers of the new modern 

MGs) to use at the Exhibition, one was for 

use at a wedding and the one below, where 

the family of a lady celebrating her 80th 

birthday wanted to do something special for 

her and that was having her driven to her 

special birthday function in an MG and Ian 

Fitzpatrick obliged with that one. The lady’s 

son, James, sent this email of thanks along 

with photos of the occasion. Photos of the 

wedding should be coming and will be in the 

next Octagon and photos of the Exhibition 

are in the Bits and Pieces section of this 

issue. 

Good Evening Elaine, 

Please see attached a couple of pics of my 

mum, young Ian (Ian Fitzpatrick) and his 

AWESOME MG. Please pass on my and my 

family’s BIG THANK YOU, and GRATITUDE 

for Ian’s remarkable friendship, enthusiasm, 

caring, understanding, easy going nature, 

and MOST of ALL for being the person he 

is a - TRUE GENTLEMAN. He truly made 

mums 80 th BIRTHDAY more SPECIAL than 

I or my family could ever have dreamed/ 

asked for. THANK YOU IAN. 

Sincerely Thank You 

James Wall and Family 


10 


Easter 2019 

by Delia Rayment, Event Director 

peterrayment@bigpond.com 

Mark this date on your calendar as the 

MG event to go to and it will be held at 

Redlands, Queensland. 

The Australian Golden Jubilee MG National 

Meeting will be hosted by the MG Car Club 

of Queensland Inc. in the city of Redlands, 

overlooking beautiful Moreton Bay, during 

Easter 2019. 

The quiet little villages with the lure of the 

bay islands offshore should attract entrants 

not only to attend this National Meeting 

but also to take a holiday whilst there. The 

Redlands City Council are excited that we 

are coming and are working positively with 

the Club to make this weekend an enjoyable 

and memorable one for all. 

Good Friday is Registration Day and 

registration will be held in cordial 

surroundings where you can collect your 

regalia,confirm your registration, enter your 

photographs for the photo competition etc. 

Please note attendees have to pre-register 

for the National Meeting with registration 

cutting off about a month before the event. 

The Concours is held on Easter Saturday 

and will be a spectacle with as many models 

of MGs as possible up to present day 

taking part. 

Utilization of our Club’s Mt Cotton Hillclimb 

for the Speed Event during the National 

Meeting will also prove a drawcard for 

long time entrants to this event. Some 

of the entrants will have been going to 

these meetings for many of the 50 years. 

They surely have some tales to tell about 

MG motoring. Come and meet some of 

the characters. Besides MG owners from 

interstate we will be expecting overseas 

visitors as well to attend. 

The Theme Night on Easter Saturday looks 

like being a fun time – without giving away 

too much at this stage. 

Other interesting events being held during 

the week-end are Motorkhanas, Observation 

Runs, Social Runs and the Traditional 

Kimber Run. You can be as competitive or 

laid back as you like. 

The Gala Dinner on Monday night is for the 

presention of trophies with prize winners 

treading the red carpet to receive their 

trophies for participation and success in the 

events held over the weekend. 

The Farewell Breakfast on Easter Tuesday 

will not see you leaving this National 

Meeting hungry as you meet together to say 

good bye to old and new friends. 

Come and enjoy the Marque of Friendship. 

An organising committee has been formed 

and they are looking forward to planning 

a traditional National Meeting for all who 

attend over the whole of Easter 2019. 

They are presently working on tasks that 

have to be done before Easter 2018 when 

representatives of our Club will be in 

Tasmania to “sell” our 2019 event to the 

MG fraternity. 

To make this event enjoyable, viable and 

successful we need you, OUR members, 

to support this important Event. Start 

planning now. Details of block bookings 

of accommodation could be in the next 

magazine, though, with the event right on 

their ‘doorstep’, Brisbanites will have the 

rare opportunity to choose to stay in their 

own homes for the duration of a National 

Meeting. 


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12 


August Club Runs 

Breakfast run - August 6 - by Don Webster 

Eleven members and three guests left Narangba at 

the appointed time for our run to Sea, Salt and Vine 

at Scarborough for breakfast whilst four members 

went directly there. We travelled in a roundabout 

way passing through Newport Waterways. 

When we arrived the staff had set up a long table 

for our group and everybody ordered their meals. 

As is normal for these events there was the usual 

amount of chatter and catching up to be done. 

An MG quiz was handed out to members with ten 

questions regarding MG and some of its history. 

This was won by Don Webster who received a prize 

of some car polish and cloths. 

Attendees were: 

Don & Ann Webster TD 

Alex Cairney 

MGB 

Allan Tebbutt 

MGB 

Aubrey Ross 

MGA 

Ian & Kay Wells 

Jensen Healey 

Neil & Joanne McCorkindale MGTF 

Errol & Wendy Hoger MG B 

Greg & Rhonda Hannant 

Richard Higgs 

MGA 

Graham Barringer 

MGB 

Jason Higgs & daughter(guests) Torana SS Papaya 

Midweek run - August 23 by Jeff Heslewood 

Once again we were treated to a fine morning as 33 

participants in 21 cars including 10 MGs set off from 

Springfield Lakes. Bruce and Tip were celebrating 

their anniversary and it was also Bruce’s birthday. 

Ian & Kay Wells had their Jensen Healey back on 

the road after a few “issues” which started with a 

wiring harness fire on one of our overnight runs last 

year. Terry and Lynn Jones brought up the rear as 

they were running in a rebuilt engine and gearbox in 

their very original looking MGTC. Personally I prefer 

a well presented original “T” type to a “concours” 

version. 

The countryside was very brown after the dry winter 

and a few morning frosts, but driving conditions 

were ideal as we headed out along Ipswich Boonah 

Rd then turned back to cross the Cunningham 

Highway and onto a really enjoyable driving section 

through the locality of Coleyville. We then turned 

into Rosewood-Warrill View Rd which took us all the 

way to our morning tea destination of Rosewood, 

as Greg Hannant pointed out, without one traffic 

light. The food van at Johnston Park did very nicely, 

with Denis Thomas needing assistance to carry his 

goodies away. 

The next stage took us through Grandchester and 

on to Laidley before crossing over the Warrego 

Highway at Plainland and passing through the very 

scenic farming community of Brightview. It was then 

on to Lowood and the always enjoyable drive along 

Glamorgan Vale Road. 

We made our way back to the Warrego Highway via 

Brisbane Valley Road, turning off onto the winding 

and quite hilly Kholo Road. The final section 

was along the very scenic rural residential Lake 

Manchester Road to Colleges Crossing. 

The Ipswich Council has done a wonderful job of 

rebuilding the picnic area after the 2011 floods, 

and I am sure everyone was impressed with the 

facilities and enjoyed our lunch stop. 

While we were there, the Police arrived and cast a 

very appreciative eye over the MGs , saying they 

wished they could own one. As usual it was a 

successful and enjoyable run, and we can now look 

forward to Denis Thomas’s overnighter to Warwick. 

Participants were: 

Jeff & Pat Heslewood 

Greg & Rhonda Hannant 

Trevor & Joy Jones 

Denis Thomas 

Bruce Mutch 

Bruce Bayliss 

Bruce & Tip Ibbotson 

David Miles 

Alex Cairney 

Ian & Kay Wells 

Robyn Jewrey 

John & Glen Boyce 

Terry & Lynn Jones 

Errol & Wendy Hoger 

Dane & Kerry Horgan 

Val Horgan 

John & Pat Walker 

David & Ann Ferro 

Jan Burke 

T Pelson & S Panucco 

Subaru WRX 

BMW 

MGA 

MGB 

SUV 

Fairlane 

BMW 

MGBGT 

MGB 

Jensen Healey 

Honda 

MGF 

Mg TC 

MGB 

LaMborGhini 

MX5 

MGA 

MGB 

MG 

Audi 


The BIG Y - everyone celebrates 

14 


July Club Runs 

July Midweek Run by Errol Hoger 

Our Starting Point, Logan River Parklands, looked 

to be in great shape after the recent floods and the 

day was a typical mid winter Brisbane day. 

26 cars and 41 Members and Guests signed in for 

the run with 13 cars being MGs . 

The run to morning tea at Wyaralong Dam took us 

through Logan Village and down Camp Cable Road 

where we turned off passing through Mundoolan 

and Versdale Scrub on roads that we had not 

travelled before. 

We bypassed Beaudesert and cut through 

Bromelton on our way to the dam for morning tea. 

Heading for lunch at Mt. Alford we cut across to 

Kalbar via Teviotville, again the country side was 

looking grand. 

Dave at the Mt. Alford Hotel looked after us and the 

food was excellent and plenty of it. I would say a 

great day all round. 

Some Cattle History of the Mt Alford District by 

Bruce Mutch 

When Captain Philip came to Australia in 1788 

he brought British cattle . These were Shorthorn, 

Hereford and Angus (Bos Tarus) temperate and 

cold climate cattle. They spread through out Aust - 

Shorthorn in the North, Hereford and Angus in the 

Southern areas. In early 1900s the dreaded Cattle 

Tick from NT (ex SE Asia ) came into Qld bringing 

the disease “Red Water” with disastrous results . 

Cattle had to be plunge dipped every three weeks 

to try to control it. 

All cattle had to be vaccinated with “Hot Blood” 

to control the Red Water problem. There was a 

problem with Tickcides, Arsenic, Buracatox, Rucide 

etc which would break down and then the ticks 

became resistant to them . Mt Alford was a problem 

District as were many in coastal areas of Qld. The 

problem was solved in the 1970’s when Brahman 

cattle (Bos Indicus} were introduced and crossed 

with British Breed cattle. They did not carry ticks 

and were tolerant to Red Water. 

On the run today through the district we saw NO 

British Breed cattle only Crossbred sleek coated 

stock - Droughtmaster , Braford, Santa Gertrudis, 

Charbray and Brangus all short coated cattle that 

do well in the area. A great run through some 

beautiful country . 

Many Thanks to Errol and Wendy for organising 

the run.. 

Participants were: 

Errol & Wendy Hoger MGB 

Ray & Sue Edwards Outlander 

Jeff & Pat Heslewood WRX 

Denis Thomas 

MGB 

Trevor & Joy Jones Camiro 

Brian Humble 

MGBGT 

Val Horgan 

MX5 

Kerry & Dane Horgan Mustang 

Rob GranT MG 6 

Paul Hartley & Linda Blackburn MGA 

Trevor Penson & Sue Panuceli Audi 

David & Mery Miles MG Magnette 

Geoff Messer 

MGB 

Neil Summerson 

Toyota 

Bruce Mutch 

Forester 

John & Tricia Cranley NSX 

Greg & Rhonda Hannant BMW 

Neil & Kate Robson MGF 

John & Glen Boyce MGF 

Barry Lutwyche 

MGB 

Jan Bourke 

MGB 

John Davidson 

MGB GT 

Alan & Joyce Tebbutt Audi 

Robyn Jenvey & Randall Honda Accord 

Alex Cairney 

MGB 


16 



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18 


RACQ MOTORFEST 9 July 

by Don Webster; photos by Andrew Manfield 

A lesson I learned today was that I should 

always reconnoitre meeting places and 

routes well before planning a club run! I 

had planned to meet those going to RACQ 

Motorfest at a small park near the cruise 

ship terminal for a short run to Eagle Farm. 

