Octagon July, 2016

Official Journal of the MG Car Club of Queensland Inc. 

ctagon 

The 

No. 4 July 2016 

Dean Tighe is pictured sensationally on his run when he set a new fastest 

time of 36.99s around Mt Cotton hillclimb by a Queenslander on June 26. 

(Photo by Steve Johns) 

The Octagon - July 2016 1

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 

Name Phone Mobile Email 

PRESIDENT 

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

VICE PRESIDENT 

Vacant 

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 

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

Neil Lewis 3807 6273 0417 773 425 neil.lewis@clarkslogancity.com.au 

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

Steve Price 0448 325 247 sjp61@internode.on.net 

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 5826 

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 0427 220 602 

Co-ordinator 

nlj52@bigpond.com 

Chapter Liaison David Miles 3892 2699 

Far Nth Qld Chapter John Fransen 0458 658 830 

Wide Bay Chapter David Hall 0490 363 889 

Darling Downs Chapter Gary Lawrence 4696 8314 

Capricorn Chapter Gurney Clamp 4939 4760 

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

All enquiries to the secretary: 

C/o GPO Box 1847 Brisbane 4001 

2 

The Octagon - July 2016 

Headquarters: 8/16 Collinsvale Street, Rocklea 

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.

President’s Report 

It has been a rather hectic few months since my 

last President’s report with club activities continuing 

unabated. The diversity of the club and its members 

means that there is always someone somewhere 

getting up to something MG and/or Motorsport related. 

I’m always pleased to see and hear of our members’ 

enthusiasm for their preferred motoring activity. 

Since my last report the Eureka Landscapes 2016 

Queensland Hillclimb Championship has been run 

despite the very high unseasonal rainfall which saw little 

activity on track on the two practice days. However we 

awoke on Sunday to a glorious winter’s day on which 

the competitors put on a magnificent display of Speed 

Hillclimbing, with Malcolm Oastler the eventual winner 

from Dean Tighe and Michael von Rappard. A big thank 

you to our sponsors for the event, Eureka Landscapes, 

DA & BJ Cotton, Brad Kimberley Cars, Thunderbox 

Toolboxes and Tighe Cams. I should also say a big 

thank you to Rick Miles of A Miles & Co. for his great 

work with the club’s trophies. 

I must give a special thank you to those people who 

worked as volunteers over the weekend, in particular 

on the two wet days. A special thanks also to Berenice 

Stratton for her running of the Canteen over the 

weekend, which she did with her typical smile. 

I was very pleased and excited to see that you can now 

purchase a ‘new’ MG in Queensland with the MG6 now 

being offered for sale by the Norris Motor Group. The 

early stock all look to be 2013 builds but they still come 

with a 3 year warranty. Hopefully this means that the 

MG3 and recently released (in the UK) MG GS will 

soon be available locally. The club will attempt to reestablish 

our contacts with both the Australian importer 

and local dealers. The last time MGs were available 

new in Australia we saw a significant increase in club 

membership, so let’s hope we see the same trend again. 

Mid-week runs continue to be an extremely popular 

activity, it’s great to have members putting their hands 

up to organise these social activities both here in the SE 

corner and the regions. My thanks to those members 

who have organised a run in the recent months. 

Preparations continue for the Regional Chapters gettogether 

in Mackay during August. David Miles has 

been working hard on putting together a great few days 

in a region where the club does not currently have an 

established group, I sure that by the end of the weekend 

we will be well and truly on the path to a strong local 

presence in the area. 

Members recently visited the Shannon’s Insurance 

offices in West End for a social evening and information 

night hosted by Phil Ross of Shannon’s. There were a 

number of prizes and gifts on offer with the major prize 

being a “Hot Lap” with Jim Richards in his Porsche GT3 

car around Queensland Raceway. Congratulations to 

Graham Barringer who is the lucky winner! 

We have our club’s Annual General Meeting fast 

approaching and the Club needs the support of its 

members to ensure that we have a strong committee 

that is representative of the diverse range of interests 

of its members. Please give some thought and 

consideration to joining the committee. We meet every 

four weeks at the clubrooms for 2 to 3 hours. 

