September - Austin Healey Owners Club of Victoria

CONTENTS
Editor’s Notes Page 2
Coming events Page 3
President’s Report Page 4
Rusty Springs Page 5
Meeting Minutes Page 7
Feature Article - NOJ Part 1 Page 9
Side Exhaust Page 14
More from Iain McPherson on Healeys that raced in Australia Page 18
ROF’s Report Page 22
For Sale and Wanted Page 24
FROM THE EDITOR
You may notice a few changes to the magazine this month. Not too much, just a tweaking of the page format with the
addition of a footer and a little less blank area at the top. The intention is to give it a bit more of a professional look.
Our feature article is the first in a series of three on the life of NOJ 392 during its Victorian stay, put together by the two
people who knew her best - Brian Dermott and John Gray.
The committee, in its wisdom, has given permission for us to use colour in the centre pages to enhance the article. It’s
a pity that some of the early photos are in black and white. The additional colour comes at a small extra expense but
given the savings we have made and the additional advertising revenue derived this year we think cost is worth it for
special articles such as this one.
Iain McPherson has come up with yet another story on racing Healeys and “Side Exhaust” unearthed a rare photo of
Donald Healey which inspired him to write something a little different this month.
There is no competition report this month as Rod Vogt is away so even with the abundance of articles I was able to
keep down to 24 pages. Watch out next month though - Rod has to get two month’s worth in!
Just after last month’s edition went to bed (gee, I’m getting into the printing lingo).my copy of “RoyalAuto” arrived. On
reading it I reflected on the metamorphosis it has undergone over the years from being predominantly a motoring
magazine with lots of road tests and general motoring information to what is now a “lifestyle” publication with lots and
lots of advertising.
I remarked on this to another of our members who pointed out that the majority of its readers (ie RACV members) are
no longer just “motoring people” but come from a great diversity of backgrounds and that the RACV now derives much
of its revenue from insurance and travel.
That may be the case, but given the RACV's participation in motoring heritage events, it is remiss of them that they give
so little space in the aftermath of those activities, considering the effort they put into publicising them. Anyone see any
references to our award winning displays at The Classic Showcase in the last two years or a photo of the Concours
winner which they sponsored? Just my opinion for what it's worth.
Whilst on that subject, included in this issue is an entry form for the RACV/AOMC Cilty to Club Rally on Sunday 23 rd
October.
President Bill, in his report, stressed the need for members to come forward and fill the committee vacancies that will
surely occur at the end of the year. Mine will be one. To that end I am producing a “manual” to aid the new editor and
will be happy to provide assistance for the first couple of issues. I came to the position with little skill in MS Word and
none in publishing a newsletter. The improvements in our magazine are largely due to trial and error (lots of error) and
bits and pieces of advice from various sources over the last three years. Even so, I still type using the "two-fingered
hunt and peck” method. Apart from MS Word, all the programs I use were downloaded for nothing from the “net”
including the PDF creator and editor.
Harvey Pearce
2
HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS SEPTEMBER 2011