This is a site I had used previously and 

there was enough parking spaces for the 

expected number of cars (as well as a 

public toilet - so necessary with this cold 

weather and our ageing bodies). 

On arrival I found that the park no longer 

existed; instead there was a large hole in 

the ground with the area cordoned off with 

road barriers. It looked as though it was an 

alternative to taking a cruise to China, now 

there was a direct path through the centre 

of the earth. 

Despite this set back, ten club members 

and their MGs managed to make their 

way individually to the racecourse along 

with over 400 other vehicles. The featured 

marque was Holden with a display of 

vehicles from each decade, and the 50th 

anniversary of the Chevrolet Camaro was 

also celebrated. 

Above: Our award winning cars - Dino Mattea’s MGL 

and The Cahalanes’ MG TF. Below: MGs on display. 

Our club members were successful with 

Dino Mattea winning the Post Vintage 

(1931-1939) prize with his MGL, and Peter 

Calahane winning the Classic (1940- 1959) 

prize with his MGTF. 

Those attending were : 

Dino & Margaret Mattea MGL 

Graham & Felicity Moore MGA 

John Cicchiello 

MGB 

Neil & Jo-Anne McCorkindale MGTF 

Peter & Gail Cahalane MGTF 

Andrew & Jann Scott MGA 

Andrew Manfield 

MGBV8 

Steve Hodgson 

MGRV8 

June Hodgson 

MGZT 

Don Webster 

MGTD 

and of course Kerry Horgan with his 

Zimmer complete with Uncle Sam costume. 


Overall a very successful day with lots of spectators and the money raised going 

to CareFlight. 

MGs at the Day out at Peak Crossing 27 August 

by Don Webster, Photos by Chrystellee Semple 

MGCCQ was invited to participate in “A Day 

in the Country” charity event in support of 

the Fassifern Valley Rotary Club. 

This was held at Peak Crossing and over 

200 cars from 15 clubs put on a spectacular 

display in brilliant weather. 

The structure of the day was quite free 

flowing, with no judging or people’s choice, 

and no one got a trophy. 

Meryl Miles - Magnette, Geoff Messer - 

MGB, John Davidson - MGBGT, Brian 

Ponting - MGBGTV8, Bob Semple - MGF; 

while spread amongst the other groups 

were Chrystellee Semple - Ford Falcon, 

Kerry Horgan - Zimmer, Dane Horgan 

- Lamborghini, Trevor and Joy Jones - 

Mustang and Camaro. 

Attendees could wander freely among the 

cars on display to experience the passion 

that other like-minded people had for their 

cars. The cars were grouped roughly 

according to makes, with our club members’ 

cars covering several groups. 

Those in the MG group were: Terry 

Jones - TC, Don Webster - TD, David and 

20 


MGs 

at Peak 

Crossing 


22 


My name is Daffy and 

this is my story... 

Hi all, I started my life as a 1978 MGB BL 

Roadster Rubber Bumper. I am shown here 

on a midweek run, my first outing with the 

MGCCQ. 

Born in ??????? 1978 as a left hand drive 

roadster. 

We presume I lived in the USA and was 

transported to Australia at some stage. 

When? 

Original families unknown ?? 

First outing with MGCCQ 

I have been nicknamed “Daffy” and I belong 

to Denis the “dill”. In short, these names 

represent my colour “daffy” “dill” !! 

You may know my stable mate “Leprechaun” 

a BRG MGB BL Roadster OOOMGB. 

Around 1999 I was for sale in a car yard at 

Ferry Rd Southport and was purchased by 

Brian Dark of “Maintaining The Breed” on 

the Gold Coast. By this stage I had been 

converted to right hand drive and, as a 

power plant, now had a 3.5 litre Rover V8 

with Rover 5 speed rover gearbox. 

Rego then was 659 DVO. 

I don’t know when or where or by whom the 

transplant was done ?? 

I travelled south many times with the Darks 

to their holiday home at Narooma and to the 

MG National Meeting in 2000. Brian’s son 

Harry recalls my power and some fun with 

me and tells us at this stage I was fitted with 

twin SUs but now have a four barrel Holly 

carbie and an Offenhauser inlet manifold. 

My stablemate ‘Leprechaun’ 

My life history is not well known and even 

after research we have been unable to 

establish all my history. This is what we 

know to date. If you know the answer to any 

of the questions asked, please let me know 

by emailing my stablemaster at the email at 

the end of this article. 

I don’t know when or where or by whom this 

conversion took place?? 

I was sold to Madeleine Weeninks, ex 

president of the MGCC Gold Coast, and I 

am told that, due to my fuel consumption 

problems(very high), was sold on after a 

short time to Peter Probert. I’m told I was 

known as George due to my deep voice. 

My life is unknown during this period ?? 

I was purchased by Barry Evans of MG 

Automotive and lived with him for a time and 

then was sold on to a gentleman who lived 

in Maleny. 


I was again sold to Russell Ashby, a car 

dealer, and then directly to Denis in April 

2016 when I was registered as MGB878 (8 

cyl year 78) 

When this registration was changed is 

unknown. 

After my past, little did I know I would be 

changed again!! 

Denis has always wanted an MGB GT V8 

but only had a limited amount to spend on a 

track car. He had bitten the dust in the green 

roadster “Leprechaun” at Lakeside and did 

not have the heart to risk it again sooooo 

along came “Daffy”. Everything he wanted 

was there apart from the GT tin top. 

He was lucky to acquire a J& S fibreglass 

hard top from Sydney as well as a front 

spoiler. These were painfully fitted to the car 

after much adjustment by Denis who did the 

removing, painting and refitting. 

I was run in GEAR events twice as 

a roadster and then, after the mods 

were finished, as a special “J & S GTB 

Fastback”. 

These hardtops ( 2nd edition) were 

manufactured in Ashfield NSW from 1965 

at a cost of $390.00 and were marketed as 

J&S GTB Fastback. 

I would appreciate any information that can 

assist in filling in the blanks as I would love 

to know my full past. If you could email 

them to denisthomas47@bigpond.com it 

would be appreciated. 

(Below) Here is what I look like now. 

Thanks, Daffy. 

24 


A LETTER OF THANKS 

TO THE CLUB FROM LEIGH EVANS 

Hi Richard, 

I am finally home having a few Motorsport 

events under my belt and a week back at 

work (yuck!). 

Where do I begin with Miles for Memories? 

I guess with telling you our final fundraising 

total -- $246,000!!! Such a huge effort by 20 

individuals to raise such a significant amount 

for Dementia Research. I couldn’t have 

reached my goal without the help of MG Car 

Club Qld and the ability to hold raffles and 

sell chocolates at the Mt Cotton events. My 

thanks to all who helped either sell or buy 

raffle tickets or chocolates and to those who 

donated money or prizes or attended my 

movie night and everyone in between that 

gave me words of encouragement. 

Yosemite was absolutely amazing!! Such 

a breathtaking place. Due to the late snow 

fall and a landslide blocking an access road 

some of our itinerary had to be changed 

but I’m sure we hiked close to our 99km. 

Our first day was at Wawona where we did 

a short hike through the Meadow Loop. 

Gazing over the meadow we could see the 

Wawona Dome overlooking us. 

Yosemite. Hot, but a dry heat. Steep but 

manageable. We headed back to camp to 

get ready to pack up and move to campsite 

2 the following day. We had a 20km hike to 

get to our next camp ground, Upper Pines, 

in the Half Dome Village on the Valley Floor. 

Following breakfast and lunch making, camp 

pack up and a 1 hour drive we arrived at 

Glacier Point to link up with the Panorama 

Trailhead. This trail starts on the top of the 

ridge and we had to hike via the Panorama 

Trail, a portion of the John Muir trail (the 

famous Pacific Crest Trail or PCT), passing 

Liberty Cap and Half Dome and down the 

Mist trail to get us to the valley floor. 

We could kind of see where we would be 

walking from Glacier Point and I think you 

would agree that the view was spectacular!!! 

We were headed there the next day to hike 

almost to the top of Chilnualna Falls. This 

first pic was taken half way up the trail with 

Wawona Dome in the background.01 

That was our first real taste of hiking 


26 


This pic has Half Dome to the left and the 

snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains 

in the distance. We hiked over and under 

many waterfalls that day. Due to the snowfall 

and hot temperatures we were told by our 

guides that the falls were flowing at 200% 

and we were extremely lucky to see them in 

such splendor. 

We crossed the Illilouette Falls early in the 

day and our second waterfall was Nevada 

Falls where we grabbed a bite to eat and 

another pic. 

That is the 

Yosemite 

Valley behind 

me!!! We were 

camping in the 

valley around to 

the right so we 

had a long way 

to go. Down the mist trail we got covered 

in the spray from Nevada Falls. So much 

force in the water flowing over the edge. So 

calming yet so powerful. After another 45 

mins we had arrived at the top of the Vernal 

Falls where we continued down the Mist 

Trail to get absolutely soaked by the mist 

coming off Vernal Falls. We headed into our 

next camp to set up and to finally have a 

shower after 3 days without one. 

So steep and so many stairs but so 

rewarding. Very emotional day for me. To 

realize where I had come from and what I 

had achieved on my own not only on the 

trip but to get there was overwelming. 

I gathered myself after a 

4.5 hour hike up to start 

the trek back down again 

to where I grabbed this 

shot. 

Our next few days were 

smaller hikes with not 

much incline. Yosemite 

was amazing. (I think I’ve said that already). 

Getting back to San Francisco I headed out 

to explore the city. Did an Alcatraz tour and 

rode a bike over the Golden Gate Bridge. 

I had such an amazing time, learned lots 

about myself and plan to do more exploring 

and hiking both at home and overseas in 

the future. 

Our next hike was the following day to 

Yosemite Point above the Upper Yosemite 

Falls. This was the biggest day. Yosemite 

Falls are the tallest in North America so it 

was special to see them flowing with so 

much water. While we were waiting to grab 

a picture of the falls a butterfly graced me 

with its presence and climbed onto my hand. 

I call that lucky. 

Many thanks to MG Car Club Qld for your 

assistance with my fundraising. I hope 

that you and your members enjoy looking 

through some of my pics knowing that 

all financial support was donated to the 

fantastic cause, Dementia Research. 

Thank you for supporting me and our trek - 

Miles for Memories. 

- Leigh Evans aka Mini Mouse. 


28 


CHAPTER Chatter 

BUNDABERG & DISTRICT CHAPTER 

16 July - Bundaberg Aero Run by Allan Dansie 

What a great morning it was on Sunday 16th July 

as 11 cars and 18 people headed out of town 

towards Coonarr. As we were travelling down 

Goodwood Road were just about to turn into 

Coonarr Road who should be coming from the 

opposite direction but the Carters from Hervey Bay. 

We then followed Coonarr Road, which is a great 

MG road with a few nice corners, before turning into 

Golchert Drive and then into the Bundaberg Aero 

Modellers grounds. Here we unpacked our vehicles 

and settled into smoko, after which we met Graham 

who told those who was interested about his quad 

copter and all the tricky things that it could do. As I 

was setting up my PC9 plane another pilot arrived 

with his quick helicopters, one being an electric 

model and the other a gas powered model. After 

lunch we watched a few more flyers and then it was 

time for home. 