The club recently received an approach from the Morris 

Minor Car Club (MMCC) which is looking for a venue 

that is better suited to their needs than the one that they 

are currently using. The two committees are currently 

working through the detail which should then allow the 

MMCC to use our Rocklea clubrooms as a meeting 

place for their regular meeting as well as a starting point 

for many of their club runs etc. The two committees will 

also look to have a number of combined activities for 

the two clubs which will, I’m sure, be of great benefit to 

both groups. 

All British Day is looming large on the horizon. This 

event takes 12 months to organise. The vast majority of 

this organisation is being looked after again this year by 

MGCCQ, with Max Johnson heading up a small group 

of dedicated workers. I’m sure Max is still looking for 

volunteers on the day, so if you can help please ensure 

you make contact with Max. 

That brings me to our own club Concours event. With 

the venue that we have used for the last few years 

becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to access 

we have been on the lookout for a suitable replacement. 

At the time of writing we are close to coming to an 

arrangement with a suitable venue that should prove 

popular with participants. This means that the event will 

most likely move to an October date. As soon as a date 

is confirmed it will be posted on the club’s website and 

circulated in the weekly email updates. 

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 


Some words from Elaine 

Let me start at the very beginning - the cover. 

You don’t often get to see a cover photo from 

a hillclimb event unless something pretty 

exceptional has occurred. Well, that is exactly 

what happened at the third round of the series 

on June 25 and 26 when Dean Tighe broke his 

class record an incredible five times, each time 

setting himself a more difficult task to do the 

same thing again. The end result? In a sport 

where improvement is generally measured 

in hundreds of a second, by the end of the 

weekend he had taken nearly a whole second 

- 0.94s - off his class record and more than 

half a second off the unofficial record for fastest 

Queenslander of 37.56 when, on his best run, 

he broke into the 36s bracket with a 36.99s. 

Certainly something to be celebrated and to 

bring more of you down to the hillclimb to see 

him - and others - in action. Congratulations go 

to our ace amateur photographer, Steve Johns, 

for his brilliant photo and for his enhancement 

of it with the time embedded in the order and 

yes, that photo was taken on the run when that 

time was achieved. 

Next, an apology to the members of the Darling 

Downs Chapter and particularly Gary Lawrence 

who writes their reports. As they say in the 

newspaper business - “an error occurred in 

the production process” when the text from the 

March issue was not replaced with the May text 

but the photos were and the person responsible 

for the checking failed to notice. My apologies 

to Gary and to all members of the Chapter. 

This issue has posed a real problem for me, 

one which any editor would be delighted to deal 

with. I have received so much material that a 

number of articles have had to be held over to 

the next issue and one - the Rayments’ story 

of their epic journey to Perth and back in their 

MGY - has had to be serialised. The Chapters, 

as always, have been busy but with two of them 

undertaking long trips away there has been 

even more for them to report on than usual. My 

regret is always that not all photographs can be 

included because there are many exceptional 

and interesting ones among them. 

Please don’t be deterred from sending your 

contributions in. I am sure there are lots more 

‘Stories from the Stables’ waiting to be told. 

Don’t wait to be asked as I don’t know where all 

those stories are ... if you know of a good story 

waiting to be told and it’s not yours, nudge your 

‘stablehand’ friend to share his story with us. 

Length is fairly flexible but a guide is two pages 

of text (approx 1500 words) and 8 photos. 

You will be pleased to notice that Ace Reporter 

has found his quill and is back reporting 

on Competition events. There has been 

a lot of activity to report on with our major 

hillclimb event for each year, the Queensland 

Championship, deserving appropriate coverage 

in this issue. 

Also inside is information for owners of 

modern MGs on how to get a duplicate copy 

of their car’s remote key, a fascinating report 

on the 1968 (NOT a misprint) Qld Hillclimb 

Championship and a report on the inaugural 

running of the Wondai sprints which had 

members of the Wide Bay Chapter there in 

numbers supporting Dave Roberts who has 

become a regular competitor at Mt Cotton. 

Notice of the AGM and forms for nomination 

for committee are inside to be read - and used! 

The President has more to say about that in 

his report. 

With the AGM not for a couple of months, 

it may seem early to put out the notice of 

meeting but our Constitution says that every 

member must receive notice of the meeting at 

least two weeks before the meeting and this 

is the simplest and most cost effective way of 

meeting that obligation. 

Closing date for material for the September 

Octagon is the last day of August. 

Looking forward to receive your contributions 

- Elaine 

4 

The Octagon - July 2016

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. 

(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. 

AUGUST 

Wed 3 and every following Wednesday - Working bees at Hillclimb 

from approx 9am to 2pm. BYO morning tea and lunch 

Fri 5 

- Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

Sun 7 Concours and Car Display (P) 

CONCOURS AND CAR DISPLAY POSTPOSED TO OCTOBER 16; 

VENUE CHANGED TO ORMISTON HOUSE (see flyer on page 18) 

Sun 7 Qld Motorkhana Championship Rd 4 

Sun 4 HSCCQ Motorkhana (P) 

Driver Training Centre Willowbank TBC 

Come & Try Motorkhana with HSCCQ (Interclub) 

Sat/Sun 10/11 Carric Accounting and Business Service/Tighe 

Cams Hillclimb Series Round 4 (P) 

Fri 16 

Annual General Meeting at Clubrooms 

Sat 17 All British Day set up for Sunday 18 

Fri 19 

Fri 19 

Wed 24 

Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

Sun 21 - Combined Chapter meeting in Mackay 

Midweek run organised by Barry Lutwyche 

This is a northside run with morning tea at Lake Somerset and 

finishing with lunch at Lake Samsonvale. Meeting Point is at the 

James Drysdale Recreation Reserve, BUNYA - UBD Map 117 Ref 

Q11. Meet at 08.45 for a 09.15 start. BYO morning tea and lunch. 

Venues have sheltered tables and seats. 

Organiser is Barry Lutwyche. Contact is 0414 740672 should any 

further details be required. 

Sat 27 

Sun 28 

Come and Try/Test and Tune at Mt Cotton 

Car display at Peak Crossing (P) 

SEPTEMBER 

Fri 2 Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

Sat 3/Sun 4 CAMS State Championship meeting 

At Morgan Park (P) 

Sun 18 All British Day 

St Josephs Showground, Tennyson. 

Money raised supports QIMR. 

Wed 28 Midweek Run 

Organised by Gary and Dawn Lawence 

Meet at Keperra Picnic Grounds UBD Reference Map 137 N 6 at 

9.00 am for a 9.30 start. BYO morning tea. Lunch can be BYO or 

light lunch can be purchased at lunch destination. Limited seating 

at lunch venue which is Caboolture Historical Village which has 

a $9 per head entry fee. (Full information is available on the 

calendar page of the Club website) 

New members 

We welcome the following new members and wish 

them a long and happy association with the Club. 

Bruce Ramsden Mary Ramsden 

Randall Jenvey 

Robyn Jenvey 

Andrew Todd 

Ralph Tennenh 

Kenneth Samway Kevin Ritchie 

Aaron Langford 

Patrick Martin 

John Horton 

Craig Beaven 

Peter Linn 

Richard Sorensen 

Rohan Trundle 

William Turnock 

Jeffrey Watson 

Ross Kelly 3352 4151 

0407 364 543 

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


Bits’n’Pieces 

It was a double celebration at the Noggin ‘n’ Natter 

in May when there was a gathering of some of the 

members who had made the trek to Perth for the 

National Meeting. L to R: Peter Rayment, Matt 

Johnson, John Walker, Flavio Paggiaro and Shaun 

Rankin made it a second opportunity to wear their 

‘Off to the Races’ costumes from the National 

Meeting theme night - and what a fine line-up 

they made! Peter and Delia Rayment who have 

rarely missed a National Meeting came down from 

Tinbeerwah especially for the occasion and, it also 

being Peter’s birthday, brought a cake so those 

present could join in the celebration of his 9th 

birthday (according to the candles on the cake). 

Maybe you can work out the maths! 

There was another birthday 

celebration - this time at a 

Wednesday working bee at 

the hillclimb when a cake (no 

candles!) was brought along 

for the 82nd birthday of John 

Stratton, a most dedicated 

worker for the hillclimb. 

It’s not all hard work and 

birthday cake at midweek 

working bees at the hillclimb. 

There is always the wildlife 

watch - and, this time, Jim 

Heymer had his camera 

ready when glossy black 

cockatoos came to feast on 

a casuarina. 