30th July - Run to Miara and Tiny Teas House 

by Judy Donoghue 

Ten cars pulled out of Quay Street at 0930 and 

headed for Miara Van and Picnic Park on the Kolan 

River. The foreshore is still recovering from the big 

flood. The resident manager from Germany made 

us very welcome at the Rotunda with sparkling 

water for all. This was a great Pit Stop for Smoko. 

Then we were off to the Tiny Tea House at 

Rosedale. The venue was packed with our club and 

the Mercedes Club who were all from Brisbane and 

were in the Wide Bay for the week end. 


We seemed to be a younger group than the other 

club but it may have just seemed that way as we 

had all convertibles!! 

The food kept coming as did the conversation and 

what with the weather what a beautiful day. In all, 

what a pleasant day out. 

13 August - A combined run with Wide Bay chapter 

and Bundaberg to Burrum Heads was held. The 

report and photos are on the Wide Bay Chapter 

pages. 

27 August - Run to Biggenden area by Gary 

Duncan. 

During the planning stages things had started out 

looking a little bit grim for this run. We couldn’t 

help but start to compare the process of either 

organising or attending an MG run to Forrest 

Gump’s philosophy on life. Like his ‘box of 

chocolates’ you never know what you’re going to 

get. 

For instance, we didn’t know what the weather 

would deliver to us. Over the previous few days 

several of the local dogs had gone missing after 

being blown off their chains. Too much wind, either 

inside or outside of a small sports car can make for 

a very unpleasant day. 

We also didn’t know for sure who would turn up 

on the day. Some had replied in the negative and 

could be discounted. Only a few appeared likely 

to arrive but then there was the silent majority, any 

of whom may materialise unexpectedly. It seemed 

that most of the regular attendees as well as the 

not so regular ones had, as we all do at times, 

other things that needed attention on this particular 

weekend. 

A myriad of other things we didn’t know as well but 

the one thing we did know and could rely on was 

that Jacqui and Ray Mutton would be on their way 

to meet us for the day. Alone or otherwise. They 

30 


MGCCQ 2017 Calendar 

Affiliated with the Confederation of Australian Motorsports 

GPO 1847, Brisbane Q 4001 

The following abbreviations are used for Chapter names: 

CAP = Capricorn; FNQ = Far North Qld; DDC = Darling Downs; WBC = Wide Bay; WHI = Whitsundays BUN = Bundaberg & District 

SEPTEMBER 

Fri 1 CAP Dinner on the Coast - T.B.A. Capricorn Coast (Capricorn Chapter Members) 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter at the Clubrooms 

SatSun 2/3 

CAMS State Championship races Round 3 at Morgan Park (P) - Morgan Park 

Sat 9 FNQ Ingham weekend Trip 

Mt Cotton hillclimb series Rd 5 (P) 

Sun 10 FNQ Ingham weekend Trip 

Mt Cotton hillclimb series Rd 5 (P) 

HSCCQ Motorkhana including AMC practice at Driver Training Willowbank 

Wed 13 DDC Mid-week lunch run - Warwick Golf Club, Warwick at 12 midday (Ron & Judy Gillis) 

Fri 15 

Sat 16 

AGM at clubrooms and Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

All British Day - set up day 

Sun 17 CAP Mt.Morgan Little Western tour - Yeppoon / Rockhampton to Mt.Morgan, Dululu & Westwood. 

(Capricorn Chapter members, invitation to Jag Car Club) 

All British Day at Tennyson 

Sun 24 

DDC Monthly Run - TBA (John & Betty Gosper) 

Wed 27 MGCCQ - Midweek run (Organised by Denis Thomas 0401 744 672) 

Sat 30 

Rd 7 of the Interclub Championship - Interclub Hillclimb at Mt Cotton 

OCTOBER 

Fri 6 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter at the clubrooms 

Sat 7 

CAP 

Dinner on the Coast - T.B.A. Capricorn Coast (Capricorn Members) 

Sun 8 FNQ Day Run - Tinaroo Lake 

WHI 

Social Run - Mackay Marina 9 am 

Wed 11 DDC Mid-week lunch run (BYO picnic) - Federation Park, Vale View at 12 midday (Ron & Judy Gillis) 

Fri 13- 16 

Pre-War MG Register of Australia meeting at Yamba 

Sun 15 CAP BYFIELD lunch Tour - Rockhampton / Yeppoon to Byfield Central Qld. (Capricorn chapter members) 

HSCCQ Motorkhana at Driver Training Centre, Willowbank (P) 

Fri 20 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter at the Clubrooms 

Wed 25 MGCCQ - Midweek run (Organised by Trevor and Joy Jones 0438 467 558) 

Sun 29 DDC Monthly Run - Kumbia Hotel, Kumbia (Rob & Fern Callow) 

Rd 8 of the Interclub Championship - Toyota 86 Club Interclub skid Control Sprint at Norwell (to be confirmed) 


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NOVEMBER 

Fri 3 CAP Dinner on the Coast 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter at Clubrooms 

Sun 5 FNQ Day Run - Ravenshoe Pub 

Wed 8 DDC Mid-week lunch run - Glenvale Hockey Club, Boundary St Toowoomba at 12 midday (Ron & Judy Gillis) 

Sun 12 

Rd 9 of the Interclub Championship - HSCCQ Khanacross at Driver Training Centre Willowbank (P) 

WHI 

Social Run - Mackay Marina 9 am 

Fri 17 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter at Clubrooms 

Sat/Sun 18/19 FNQ Mission Beach Weekend 

CAMS state Championship Races Rd 4 at Morgan Park (P) 

Sun 19 FNQ Mission Beach Weekend 

CAP 

BREAKFASTon the Coast - T.B.A. (Capricorn Chapter) 

Wed 22 

Sat/Sun 25/26 

MGCCQ - MidweekChristmas run to Redland Bay GC (Organised by Bruce Ibbotson) 

MGCCQ - Mt Cotton Hillclimb Series Rd 6 (P) 

Sun 26 DDC Monthly Run (breakfast run) - TBA (Brian & June Phillips) 

DECEMBER 

Fri 1 CAP Christmas Party in Rockhampton - T.B.A. in Rockhampton 

(Capricorn Chapter Members invitation to coordinators from other chapters & Head office) 

MGCCQ - Noggin ‘n’ natter 

Sat 2 

Interclub presentation morning at Cars and Coffee, Coorparoo 

Sun 3 FNQ Day Run - Malanda 

Fri 8 

Presentation of hillclimb series trophies 

Sun 10 WHI Social Run - Mackay Marina 9 am 

Christmas party at clubrooms 

Please go to the online calendar on the Club website to get more information on each event 

34 


expected to be leading at least one other vehicle 

and hopefully some more gathered from the urban 

and near urban dwellers around the big smoke of 

Bundaberg after mustering at the usual meeting 

place. 

So there we were, the boss and myself, as both 

run hosts for the day, and members of the country 

bumpkin brigade, again sitting in our red ‘B’ beside 

the road in the carpark of the Dallarnil School. 

This has become our unofficial secondary meeting 

place for those of us who live in the sticks, when 

runs come to the Biggenden area. Alone we sit, 

watching the traffic go past and listening intently 

during breaks in the traffic, in the direction of a near 

bend in the road for the distinctive sound of an 

MGB and hopefully more. Suddenly there it was. 

That lovely MGB note. At first we weren’t sure 

because there were several strained and stretched 

bladders screaming out for relief from the ‘B’ and 

some of the other three cars in the procession and 

demanding to be heard above all other sounds. 

A short greeting and then attention to urgent 

matters before we were on our way via some 

narrow back roads with pleasing scenery to 

our smoko location at Biers Park in the thriving 

metropolis of Biggenden with the nice backdrop 

of Mt Walsh in the distance. A chance to meet 

prospective new members Ian and Tracy Ninness 

with their shiny new/old red MGA, and renew 

acquaintances with Les and Joukje Kelly and Adrian 

Titchmarsh. 

Time to hit the road again for a short jaunt along the 

Isis Highway to yet another back road extravaganza 

with great scenery, albeit a little dry at the time, up 

and down hills, through dry causeways and around 

bends of varying degrees on more narrow roads 

until we rejoined the main road to Paradise Dam 

with lots more sports car friendly terrain and better 

bitumen. 

Our cosy little group settled in to a great little 

waterfront spot normally chosen by campers and 

motorhomers to set up their camps, where we 

partook of a picnic lunch and the solving of the 

world’s problems along with several of our own and 

those of our cars. 

Time to go as the day drew to a close and after 

some more driving pleasure along the return trip 

we all dispersed to get ourselves to our respective 

homes. 

The ‘box of chocolates’, by then dealt with, held no 

more mysteries for the Biggenden Run. We then 

knew that the weather had been beautiful, the run 

had gone smoothly and with extreme enjoyment, 

the company had been great and all in all a terrific 

success. Thank you to all for your contributions to 

making it so. 



CAPRICORN CHAPTER 

Tour Directors --Terry Dwyer and Anne Burbidge 

15/16 July -- Terry’s Mystery Tour 

Well the Mystery Tour has come and has been 

completed! 

Coastal members gathered at Kershaw Gardens 

to meet up with Rockhampton members and after 

a short chat and introduction we departed at 8:30 

am and headed west on the Capricorn Highway. 

Just to get participants guessing where we were 

headed, we turned left to head up to the Razorback 

to Mount Morgan and then onto Dululu for a rest 

stop before going to Goovigen for Morning Tea at 

the Emily Stone rest area. We then visited the war 

memorial,and made a tour of the township before 

heading off to Rannes. Banana was the next stop 

at the Bullock Memorial /Banana, with time for a 

fuel up for a certain car with only a 5 gallon tank. 

Next we headed towards Theodore for lunch at 

the local café. Here there was much discussion 

about where we were going; are we heading for 

Eidsvold? Anne and I revealed we were to stay 

overnight at the Theodore Hotel/Motel with its 

cabins on the banks of the mighty Dawson River. 

After check-in and a short rest we headed up to the 

Isla Gorge National Park for a short walk taking in 

the lovely sandstone gorge. Then we went back 

to our digs for refreshing drinks accompanied by an 

impressive array of nibbles. All of this was enjoyed 

on the cabin deck (a beautiful setting of gum trees 

by the river) with much spirited conversation. 

We adjourned about 7 pm for dinner in the Hotel 

Restaurant where Gary enjoyed his prize of a free 

dinner won in the raffle (highest number from a 

choice of 3 cards) courtesy of Anne and Terry. 

After a massive thunder storm overnight, we awoke 

to a lovely day. Some enjoyed a continental 

breakfast curtesy of the Hotel. 

Then we gathered for a drive to Cracow where we 

had our morning tea in a pleasant park beside the 

Mining Museum which we visited followed by a 

walking tour of the town to enjoy the remanent s of 

a great mining town. Sadly the Fred Brophy Hotel 

was closed; no cold ale there! We then headed 

back to Theodore to refuel . Now it was time to 

head for home. 

36 


Gary now took the lead as we headed home via 

Moura turning off at Gibihi Road to the Viewing 

Platform overlooking the mining operations. Gary 

explained the workings and history of the mines 

whilst we got our fill of the big drag line nearby plus 

the continual stream of dump trucks picking up/ 

unloading as they do. Tooting of their horns and 

we waved as the dump trucks went by. That was 

so good! 

It was back to the Leichhardt highway to the 

Banana servo for some lunch, to Wowan to then 

turn onto the Capricorn Highway for the Westwood 

Pub for a cool ale to celebrate a great weekend 

travelling some 632 kilometres. 