They’ve done it again! Giles Cooper on his way 

from East to West across North America met 

up with Dave Godwin, one of the group of MG 

enthusiasts crossing NA in the other direction, 

with his MGA “RIP” at Niagara Falls - a little less 

remote than their last meeting in the far south of 

South America last year. 

FOR SALE 

Mk I Escort Group U historic Sports Sedan 

complete with Certificate of Description and 

heaps of spares. Winner of 2015 Hillclimb 

series and holder of closed and open Group 

U hillclimb records. $17,000 ono. 

Contact Chris Johns 0411 759 385 

6 


Since that meeting, the Godwins and RIP plus two 

other MGs known as Red Car and Navy Blue Car 

have completed a circumnavigation of the globe 

as a result of their major undertakings in the past 

few years. They are shown here at Cape Spear, 

the Eastern-most point of Canada. 

As Dave says “From China to the ‘Stan’s and Iran 

and Turkey; also South, central and North Africa; 

and, last year, South, Central and North America 

and now Canada, our trusty Classic MGs have 

carried us, our luggage, our tools and spare parts 

over every road-condition possible, with relatively 

few major breakdowns or incidents! 

Who says Classic MGs aren’t reliable? As a 

group? We have proved it! These 3 MGs have 

travelled a total of approximately 210000km 

in the past 5 years. Add to that the distances 

the other MG Adventurers have clocked up 

and it approximates around 550,000km. Very 

impressive, in my book!” 

Club member from the Darling Downs Chapter 

who has been racing in NZ, Alexandra Whitley, 

has been chosen as the only female in the group 

of 8 for the 2016 Elite MotorSport Academy which 

will involve an intense training camp to take place 

over a week of physically and mentally challenging 

tasks in Dunedin in early July. 

During the intense week long camp Alexandra 

will further expand her knowledge in all aspects 

of motorsport, from media training to nutrition 

and sponsorship to fitness regimes. Alexandra 

currently races in the SsangYong Actyon Racing 

Series where she finished 6th overall from 45 

competitors. Whitley is looking forward to the 

challenge and the new experiences and lessons 

the academy will bring. 

Well done, Alexandra, and best wishes for your 

future in motorsport. 

Not all stories are happy ones. This one is about a fire which destroyed Gary and Veronica Cossor’s 

shed/workshop causing the loss of the uninsured building and all its contents. The Cossor family has 

a long history with the Club through their involvement at the hillclimb as both competitors and hard 

workers. When Gary stopped competing, he was - and still is - often at the hillclimb and always prepared 

to give a helping hand to anyone in need, happily heading off home with a part to be repaired and soon 

returning to the hillclimb and getting the car mobile for competition again. Gary’s son, Rodney, has set 

up a bank account and says “If any of the large number of people who have been at the receiving end 

of their generous nature and assistance over the yeas can assist with any contribution towards assisting 

them to rebuild this important part of their lives, it would be greatly appreciated. I would be too happy to 

collect any generous gift, or a direct deposit can be made to a separate account I have set up under their 

name. Westpac Bank, BSB 734 058, account number 653 349.” 

WANTED -- a set of 1 1/2 SU carburetors 

including all ancillary linkages to suit a 2 

bolt flange inlet manifold for a 105e Ford 

Anglia engine.Pete Lefrancke contact 

phone number 0423 532 621. 

WANTED - Front fibre glass valance and 

roll bar to suit MGB. Contact Denis Thomas 

0401 - 744 - 667. 

FOR SALE Peugeot 206CC Convertible 

2005, Beautiful condition, Reluctant sale. 

Regn 09/2016. All service records 

available. Tinted windows, 5 speed, 

Manual. $6,650 RWC. Kevin Fairhall 

PH: 0416 256 689. 


2 Trade Street 

Ormiston Q 4160 

8 


Letters to the Editor 

Dear Elaine 

I am writing about our experience with 

getting an immoblizer for our MG TF in the 

hope it will be useful information for other TF 

owners. 

We purchased a 2003 MG TF and it only 

had 1 IMMOBILIZER to start the engine 

and unlock the car. We had a lot of trouble 

finding someone to help us obtain a 2nd 

one for a spare. If you were to lose the only 

immobilizer that you had you couldn’t start 

the engine and could be in a lot of bother!! 

All the locksmiths in this area couldn’t assist 

in helping obtain another one. 