Back in Rocky around 4:30 pm. 

Thanks to the Participants – 

Christine and Arthur Johnson , Ian Carlton, Ian 

Wilhelmsen, Gary and Julie Kunst , Phil Henry, 

Terry Dwyer and Anne Burbidge 

Apologies received from – Brian and Glenis Russell, 

Bob Holbeck, Gurney and Gloria Clamp, Jenny 

Hill. Joy and Darryl Penridge, Jo Emmert, John and 

Margaret Horton, Jim and Sandra Armstrong, Phil 

and Pam White, Rae Cowie, Stuart and Ada Clark 

Friday 1st. August 2017 -- AFISHIONADOS 

In what looked like spring on our doorstep it an 

attraction for members who decided to attend the 

Friday night fish ‘n’ chips diner at Afishionados. The 

weather was better than one could wish for those 

members who attended, Gurney & Gloria Clamp, 

Ian & Rosemary Carleton, Laurie Chetter & Beth 

Dunlop,, George & Lyn Ganter, John & Lyn Hallett, 

Phil & Margaret Henry, John & Margaret Horton, 

Gary & Julie Kunst, Rick & Michelle Taylor and Ian 

Wilhelmsen. 

It seemed ages since we have visited Afishionados, 

with most being surprised by the internal changes 

that have taken since our last visit. Unfortunately 

the acoustics are still the same, to the point that 

on our next visit we will arrange to sit outside as 

the fish and chips were really good as was the 

company. 

The usual short stroll from Afishiondos to the coffee 

shop or Ice creamery was next on the agenda. 

It was here that we found out that Lyn Ganter 

received a new car for her recent birthday, which 

was really good timing from George. Well done 

George. The other surprise was the announcement 

of Ian Wilhelmsen’s birthday, which came as a 

surprise to Ian as he thought that he was going to 

get away without anyone knowing. Happy Birthday 

Ian. He left the coffee shop with a big smile after 

being on the receiving end of the usual birthday 

song and cheers. 

Apologies: , Jack & Rae Cowie, Trevor Anderson, 

Jim @ Sandra Armstrong, Rodger Warne & Phyliss 

Davies, Bob & Yvonne Holbeck, Paul & Lois 

Mickenbecker, Mick & Shirley Condon and Neville 

& Barbara Funch 


20 August - Many Peaks Tour 

Due to the refurbishment of the Kershaw Gardens, 

the meeting place for this tour was changed to 

Gladstone Road opposite the Capricorn Spire. It 

was here that Gurney greeted us with the news that 

John Hallett, Martin Adamson and Gurney himself 

wouldn’t be joining us on the tour as unexpected 

circumstances had arisen for all three. 

We were left with seven cars to participate in 

the tour. A relatively uneventful drive to Calliope 

for morning tea then followed but on arrival it 

was discovered we were one car down. It would 

appear that a certain red MG had decided to do an 

extensive tour of Calliope before joining us at the 

park. Brian and Glenis Russell joined us here in 

their Landcruiser. 

Before departing for Many Peaks, members of 

the Ulysses motorcycle club joined us and led the 

way out of town. Some chose to drive direct to 

Many Peaks while some stopped at Ubobo for a 

quick coffee or ice cream then joined their fellow 

participants at the Grand Hotel for lunch. Even 

though there was quite a wait for lunch, it was well 

worth it as the food was excellent, especially the 

calamari that quite a few of us had. The winner of 

the poker run was Glenis Russell with 3 tens. A 

special thanks to Glenis Benson for assuming the 

role of Gloria for the day. 

After everyone had completed their vittles, Rosco 

James took us on a tour to the waterhole near 

Nagoorin where we witnessed young people who 

were obviously lacking temperature sensors in their 

skin dive into the icy cold water. After this sojourn, it 

was time to head home but not without a stop at the 

Raglan Tavern for some refreshments. 

The temperature was now dropping noticeably so 

with coats, jackets, gloves and scarves being worn, 

the crew set off for the final leg home. The day 

had been thoroughly enjoyable with perfect winter 

weather and great company. See you on the next 

tour. 

Participants: 

Trevor Andersen and Glenis Benson -1963 Daimler 

Dart ; Ian Carleton and George Ganter - 1978 MGB; 

Christine Johnson and Lorraine -1973 MGB; Terry 

Dwyer and Anne Burbidge -1967 MGB ;Robert and 

Yvonne Holbeck -1998 MG F; Rosco James 1993 

Mazda MX5; Ian Wilhelmsen - 1973 MGB; Brian 

and Glenis Russell Toyota Landcruiser 

38 



DARLING DOWNS CHAPTER 

by Gary Lawrence, Chapter Coordinator 

I don’t know about the rest of our MG community 

but I cannot believe how rapidly 2017 is 

disappearing. I have a multitude of projects on my 

2017 list and the only thing that seems to be getting 

shorter is the number of days to Christmas. 

While we have had a few days of cooler weather 

for some of our runs, like the July run to Warwick 

where Jack Frost made his presence felt, the winter 

weather has been very mild with beautiful sunny 

days encouraging open top touring. 

Over the past months we have continued to 

socialise through our mid-week lunch runs and 

monthly day runs. While the actual participants 

at our events vary we continue to attract good 

numbers with a core of regulars. 

for the formation of our Chapter was held 12 years 

ago. 

The weather was ideal to have the top down and 

drive through the countryside at a leisurely pace, 

enjoying the fresh country air aromas and vistas. 

Rudd’s Pub is an icon of the Downs and never 

fails to provide very enjoyable and tasty (large!!) 

meals. The cosy and intimate dining room makes 

socialising easy with the multiple MG conversations 

creating a cacophony of sound that can be 

interpreted and understood but only by a trained 

MG ear. 

Participants: Ron & Judy Gillis, Greg Newey, Bob 

& Mavis Marsh, Gary & Janis Lawrence, Imelda 

& Denis Logan, Guy & Pam West, Phil & Marilyn 

O’Brien, Rob Fraser, Brian & June Phillips. 

Lunch Run 12 July 

Our lunch venue today was a bit of ‘back to our 

roots’. The infamous Rudd’s Pub in Nobby on the 

Southern Downs is where the inaugural meeting 


Jumpers and Jazz 23 July 

Once again we ventured forth in our old cars in the 

middle of winter to the Jumpers and Jazz festival at 

Warwick. 

Some brave people all rugged up with beanies, 

coats and scarves, exemplified the dedication of the 

roadster owner by discarding what protection the 

rag top provides and travelled topless. MG drivers 

are brave souls, a bit mad and quite eccentric. 

For the group travelling from Toowoomba, the frost 

appeared about half way to Warwick and continued 

most of the way there. We all know that Warwick 

and its environs certainly know how to roll out the 

cold weather in winter. 

Brian Phillips related the hard luck story of his 

MGB blowing an oil line the night before the event, 

meaning the 1937 Morris 8 took over pride of place, 

albeit on a trailer. As the classics tell us, every cloud 

has a silver lining. In this case the trailer with its 

Morris 8 cargo was towed by Brian & June’s CX5 

with a fully functioning and much appreciated airconditioner 

obliterating any effect of the heavy frost 

blanketing the landscape. 

Participants: Andrew & Susan Willesden, Darryl & 

Yvonne Bell, Ben Cain, Brian & June Phillips, Greg 

Newey, John McLean, Phil & Marilyn O’Brien, Ross 

McDonald. 

Lunch Run 09 August 

The Meringandan Hotel, the venue for our luncheon 

get together for today’s run, is renowned for the 

large size of their meals. Gastronomical is probably 

and appropriate description. 

We had heard there were smaller meals being 

served, but I am not sure their meaning of ‘small’ is 

the same as others. Yes the plates were still huge 

and totally covered by food. 

Between mouthfuls of food, there was a general 

discussion of mechanical problems and foibles of 

the various MG models including Ron’s drama with 

petrol leaking from his beloved MGB and covering 

the floor of the garage. Could have been nasty, but 

a quick mop up saved the day. 

It was great to welcome one of our new MG 

owners, Owen Douglas, to his first outing with the 

local group. 

Eleven cars from our group were on display in the 

main street of Warwick alongside all the other car 

clubs. They ranged from 1916 T Fords to Hot Rods 

to beautiful restored classics of every kind. Sitting 

in the main street in the middle of the road listening 

to Jazz, observing the deciduous trees all wrapped 

up in their beautiful colourful crocheted jumpers and 

sipping cool chardonnay is a wonderful way to pass 

the time on a beautiful winter’s day in Warwick. 

Seven MGs, two Triumphs, one Lancia and one old 

Morris Ute graced the day. 

40 


Participants: Marilyn & Phil O’Brien, Ron & Judy 

Gillis, Rob & Narelle Fraser, Gary Lawrence, Owen 

Douglas, Kev & Sylvia Johns, Helen Goodfellow & 

Del Jensen, John Smith, Ben & Anji Cain. 

(Cfaig photo DD Lunch 09 Aug 2017…. 5 here 

please) 

Monthly Run 27 August 

A sunny morning with a sprightly cool Darling 

Downs breeze greeted the crew as we assembled 

at our meeting place. The destination for the day 

was only 10 km to the East - lunch at Scotty’s Barn 

and Garage, which is a rustic country café and car 

memorabilia museum in the beautiful Flagstone 

Creek valley. However, WE didn’t take the direct 

route. Instead, Susan Willesden had organised an 

interesting circuit of 187km before we could enjoy 

the good country fare. 

The run had it all – from open plains, to rolling hills, 

long straights, twists and turns and rugged ravines. 

For those of us who could, the roofs were down to 

enjoy the fresh air and the views. 

zone through the residential acreage allowed a nice 

look at the growing areas just south of Toowoomba. 

Then picturesque Preston with its high ridge views 

pulled us nearer to lunch via the Rockmount ridges 

and ravines and stunning Stockyard Creek. 

We all enjoyed a lunch of pot pies, with salad and 

CHIPS or six inch high (NO KIDDING!) hamburgers 

and CHIPS. 

PS. Susan says it was Andrew’s fault that she forgot 

the coffee because he distracted her when she was 

packing the morning tea. 

Participants: Helen Goodfellow & Ian Goodfellow, 

Michael & Marilyn Keating, Darryl & Yvonne Bell, 

Gene & Faye Lucas, Gary & Janis Lawrence, John 

& Marg Boland, Rob & Narelle Fraser, Delia Morey, 

Glen & Bev Hadfield, Ron & Judy Gillis, Tony & 

Leigh Wright, Andrew & Susan Willesden, Graeme 

Peacock. 

Departing at 9.00am, we left Toowoomba via 

Drayton, before a short stint on the Gore Highway. 

This led us onto Westbrook and Wellcamp along 

the Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Road. Biddeston 

beckoned next followed by a quick comfort stop at 

Mount Tyson. The wide open plains soon changed 

to hills as we headed along some single lane 

bitumen amongst farmlands. 

Crossing the Gore Highway again and into the 

sights of Southbrook, our tummies began to rumble 

a little as it was still a bit further onto our morning 

tea stop. The food-bowl of Felton farmlands and 

a small flock of sheep across the road kept us 

entertained as we headed for a classic Clifton MG 

BYO morning tea at the park. 