Through the Internet I approached Remote 

Key Europe; their email address is 

remotekeyeurope@gmail.com They sent 

me a Programing Device that I plugged into 

the socket just above the fuse panel. The 

blue light on this device comes on and 30 

seconds later the light goes out the device is 

removed. I then had a new 2 button Immobilizer 

that worked in every aspect the same 

as the original. It was very simple to do!! 

I have returned the Programing Device back 

to UK and received my 24 British Pounds 

Deposit back and now have my Remote Key 

Access Code which I didn’t previously have 

so that will be an added benefit . The total 

amount I paid up front was $199.86 (98GBP) 

plus the 24GBP deposit (now refunded) 

on their receipt of the Programming device 

which is quite small as you can see by the 

photo. The new Immobilizer is very similar to 

the original one and you can get a new Key 

cut at any Locksmith! 

It’s a great service. It cost me $20.00 to Post 

the module back; however, I think the whole 

experience was well worth it. 

Hope this may help some of our members 

who require another immobilizer for their MG. 

- David Hall 

MGCCQ Wide Bay Chapter Coordinator 

2016 Eureka Landscapes Queensland 

Hillclimb Championships Canteen Thank 

you. 

OMG It was wet! 

There was so much water in the hairpin that 

we could have hosted a round of the Jet 

Sprint Boat Championships, with the amount 

of rain that fell on the Friday and Saturday. 

There were rivers of water running through 

the canteen floor making for miserable conditions 

for those brave enough to stay the 

day. Then Sunday dawned fine and sunny 

and the crowds came and ate and drank, 

thankfully! 

My gratitude to everyone who helped and 

made the best of the miserable conditions 

and had some fun and laughs along the 

way, John Cicchiello, Tim Bateman, John 

& Pat Walker, Betty & Chris Slater, Flavio 

& Sue Paggiaro, Judith McAndrew, Ian & 

Kay Wells, Michael Ciccotelli, Don Webster, 

Phyllis Rankin, Ken Trudgian, Diane Davies, 

Paul Van Wyjk, Paul & Kerry Strange, Neil 

Lewis, Malcolm Spiden and Richard Mattea. 

Thank you one and all. 

- Berenice Stratton. 


The Nullarbor Nym 

(Or what we experienced in our MGY on our way to the Easter 2016 MG National Mee 

Everywhere we went on our Nullarbor crossing 

both going West and then back on the way 

home again Peter kept looking for the Nymph! 

Several times he reckoned he had found her – 

young, tall, slim, blonde, but usually they had 

clothes on or they spoke a foreign language. 

Not like the true Nullarbor Nymph at all, for 

legend has it that she goes naked amongst the 

kangaroos, and is fluent in English. 

The words Nullarbor Plains conjures up 

various feelings and reactions from people. To 

some, it conjures up feelings of dread, fear or 

impending boredom. But to me, the underlying 

feeling I have when I cross this vast area of 

Australia is probably one of awe. Awe at its size 

and its complexities. Firstly because from one 

end to the other of the Nullarbor Plain it is over 

745 miles long. That is equivalent to travelling 

from London to Rome or from Brisbane to 

Canberra. 

This plateau made from limestone is about 

250,000km square and is the largest karst on 

the Planet. A plain without any major cities, 

without any towns (only roadhouses), without 

any trees and without any creeks or rivers, that 

has ever changing vegetation, even if it is very 

slight and not all that noticeable at times. 

Before we drove across to Perth for the 2016 

MG National Meeting, we mentioned to friends 

and acquaintances that we were planning 

a cross nation trip. Most of the immediate 

reactions from them were “Why do you want to 

drive all that way and then back again too?” 

This question was repeated again more 

forcefully, when we said how we would be 

travelling, but with the addition of -“But why in 

an MGY?” 

Why in a Y type. After nearly half a century of 

driving to events, particularly National Meetings 

in roadsters – be they MGTCs, MGBs, or MG 

Midgets - and arriving at the event either deaf 

in one ear, skin falling off one’s face from wind 

or sun burn or both, we thought that it was 

time to try a “tin top”. Plus we also felt that we 

10 


ph strikes again! 

ting in Perth, Western Australia) by Delia Rayment with sneak-ins by Peter - PART 1 

needed more room! We wanted to be able 

to converse on route a bit more easily, as we 

intended being away for possibly 6 weeks or 

so. The Y, at this stage of our lives, we felt, 

was the ideal choice. For the trip was to for 

two nearly 70 year olds heading to Perth in 

our nearly 70 year old car. We were off for an 

adventure. We knew that we would enjoy the 

trip and we certainly did. 