It was on the approaches to Clifton that Susan 

realised she had a bit of a problem. The hot water, 

milk and food were in but she’d forgotten to pack 

tea or coffee. So as soon as we pulled into the park, 

Andrew took off at a sprint to the local café for take 

away coffee. The large picnic table in the park that 

we usually gather round was already occupied, so 

we made do with standing around a smaller one. 

Some people had brought their own chairs and one 

resourceful couple balanced their coffee cups with 

great dexterity as they sat on the kids’ swing set. 

Graeme Peacock whom we hadn’t seen for quite a 

while joined the group for the second half of the run. 

Watered and fed, we then nosed our way onto 

Nobby and Greenmount from where a last crossing 

of the highway took us into the rolling hills of 

Ramsay and Hodgson Vale. The 50kmh speed 


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42 



FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND CHAPTER 

by John and Cherie Fransen 

1 July - Mareeba / Julatten (Mountain View 

Hotel) Run 

Attendees: Harvey and Kay Williams – TD, 

John and Cherie Fransen – Midget, Brendon 

and June Hammersley – MGB, Lyn and Wayne 

Morgan – MGB, Bob and Patty – MGA, Rod and 

Gill Cameron- MGB, Tony Basham – TD, John 

and Helen Honan – MGB, Dave and Val Murray 

– MGB. 

Very overcast to start the day, most keeping the 

roof on. Our usual Smithfield meeting point, Tom 

Dooley park by the Servo. 

Up the Kuranda Range we went past Kuranda 

and into Mareeba for the first stop at Coffee 

Works. Although we didn’t start super early, 

apparently too early for one couple, finding out 

later their non appearance was due to a Sunday 

morning sleep in! 

13 August 2017 - Cairns Swap Meet, Car 

Truck and Bike Show 

Attendees: John and Cherie Fransen – Midget, 

Brendon and June Hammersley – MGB and 

Healey, Lyn and Wayne Morgan – 2 Healeys, 

Harvey and Kay Williams – TD, Bob and Patty – 

Bugeye, Tony Basham – PA and M-Type, John 

and Helen Honan – MGB, Tony and Yanti Boland 

– TD, Alan Wardlaw – MGB. 

There were signs of perhaps some rain, but 

someone was looking over us, making the 

Annual Cairns Swap Meet and Show a success, 

under the FNQ sun. 

Although not a Club event, our Members always 

put on a good presentation of their shiny classic 

vehicles and this year was no exception. Great 

turnout by our group, all sectioned together with 

the Restorers group. It was nice to also see 

If you come up to the Tablelands on holiday, 

Coffee Works is definitely on the to do list for 

locally made flavoured Chocolate including this 

writer’s favourite, dark Lemon Myrtle, not to 

mention an array of unique gifts, coffee, drinks 

and sweet treats. 

Will let the photos speak for themselves this 

story, we had a great day and as part of our drive 

stopped at a favourite, the Julatten Mountain 

View Hotel. 

Excellent day of good food, great company and 

thankfully nothing eventful of the vehicular kind. 


44 


a few MGs travel 

all the way from 

Townsville for the 

Sunday event. 

Of the local Clubs, 

we were probably 

the highest in 

numbers, others 

were All American, 

Hot Rods, two Ford 

groups, Holdens, not 

to mention a myriad 

of Motorcycles and 

all things ‘swap’. 

An unexpected surprise on the day for John 

and his red ’67 Midget was the trophy for 

Best 4 Cylinder or rotary - all that polishing in 

preparation rewarded. 

27 August - Mt Uncle Distillery and Tarzali 

Lakes Smokehouse Run 

Attendees: Dave and Val Murray – MGB, Harvey 

and Kay Williams – TD, Alan Wardlaw – MGB, 

Alan and Aileen Bielefeld – MGF, Steve and 

Maureen Girardi – MGB, Kim and Fiona Halloran 

MGB, Graham and Pauline Hepburn – Bugeye, 

Ken Spain – MGB, John and Cherie Fransen 

– Midget, Brendon and June Hammersley – 

Healey, Lyn and Wayne Morgan – Healey, Bob 

and Patty – MGA, Rod and Gill Cameron- MGB, 

Tony Basham – TD, John and Helen Honan – 

MGB. 

Winter has been very kind to us in the North, 

perfect day for open top driving, wonderful 

turnout of machinery and people today. 

Kay and Harvey in their TD. A few other visitors 

to the Distillery got a nice surprise when coming 

into the carpark, finding all our little machines 

lined up in rows. With a number of peacocks 

strolling the gardens, we stretched our legs 

and had morning tea, some choosing the local 

damper with their beverages. Mmmm. 

What a glorious day to be back on the road, 

heading further south through a few Tablelands 

towns, enjoying the scenery and with the sun 

peeping out behind the generous clouds, it was 

just the best day. 

Ringing ahead to make sure there was enough 

room for our generous group today at Tarzali 

Lakes Platypus grounds and Smokehouse, we 

arrived to a warm greeting from the owners 

and Rod and Gill joined us up from Ravenshoe 

in their MGB for a lunch of sandwiches, all 

day breakfast, chicken pies and burgers. The 

speciality of the business is their smoked meats 

and they did not disappoint. Yum. After a 

relaxing lunch and a lot of chatter, it was time 

to wish each other a safe return drive and head 

home. 

We heard on the grapevine Brendon and June 

had trouble with their shiny red Healey on the 

way back to the coast, with another Member 

happy to help by driving back with his trailer. 

How lovely is it that our fellow clubbers can 

relate to mechanical shortfalls and offer a helping 

hand when it is needed. Thanks Bob. 

Smithfield at the bottom of the range was our 

gathering point and we were ready to go, with a 

few meeting us on the way, see you soon guys. 

Not too much traffic up the Kuranda Range but 

a few got stuck behind a caravan until the town; 

however, it wasn’t long until an overtaking spot 

presented and most were able to pass safely. 

First scheduled break was south west of 

Mareeba at the Mt Uncle Distillery, a really nice 

coffee and lunch house and it was here we met 



WIDE BAY CHAPTER 

Run on Sunday 9th July to Boonooroo - by 

David and Lyn 

In Hervey Bay, five cars assembled at our 

departure point, one of them belonging to Des 

Schirmer a prospective new member of our 

Chapter. He owns a 1965 Pull handle Red MGB 

Roadster but due to a few Electrical Problems 

(that Prince Of Darkness again) he decided not 

to chance the run today, so he’s back to the 

workshop to get ready for the next run! 

With new members David and Dilys Bradbury in 

their Citroen we travelled to Maryborough where 

we picked up another three MGB Roadsters. It 

was a good day to have the top down and enjoy 

all the countryside had to offer. 

We had a lovely morning tea at our founder Ian 

Bryant’s (Luigi Emgee’s) favourite picnic spot 

at Teddington Weir, where there were plenty of 

members chatting away enjoying themselves 

and it was extremely hard to even hear the Birds 

Chirping! 

From there we travelled through the beautiful 

Bidwill area past the Tuan Forestry arriving 

at the Boonooroo Bowling Club where a full 

on tournament was about to commence. 

We enjoyed a very nice meal with very good 

company before heading back to our various 

homes being satisfied with another good day out 

with our wonderful little British Sports Cars. 

Saturday 15th July 2017 run to Burrum 

Coal Festival 

It was a little overcast and a shower forecast 

however 8 cars with there 16 members met up 

nice and early at the Howard Park to start the 

Street Parade at 9.00 am. The Coalfest Princess 

and runner up to her were to ride in MGs with 

David and Sonja taking the Festival Princess 

Greta in their MGB Roadster and Lyn and David 

taking Breanna a runner up in their MG TD. 

The procession was full of fun and joviality with 

vintage and classic cars from three Clubs taking 

part. They had Bands, Clowns, Coal Miners 

with all the locals getting dressed up in 1918/19 

Fancy Dress and it wouldn’t be the same without 

our Light Horse Brigade. After the procession 

there was plenty of things to do with market stalls 

food outlets music and fun. The Museum was a 

great attraction showing the history of Howard 

and Burrum Town also the hard working coal 

miners of the last century. 

The Festival was declared open by our Mayor 

Chris Loft and the Unveiling of a Plaque to the 

past Miners by Qld Chief Inspector of Mines, 

took place, remembering those who had lost 

their lives in tragic mining accidents. 

Our Members enjoyed morning tea together 

while others listened to Chad Morgan singing, 

the RSL and Navy Cadets playing and various 

Buskers singing and performing around the 

oval, while the sounds of the stationary engines 

rumbled in the distance. 

A great day was had by all our members who 

attended, it is so nice to be involved with such 

great community spirit, you just cant beat that 

country hospitality for a great day out with not 

even a shower in sight. 

46 


Wednesday 19th July 2017 Run to 

Maryborough Restaurant 71 Wharf 

12 members with 7 cars met up at our departure 

point near the Seafront Oval for a morning 

outing to Maryborough. We awoke to a beautiful 

morning a far cry from the day before when a 

thick blanket of fog covered the area. It was 

Tops Down to enjoy our Mid Winter Sunshine, 

these days are just put on especially for our MG 

roadsters and their owners to enjoy. 

It was time to hit the road as the engines roared 

I heard a bystander say what a wonderful array 

of cars, they were all colours of the rainbow 

Turquoise, Red, Silver, Green and White. We 

headed of towards Burrum Heads arriving at our 

second pickup point the Torbanlea road turnoff. 

There awaiting patiently were another 3 cars 

and their proud owners looking forward to a run 

through the beautiful countryside of the Fraser 

Coast. 

We arrived at the Restaurant, 71 Wharf 

aptly named as it is literally right on the Mary 

River. The MaryboroughWharf is where many 

years ago the ships used to dock to bring in 

passengers and cargo, as it was one of the 

biggest ports in Queensland and supporting a 

thriving Ship and Rail building industry and not 

forgetting the large Timber export trade of the 

1800 and 1900’s. 

The owners of the restaurant made us very 

welcome and put on a special of beautiful home 

made Scones, Jam and real cream with a coffee 

for $7.00 each most took advantage of this 

however others decided to have a lovely brunch 

which they enjoyed immensely. A very enjoyable 

morning was had by all 17 members of our 

Chapter being very satisfied with their morning 

out. That Jubilee GT started up first crank who 

said they had a problem? It’s an MG after all! 


along comes Darrell Martin in his stunning MGA. 

A lovely BYO morning tea was had by all and 

with lots of catching up to do and stories to tell 

! After 11.00 am we decided to leave and take 

the short drive down to Burrum Heads where the 

Hotel was waiting with a cold beer and Wine. The 

food which we all enjoyed was extra nice and 

fresh. Jackie Martin arrived in their MG B to add 

to the cars that took up the whole parking area 

across the front of the hotel. 

Sunday 13th August 2017 – Contributed by 

David Hall and Lyn Hayward 

Photos by Lyn 

The Wide Bay Chapter assembled for a conjoint 

outing with the Bundaberg & District Chapter 

in our first run together since their formation. 6 

Cars and 9 Members including David Bradbury in 

his new blue MG F left our RV1 for a slow drive 

along the Esplanade. The sun was glistening 

on the turquoise water - it was a superb day to 

be in our MGs. There were a lot of people about 

for the Ocean Festival and the tourists were in 

full swing enjoying everything that the Bay as to 

offer. 

On reaching Elizabeth Street we headed west 

and followed the road to Burrum Town which is a 

tiny little forgotten town on the Burrum River. We 

crossed the bridge and turned right into a lovely 

park just the place to have an MG Morning tea 

with our neighbours from Bundy. 

We we had just parked our cars and David and 

Sonja Carter arrived in their immaculate MGB 

Roadster to join us. We were just setting up our 

chairs when there was a rumble of MG exhausts 

in the air. The Bundy & Distract Chapter had 

arrived and did they arrive in numbers. Every 

different colour that you could think of - there 

Sports cars everywhere. All of a sudden the Car 

Park was full and we had taken over the entire 

Park and then another burble in the distance and 

The Hot Rods arrived and Parked on the nature 

strip. All of our cars made an amazing sight and 

were a good talking point with most of us not 

agreeing on the way the hot rods have been 

chopped and changed around from original. We 

guess that’s what they enjoy. 

It was nice to see Mark and Jan Rouse arrive in 

their MGB with 2 of their neighbours in tow who 

are very interested in joining the club 

In all with the 2 chapters we had a total of 

26 Cars and 47 people attend this combined 

meeting. We all had a great day out with perfect 

weather. Many thanks go to Les and Jouike Kelly 

for this wonderful outing 

Midweek Run on the 23rd August 2017 - by 

David Hall and Lyn Hayward 

The August mid week run to Brooklyn House 

was nicely attended with 13 members and 8 cars 

on another beautiful day in paradise. We drove 

through the countryside taking in the views of 

River Heads, Booral and Takura arriving at the 

historical Coal mining town of Howard. A very 

nice morning tea was awaiting us at Brooklyn 

House an exquisite old Queenslander nestled 

among four acres of lush gardens. 

Our host Jan Ward made us some home made 

scones with lots of Jam and real Cream, some 

pots of tea were waiting on the tables to be 

enjoyed by all. It was a very enjoyable morning 

had by all and after saying our goodbyes David 

and Lyn took in the Tour of the Home which 

48 


ought us back to the nineteenth century, the 

antique furnishings, stained glass windows and 

even a smoking room. The kitchen did have 

some mod cons but the heritage of the old 

homestead has been retained by the current 

owners who have spent a lot of time and money 

in the total restoration of the property. I guess it’s 

a bit like us restoring our old MGs but on a lot 

larger scale. 



WHITSUNDAY CHAPTER 

by Cathie Meredith 

July 9 saw quite a few cars turn up at the Old 

School Breakfast at the Harbour. However, 

everyone had too many other things happening 

to go for a run afterwards. 

August 13 was a special Old School Breakfast 

fundraiser for a local 2 year old girl who has 

been coming to Covered in Chrome events with 

her parents since she was a week old. Earlier 

this year, little Kacey was diagnosed with acute 

lymphoblastic leukaemia and flown to Brisbane 

to start 8 months of Chemotherapy. After this 

morning’s breakfast, there was a cruise to the 

Pinnacle Hotel for an Old School Show and 

Shine, with all proceeds going to support 

Kacey’s family. 

were even more cars than when the MG Club 

had been there last year !! At 9:30 the convoy 

of classic cars left the Marina to cruise up the 

Pioneer Valley to the Pinnacle Hotel for the Show 

and Shine. Unfortunately, there were no MGs 

among the prize winners, but Kacey’s family 

were presented with over $3000 from the day. 

August 27 was the Seaforth Car Show, which 

had to be postponed after Cyclone Debbie. 

There was a great turn out for this event, with 

quite a few MGs in the mix. As well as the 

Show and Shine, there were tappet cover races 

and a Pin Up Parlour for the Miss Hibiscus 

Honey Competition. A great day was had by all 

who attended, supporting the Hibiscus Coast 

Progress Association. 

The Motoring enthusiasts of Mackay and district 

came out in force to support this cause. The car 

park at the Marina was overflowing with many 

vehicles that had never been there before. There 

50 



THAT LOT 

Who are they? 

very hard especially their top halfs - Jim said ‘they 

had very skinny legs’. We spent the day passing 

this Toyota Hilux towing this trailer with a Telstra 

Shop advert on the back. No idea what was in the 

trailer but there was oil dripping everywhere. Must 

see Wayne about this! 

That Lot was never officially formed but rather 

evolved. Initially Sandra and Jim travelled to 

National Meetings with members of MGCC Qld 

who were mainly from Brisbane. Shortly after, 

Graham Hoyle (Bev joined the group a couple 

of years later) started doing likewise, then the 

Kirwans , the Kunsts the Vanderkyles. 

As the numbers increased the north Queensland 

contingent naturally evolved into That Lot. They 

have travelled as a group to; Maitland, Tasmania 

(twice), Tamworth, Gold Coast, Geelong, Adelaide, 

Newcastle, Melbourne, Perth (diminished numbers) 

and again Adelaide this year. 

THE BLOG 

Ed: Part of this group from Central Queensland 

who were travelling together to Adelaide decided 

to record their trip to the 2017 National Meeting 

as a blog with contributions made most nights 

whilst celebrating the end of another day. Their 

blog has been reproduced below - thus the very 

conversational and casual style. Enjoy the trip - 

and their evening get togethers - with them! 

DAY 1 The North Queensland ‘That Lot’ are 

heading off today and the Scarborough Lot are 

furiously packing, cleaning the car etc in a valiant 

effort to meet up tonight rather than tomorrow. 

DAY 2 - TAMWORTH - Left Warwick for 

Wallangarra. One party member needed to revisit 

Warwick to collect their iPad. Meanwhile the 

rest of the group spent a relaxing morning at the 

Wallangarra Train Station. Had an interesting 

interlude with a person who thought he owned 

channel #25. Undaunted we kept travelling 

onwards and upwards to Glenn Innes where 

fortunately there were no Celtic celebrations 

in progress so we dined in the local park for 

lunch. From here we travelled down the New 

England Highway, event free until we reached our 

destination for the evening- Tamworth. We were 

fortunate enough to be able to catch a coach to the 

West Sports Club where we had a delightful dinner. 

Unfortunately we couldn’t hear each other talk as 

we had the company of the Police Football players 

masquerading as ‘wanabe’s origin players’ with 

their blue and maroon jerseys. They must work out 

Towing the trailer 

DAY 3 AND DAY 4 

So Day 3 - Left Tamworth at the stoke at 10:30 and 

headed to Scone somewhat impeded by roadworks. 

Lunched Merriwa which is a delightful little town. 

Pies were rated as per Graham’s Piemeter - Jim 

8 and 7.5 Gary 7.2 and Wayne was 7.6. From 

Merriwa we went to Gulgong and saw the Opera 

House, the only opera house in Australia still 

functioning as its original purpose. 

From here we headed to Wellington where it 

was reassuring to see a growth industry - The 

Correctional Centre with a new complex being built, 

at least 100% larger - very impressive. 

Finally made it to Orange - motel rooms were in 

miniature - small rooms, small TV, small cupboard... 

small everything! 

DAY 4 - TEMORA 

Left Orange after a tour 

of Orange. Visited the 

information centre - how do 

they mow that roof. Museum 

was interesting and very 

informative. Moved onto 

Cook Park and saw the most 

amazing display of Begonias. 

Went back to the information 

centre for smoko. 

Due to a lack of interest in the Telstra trailer, we 

decided we had to take it with us. Left Orange to 

Canowindra where we had lunch at the Garden of 

Roses cafe - Nice people and very eager to please. 

We went to Grenfell to see Henry Lawson’s 

birth place - actually only a obelisk in a park. Bit 

disappointing. The tree planted by his daughter in 

1924 is still standing proud. 

52 


Henry Lawson tree 

Moved right along to 

Young for fuel and 

travelled on the longest 

piece of road works seen 

to day. This supplied all 

vehicles with samples of 

the gravel in use. 

We arrrived at Temora 

today and will leave 

Temora tomorrow to 

travel to Tooleybec. 

We find beautiful coffee shops and cafes in most 

of the unlikely little towns. Amazing that Griffith 

is remembered by everyone because of Donald 

McKay. Then travelled by error on the Hay plain 

road to Hay - still a boring piece of highway. Saw 

some emus and cotton crops being planted. 

Made Hay while the sun was still shining and also 

had lunch AGAIN! 

Had an easy drive to Tooleybuc. The “Perth and 

beyond” team stopped here 2016 and fell in love 

with the place. Just a quiet little place on the 

Murray River - NSW on one side and Victoria on 

the other. 

AN ADDITION TO DAY 4 

We travel from Temora tomorrow on a tedious 

torturous tar sealed track that tends to be torn up 

by trucks towing TE 20 tractors on tandem trailers 

followed by a Two Thousand and Twelve Toyota 

towing a Telstra Trailer with a two-tone TF tied down 

terribly across tranquil treeless terrain to travel to 

Tooleybuc tomorrow. 

Tooleybec 

Tonight we need to find accommodation from here 

to Barossa Valley and as school holidays have 

started we are having some difficulties. 

THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS BOUGHT TO 

YOU BY THE LETTER ‘B’ 

Tomorrow after crossing the bumpy bridge we 

go down the bumpy boring black bi-lane bitimum 

broken by B doubles with big brakes under bright 

skies, leaving the beautiful begonias behind but 

onwards ever onwards to the Barossa Valley where 

we are begging for a bed in the back of the big 

bummed Telstra bogie trailer with a blow up bed 

because we couldn’t borrow a B & B. 

DAY 6 - MURRAY BRIDGE 

Victoria was a mere blip on our radar today but we 

did follow the same river from Tooleybuc to Murray 

Bridge and crossed three states in the one day. 

The TF ensconced in her blanket 

DAY 5 - TOOLEYBUC 

We are in Tooleybuc after leaving Toomera 

today. Passed through Barellan where Yvonne 

Goolagong was born. Moved onto Griffith for 

smoko at an amazing cafe. Passed through a 

couple of wineries. These most certainly were 

not boutique - very large with massive vineyards. 

Today we terminated our travels to Tooleybuc 

and plunged into South Australia. As much as 

we looked we could not find the Malley Boy. And 

looked we did as there was nothing else to look 

at. We searched desperately for the town centre 

of Ouyen and only found it because of our previous 

observation training doing Observation Runs with 

the MG Club. 

It was disappointing to have Megan and Wayne 

having to pay the ultimate price to get into SA - 9 

limes, 1 cucumber and 2 tomatoes of questionably 


Phone or fax for a 

FREE 

54 PAGE 

CATALOGUE 

54 


quality. Obviously they were not having a BBQ 

tonight as the onions were allowed in. 

IT HAD TO HAPPEN - After morning tea the MGA 

suffered the indignity of having a flat battery. It took 

two (2) veterans of open heart surgery, one young 

lass in high heels and one woman of ‘a certain age’ 

to push the car up the only hill in Ouyen. Luckily 

Wayne was there to provide historical evidence. 

DAY 7 - MURRAY BRIDGE 

Today ‘That Lot’ rested and reposed themselves at 

Murray Bridge. We released the two tone TF from 

the Telstra Tandem Trailer previously tethered to a 

Toyota Two Thousand and Twelve Hilux. 

We proceeded on our journey at altitudes of 

dizzying heights varying from 80m above sea level 

to 100m above sea level over the ensuing 100 km. 

Victoria although short, managed to get people lost. 

Who knew there were three roads out of Tooleybuc. 

We stopped for lunch at Tailen Bend where the 

only pies on offer were rabbit or lamb shank - Lamb 

shank pie rating 6.7 

Took the opportunity to visit the Railway museum 

and view a bit of the history at Tailen Bend where 

800 - 1000 people were once employed. 

The TF after release from the trailer 

Settled into the iconic Murray Bridge on the iconic 

Murray River. It was decided to have a BBQ this 

evening which required the rearranging of garden 

furniture to suit the group’s requirements. 

Where did it get so dirty! 

Other members of That Lot brought a MG along but Wayne 

decided a picnic table was faster. More seats, more storage 

and handles better. 

THIS PARAGRAPH IS BOUGHT TO YOU BY THE 

LETTER ‘W’ 

When the sun is high and the wind is low in a 

wintery wonderland, we will wander off the windy 

woad to the wine country. We hope there are no 

wascally wabbits with no one throwing wocks next 

to the wailway wine. On the way on a wicked 

weekend to the winery where we will wove to have 

some wine whilst wandering past the weeping 

willows, we will wonder at the wide windswept plain. 

Where upon we will on the way home whilst with 

William and Wayne who was whittling on his whittle 

wooden whistle, wondering which way Wayne will 

wander. Woo Woo!! 

We headed off to Mt Barker in hot pursuit of the 

TF 20 to find a Super Cheap. To cut a long story 

short, we finally arrived at SC only to discover 

they had a computer malfunction which prohibited 

the purchase of a gift card to satisfy a birthday 

wish. Undaunted and undeterred we headed to 

Strathalbyn where the group regrouped - Pie rating 

- 5. 

Strathalbyn Park 

From here we took in 

the vista of the park and 

stopped at Bleasdale 

winery at Langhorne 

Creek where we tasted 

the fruits of their labour 

and came away with a 

personalised flagon. We 

saw the last remaining 


wine press in Australia made from red gum and 

wax. 

Travelled back to Murray Bridge to prepare for our 

Murray River dinner cruise. All on time and even 

early - amazing! 

Cruise was lovely with a great meal and live music. 

Whyalla 

Whyalla is an interesting place with the steel works 

and the first boat to be built in Whyalla. Had fish 

and chips and followed in the footsteps of Queen 

Elizabeth who visited here 1954 and climbed 

Hummock Hill. 

Sunset on the Murray 

DAYS 8 AND 9 

Left Murray Bridge on Sunday to head to Port 

Pirie. Jim and Sandy headed to McLaren Vale 

to visit Jim’s sister whilst the rest of That Lot took 

off towards the Barossa Valley. We skirted Mt 

Pleasant and headed to Williamstown where we 

had a memorable morning tea/lunch. Continued 

on to Lyndoch where we came across a vintage car 

display with vehicles going back to the 19th century 

and a large range of model T Fords. The horseless 

carriage - A DeDion Bouton 1904 was a big hit. 

They started her up and drove and pushed her off. 

Then drove onto Gawler and moved onto the Stuart 

Highway towards Kapunda where we ran into the 

veteran cars again where they were displayed at 

Greenock. Then onto Kapunda, home of Sir Sidney 

Kidman and took the opportunity to see his gift to 

the community - his home which is now a school. 

After leaving Kapunda we travelled on through 

the Clare Valley home of some famous Australian 

wines, through Gladstone and onto Port Pirie. 

Jim and Sandy left McClaren Vale and travelled 

independently of The Group to meet up with us not 

long after we arrived. 

Monday saw us leave Port Pirie after visiting 

the ‘i’ which is a converted railway station which 

incorporates a marvellous library. The platform of 

the station was once the longest platform in the 

Southern Hemisphere 2,500 feet. Had a look over 

the ‘bridge to nowhere’ and then headed towards 

Whyalla via Port Augusta. Gary and Julie left 

independently to meet up with friends in Whyalla. 

Travelled down the highway to Cowell where it 

is COLD. The forward scouts have located the 

oysters of Cowell - they will surely be on the menu 

tonight. 

TODAY’S PARAGRAPHS ARE BROUGHT TO 

YOU BY THE LETTER ‘C’ 

We are in comfy Cowell where it is the commencing 

day of the calendar week. We are comfy out of 

the cold in Cowell with cumulus cloud cover eating 

cheese and crackers. We are considering catching 

crabs using the crab catcher with curling crab 

combs to caress and contain the crabs. 

Just contacted companions in Canberra for a 

conversation via the computer covering country 

concerns. 

Could we consider combining considerations of 

consolation of cooling Castlemaine beer which 

comes from the cannery in central CBD in Caxton 

Street, in lieu of cider. 

Can’t wait to converse re our cuisine which will 

consist of crustaceans covered in crumbs cooked in 

canola by the chief. No cuisine is complete without 

a creamy, caramel chocolate eclair courtesy of 

Cadbury’s. Yummy! 

This comes to you courtesy of a collection of crazy 

Caucasians. 

DAY 10 

Left Wayne and Megan at Cowell who, at the 

suggestion of Malcolm T (PM), went to learn once 

again where the black, red and green wires go. 

Megan and Wayne meanwhile took the Lucky Bay 

ferry complete with the Tandem Telstra Trailer to 

56 


Wallaroo and then into Adelaide. The rest of ‘That 

Lot’ drove to Port Lincoln stopping in at Arno Bay 

and Tumby Bay. We settled into the Hilton Motel 

where Jim and Sandy, Bill and Beth took advantage 

of the basement suites whilst Gary and Julie had a 

more conventional room. 

Drove over to Coffin Bay where we had lunch – 

oysters natural and sea food at Café 1802 looking 

out over The Great Southern Ocean. 

Travelled back to Port Lincoln for the night and 

afternoonzees drinks included waiting for the Pink 

Moon that never eventuated. Dinner that night was 

interesting with the largest but thinnest schnitzel 

you have ever seen. About the size of a pair of 

thongs and just as tough too! 

Nice to catch up with the vast majority of MG 

members and then out to dinner taking in the 

sunset from Glenelg water front 

DAY 12 

Jim and Bill set off to help maintain the profitably 

of Supercheap and Repco and to do some 

maintenance on their cars. Meantime Beth and 

Sandra did some retail therapy in nearby Glenelg. 

Gary and Julie rejoined the party later that day 

after driving around the top of Spencer’s gulf from 

Whyalla. 

DAY 13, 14, 15, 16 - MG National Meeting 

The ferry 

DAY 11 

Left Gary and Julie in Port Lincoln to see more of 

the sights of the area and to visit their old friends 

while the remainder of That Lot - Bill and Beth, Jim 

and Sandra headed back to Cowell to buy some 

oysters for the ferry trip across Spencer Gulf from 

Lucky Bay to Wallaroo. Beautiful day and worth the 

trip. Then drove down to Glenelg timing their arrival 

to meet with Adelaide’s peak hour traffic. Phones 

flat, GPS recalcitrant, drivers and passengers a little 

tense. 

GIVE ME THAT GOLD MEDAL 

(No one will believe me otherwise) 

Thought we should put Wayne out of his misery 

and let him know that the puddle of oil under the 

two toned green TF20 in the Telstra tandem trailer 

that had it tethered, was not so much engine oil but 

rather the consistency of a little bottle of oil that may 

or may not reside in a two thousand and twelve 

Toyota Hilux toolbox. Needless to say, the look of 

relief was spectacular. Megan said she hadn’t seen 

Wayne look that relieved since the little stick came 

back negative. Wayne said, ‘With friends like 

NM concours 


Another successful meet for That Lot. 

Loyal Raiders 

supporters 

that who 

needs drip 

trays.’ Jim 

maintains 

that he tried 

desperately 

to stop 

Gary and 

Megan from 

performing 

such a 

nasty trick 

but to no 

avail! 

Wayne was the unsung hero winning everything, 

showing shrewd judgement by updating his trailer to 

the infamous Telstra Tandem Trailer which delivered 

the TF in terrific condition complete with white wall 

tyres. Behind our Perpetual Trophy winner stands 

the Magnificent Megs attending to all the minute 

detailing. The additional space in the trailer was 

just enough to store the innumerable number of 

trophies he had to take back with him. Telstra will 

be pleased! 

Jim once again picked up the gold medal in 

concours while Bill was awarded the bronze in 

concours, silver in the motorkhana and along with 

Beth’s invaluable assistance picked up the gold 

in the observation run. Graham and Bev Hoyle 

who had to cancel their trip due to a little puff of 

wind called Debbie, also picked up the “Hard Luck 

Trophy”. 

to Sydney, Jim, Sandy, Gary and Julie taking off 

to celebrate a 1st and a 40th birthday party in 

Melbourne with Gary and Julie’s granddaughter and 

daughter in law and Jim and Sandra’s 45th wedding 

anniversary. They travelled by the Coorong and the 

Great Ocean Road. Bill and Beth took a respite in 

McLaren Vale and then headed home. 

All members of That Lot made it home safe and 

sound ready for the next adventure. 

THE NEXT SEGMENT IS BOUGHT TO YOU BY 

THE LETTER A (and Telstra of course) 

Altogether the Adelaide trip was an aphrodisiac of 

adventure. Alternate itinerarys were abundant and 

aspired to be a great antiseptic for apathy. 

Acquaintances became allies. Associates became 

Alter egos. More importantly, accomplices became 

alibis! 

Our almighty automobiles ( F20 included Jim!!!) 

aided in the aesthetics of abundant Australian 

atmospheres. Had we been on aeroplanes we 

would have accrued ample points to enhance one’s 

arithmetic. 

One could not easily ascertain if the MG A had 

alloys or was an automatic as it ascended areas of 

inclination with agility, ease and acceleration. Aside 

from a small acclivity at Ouyan of course! 

Alas, we had to acquiesce to the abatement of our 

Adelaide adventure. Anguish not, dear friends, 

for we will adjourn at an alternate time and place 

elsewhere with analogous automotive objectives to 

accommodate our itinerant ways. 

Auf Wiedersehen. Au Revoir. Adios. Adieu. Alleluia! 

AMEN. 

The highlight of the meet must surely 

be the theme evening. Who will ever 

forget the Australian Swim Team...sorry, 

the Minions. Surely congratulations 

are in order to Pat Walker, who, every 

year, endeavours to make us look silly 

and really excelled herself in 2017. 

Great night, good friends, good fun! If 

there was a trophy for best dancers, 

Queensland would have won that too! 

Those Minions know how to move. 

It should, however, be noted that the 

competition were real Wallys. 

DAY 17 

Enjoyed our farewell breakfast at the 

Glenelg Club and took our separate 

ways with Wayne and Megan heading 

58 

The Octagon -September 2017 

The ‘MINIONS’ or the Australian Swim Team

Competition Corner 

QUEENSLAND ICC Touring HILLCLIMB 

Assembly, 30th July 

CHAMPIONSHIPS by Don Webster 4/5 JUNE 

On track photos are by Steve Johns; 

presentation of trophies are by Brad Stratton 

52 

2016 EUREKA LANDSCAPES 

QUEENSLAND HILLCLIMB 

CHAMPIONSHIPS 

by Ace Reporter 

Weather played a role on Friday with rain 

resulting 

The Interclub 

in 

Challenge 

very few 

consists 

taking 

of 

up 

a range 

the offer 

events 

from static displays to full on Super sprints. The 

of additional practice. Rain on Saturday 

Northern District Sporting Car Club’s component of 

saw the Challenge only the was adventurous a Touring Assembly come and out Fun to Drive 

try held the on Sunday conditions. 30th July. This This rain covered washed a distance any 

rubber of just over from 200 the kilometres track surface in the Lockyer and valley, even and 

though left from Yamanto Sunday to gave finish a at brilliant Upper Flagstone. winter day Of 23 

the cars track entered surface for the event, was only a dry 16 yet cars cold started track and 

surface finished. Members so the possibility from Northern of Districts, record times Porsche 

looked Car Club, uncertain. Holden Sporting The Car entry Club, attracted BMW, Brisbane 

Malcolm 

Sporting Car 

Oastler 

Club and 

current 

MG competed. 

Australian, 

Representing 

New 

MGCCQ were Malcolm Spiden driving his MGBGT 

South Wales and Queensland champion 

with navigator Bevan Harris, Don Webster in his 

in MGTD his OMS with navigator 28 again Bernie with Pereira, the Hayabusa 

and Tony Best as 

turbocharged navigator for Chris engine. Harbeck in his Mazda RX7. 

DA This and was the BJ first COTTON time that Bernie SPONSORED 

and I had been on a 

CLASSES 

run such as this. We were more used to shorter night 

runs with instructions following on from the previous 

First one and class this therefore of each defined run was the for route the to follow. Holden This 

HQ 

was different 

group which 

in that we 

was 

were 

won 

provided 

by Anthony 

with maps 

Toft 

and 

a list of instructions, and we had to work out the route 

with a best run of 56.01 seconds. Barry 

using only roads shown on the map, with the proviso 

Smith that unless (Ford noted V8 otherwise, Special) the took route the selected Group would K 

(Post be the shortest Vintage obvious Thoroughbred one between cars selected 1931 points. to 

1940) The shortest with mapped a 61.64 route run meant from we John had Anderson 

to follow the 

(Woltri, route exactly 63.87). as mapped! Production Touring Cars 

(1958 to 1972) Group N up to 2000 cc 

went With help to Ken from another Freeburn experienced (again competitor, down from we 

Cairns were able for to the use the championships) instructions to work with out a our 53.70 route 

time 

on the 

from 

map for 

Paul 

the 

Shergold 

first section, 

(54.35) 

but then we 

both 

were on 

our own for the remaining four sections. The trick is to 

driving Ford Cortina models. Noel Wicks 

sit down somewhere quiet with the instructions and the 

won map and the highlight over 2 the litre route class before in his starting Holden the section. 

Torana It became GTR quite XU1 difficult (50.91 for us to sec). do it on Fred the run Sayers with 

took A3 maps the in Group an open O car! for Sports Sedans 

(Historic Racing and Sports Racing cars 

1966 However to we 1969) persisted, in the and ex with Don many Holland stops, and 

lightweight retracing of our Morris steps we Cooper managed S in to get 52.03 most sec of the 

whilst questions, Steve and still Purdy get to Group the finish S by (Production 

the cut off time. 

Sports 

From Yamanto 

Cars 

we 

1941 

travelled 

to 1977) 

via Churchbank 

MG Midget 

Weir to 

Warrill View past Cunningham’s Lookout to the railway 

49.87 sec. Roy Davis took the Group T 

crossing in Rosewood. The next section journeyed 

The Octagon - July 2016 

(Production through Haigslea Sports and Marburg Cars with to stop a at Competition 

a servo near 

Minden for a fuel/refresh/pit stop. After being suitably 

History 1941 to 1981) in his Triumph GT6 

refreshed it was onwards ignoring the No Through 

running 

Road sign 

a 

for 

49.13 

Mountain 

time 

View 

with 

Drive 

the 

to 

Group 

Hatton Vale. 

U class 

(Sport Sedans up to 1985) going to Chris 

Johns Section in Four his took Ford us to Escort just north with of Laidley a best through run of 

47.54 Forest Hill, seconds. to a point just outside Gatton. The final 

section had us driving through certain parts of Gatton 

CARRIC to Tenthill, Lilydale, ACCOUNTING Glen Ripple, AND Blanchview BUSINESS to finish 

SYSTEMS at Scotty’s Barn SPONSORED at Upper Flagstone. CLASSES Director Laurie 

Garth found or remembered from his navigation rally 

days some great touring roads for us to journey along. 

The All Wheel Drive Forced Induction 

Of the 43 questions, Chris Harbeck and Tony Best 

class 

came first 

went 

with 

to 

42, 

the 

Malcolm 

multiple 

and 

Queensland 

Bevan came fourth 

Motorkhana with 37, and we Champion, came twelfth with Noel 32. Caplet, Ken and in Pauline 

the Graham Subaru helped Liberty the Holden turbo Sporting with a Car best Club run team in 

of their 48.21 BMW seconds and finished and with Derek 31 questions. Grant We in his were 

Subaru the oldest Liberty car there, turbo and the GT only with open a 57.79 one, but time. we 

Mark finished Pryor in just was under quickest seven hours. of the The Hyundai organisers 

Excel have given X3 out Series a list cars of the with answers a 51.85 to questions, run which and 

was the correct only route 0.08 to sec have outside been followed. the class record 

with Bradley Smith (53.68) and Tony Walsh 

With this feedback, I am sure that we can do better if a 

(55.35). 

similar run is held. More importantly, the car went well 

and we had an interesting day in brilliant crisp Winter 

BRAD weather. KIMBERLEY CARS SPONSORED 

CLASSES 

(Ed: According to the pointscore for the event below, 

The our members smaller achieved engine 2nd capacity place in class the event in and 

Improved lifted us to 5th Production place overall) cars was won by 

Grant Liddell (Datsun 1200 Coupe, 52.74) 

MULTI CLUB KHANACROSS 9 July 2017 

from Karl Reinke (Hyundai Excel, 61.28) 

by Ace Reporter 

slightly 

The bitumen 

ahead 

khanacross 

of Jo Reinke 

at the Driver 

(Hyundai 

Training area 

Excel, behind the 61.63 Willowbank seconds). Drag complex Dave Sidery had 2 separate (VW 

Beetle, test areas 50.61) with one finished the lower ahead car park of Karlie and the 

Buccini second at (Proton the lower Satria, end of the 50.76) strip. Both in the areas 1601 ran 4 

to attempts 2000 before cc class the courses whilst the were 2001 reversed to 3000 for a further cc 

class 4 attempts. saw a tussle between Ken Graham 

(Datsun 1600 SSS,45.93) and Pauline 

Graham At the conclusion (Datsun Noel 1600 Caplet SSS, had recorded 46.33) the with best 

overall result when all times were calculated. He 

Troy McGrogan (Mitsubishi Lancer, 48.45) 

recorded a total time of 575.72 seconds in his Subaru 

and 

Liberty 

Martin 

trailed 

Egglesfield 

by Pauline Graham 

(Ford 

(Datsun 

Fiesta 

1600 

ST 

turbo, SSS) with 49.41) a total completing of 582.67 then the Ken class. Graham Ken 582.93 was 

quickest seconds. Ken over was the the first quickest 2 runs on the until car Pauline park section 

grabbed with his times the totalling lead with 235.78 a 46.33 seconds run from to Noel hold 

this (240.84) position then Pauline until the (240.94 fifth seconds). and final climb 

with Ken recorded the winning run with a 

45.93 Other MG time. members Paul competing Buccini took were the Malcolm over Spiden 3 litre 

capacity recording a class total of with 715.67 a run seconds of 47.13 whilst secs Richard in 

Mattea used the opportunity to assist Juniors 

his BMW 135i from the Holden Commodore 

Alexandra Mattea and Jeremy Mattea hone their 

of 

driving 

Noel 

skills 

Preston 

in the mighty 

(51.27 

Hyundai 

seconds). 

Excel. 


Although the following event is not an MGCCQ event, it 

draws many of our members to take part in this annual 

sprint meeting. One of this year’s competitors, Col 

Schiller, has written his account of the event. 

Leyburn 2017 

by Col Schiller 

The 22nd Historic Leyburn Sprints were held on the 

19-20th August. This was the first time I had driven 

the Leyburn track and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My 

MG TB (Jack Nind special) last raced at Leyburn in 

1949 but failed to finish. It completed 21 laps of the 35 

lap race before throwing a conrod through the block. 

It has now finished a race a Leyburn! I saw six MGs 

participating during the event and several others in the 

display paddock. Quite a few MG Car Club members 

visited over the weekend and many stopped and had 

a chat. My TB was parked in the main intersection 

area, so I wasn’t very close to the rest of the MGs. 

Saturday was very challenging with a nasty cold wind 

cutting through you; Sunday was better with an early 

frost then developing into a beautiful day. Most people 

who attended are now wind burnt and sun burnt. Ross 

Kelly (MG NB) and Colin Schiller (MG TB) competed 

in Group K with some very close times, both ending 

up with 1min 5 sec. Flavio Paggiaro with his MG B 

(V8), Stephen Callaghan (MG B), George Diggles (MG 

Magnette) and Leith Johnson (MG F) were also having 

good runs. I didn’t get their times, but from what I 

heard, they were quick as well. 

As usual with these types of events you meet lots of 

interesting people. I met two extraordinary gentlemen, 

Bob Holden and Clive Puzey. Bob Holden won 

Bathurst in 1968 with a Mini Cooper S and has been 

racing for 68 years. Our conversation started when 

he realised that my Jack Nind MG TB special hadn’t 

been to Leyburn for 68 years. He filled me in on a lot of 

detail covering his racing career. Clive Puzey is an ex- 

South African who used to work on Goldie Gardner’s 

60 


CLUB POINTS FOLLOWING AFTER THE KHANACROSS AND THE OBSERVATION RUN SHOWING 

MGCCQ IN 5th POSITION 

cars and many other Formula cars. Clive has many 

old MG parts in his possession, one example being 

the petrol cap from the EX 135 MG which Goldie gave 

to him as a thank you present. Ross won his category 

and I won mine, plus the People Choice Award for 

Historic Cars and another trophy for Spirit of the Event. 

They must have enjoyed watching me trying to keep 

the MG on the track (I went off a few times but always 

brought it back on). I’m sorry but I don’t know if the 

other MG guys picked up prizes, I went home early to 

unload our cattle from the EKKA. Overall, Leyburn is a 

great weekend. 

The Leyburn committee has taken many photos of our 

cars and will be using them for many years for publicity, 

great for the MG Marque! 

Ross Kelly’s MG NB (left) and Col Schiller’s MG TB (right) 

waiting their turn in their pits. 


Test and Tune 

26th August 

Amongst the cars at the Test and Tune afternoon 

on 26th August were the three cars pictured here. 

Let’s hope we can look forward to seeing them at our 

coming hillclimbs 

. 

They are (pictured above) the new OMS Formula 

Libre car of Ed McCane. Ed has previously competed 

at Mt Cotton in a Hayward openwheeler in which he 

was successful in joining the ‘Under 40s Club’. 

Picture right (above) is an MGF which Chris Johns has 

added to his stable and which showed great promise 

on its first outing as Chris consistently lowered his time 

with each of his runs ending up just a blink above 50s 

on his final run. 

Bottom (right) is Ken Wasley in his beautiful and rare 

V8 powered MG SV-R which was featured in the March 

2016 Octagon. Hopefully this won’t be the last time that 

it is seen in action at Mt Cotton. 

62 



Hillclimbs 

64 

or by email to vprojects@internode.on.net

Octagon Sept 2017

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