For many years we have travelled and 

organised groups in convey. It is extremely 

hard work and in the end because we all have 

different likes and dislikes we never end up 

pleasing anyone, let alone ourselves as to 

where we stay and what we see. 

So this time going over we chose to travel by 

ourselves as we knew our car, we knew how 

far we liked to travel in a day and we knew 

where we liked to stop during the day and at 

night. 

Call us nuts or just down right Enthusiasts. It 

all depends on one’s perspective in life. We 

probably go for the latter definition. 

But like most humans we like a challenge and 

here was a challenge to cross Australia in our 

MGY. On route, we would be meeting up with 

fellow Australians and other world travellers. 

Preparation - Peter’s preparation of the Y 

before our departure, was time and money well 

spent, as all the “modifications” or additions 

were most useful. The most useful of all, Peter 

thinks, was the installation of a “cruise control” 

for those long straight stretches. For instance, 

one straight stretch is 90 miles long across the 

Nullarbor. 

When we packed for our trip things were 

loaded in a particular order. Firstly it was 

spare parts which went into all the nooks and 

crannies, then water (we always carry plenty 

of this) and some food (mostly dried or tinned 

– survival stuff). Next into the car went the 

camping gear. We were going to be away for at 

least 6 weeks and this would not only help our 

budget but also if we got caught out/or saw a 

nice camping spot we would be OK. Then we 

supposed that we would need some clothes. 

This meant a variety however - from camping 

clobber to full evening attire for the National 

Meeting Presentation Dinner in Perth. Isn’t it 

funny how, the more formal one dresses the 

less clothes one needs! 

Luggage - We appeared to have a fair amount 

of luggage. It looked a lot when spread out on 

the floor. Peter said there is not as much room 

in the Y as what we have in the MGB with the 

spare tyre mounted on the back of the car. 

We were also worried about the weight, so we 

weighed all the camping gear, clothes, spares, 

tools etc and it was about 70kg. Then there 

was still food, but there was not much of that. 

Equivalent to about 2 not big passengers and it 

is a four seater car. No problem. 

The Route before the National Meeting - Our 

trip from near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast 

to Perth Western Australia was to be mostly 

a direct route staying on the “black stuff”. We 

have bush bashed in our MGB before and after 

other National Meetings but not this time. They 

are other stories. 

Generally speaking we travelled south-west 

towards the Queensland/New South Wales 

border at Cunnamulla, where we headed 

south to Cobar then west to Broken Hill, Port 

Augusta, Ceduna (both in South Australia), 

across the Nullarbor, then further west to 

Norseman, south to Esperance and off northwest 

into Perth via the Stirling Ranges. A trip 

distance of approximately 3200 miles or 5150 

km each way. A distance from London to Cairo 

via Genova and Tunisia. 

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12 


ound trip - We departed as temperatures 

skyrocketed, for this was one of the driest 

summers on record. 

This was an early Easter and it meant that 

we had to leave early in March to reach our 

destination some 3,200 odd miles away on 

the other side of Australia. We knew it was 

going to be hot but we did not expect to 

find temperatures of up to 45°C in the cabin 

as we travelled from Cunnamulla south to 

Bourke, Cobar and out to Broken Hill. Not 

ideal travelling temperatures in a non-airconditioned, 

British made car! The Y wasn’t 

really meant for these temperatures or 

distances. However we had full confidence 

in our little car, and I had full confidence in my 

husband’s abilities to fix most problems in that 

quarter. 

Peter had installed a personal fan down in the 

foot-well area, which oscillated. It was OK at 

shifting some coolish air around at times but 

once it got to over 40°C it felt like you were in a 

fan forced oven! 

We felt the heat and so did poor little Victoria 

(this is what we call our little Y – for she is 

short, plumpish, and a brownish colour). So 

much so that twice (only twice) Victoria came 

to a dead stop, because of the fuel boiling in 

the fuel line. Luckily it was on the open road 

with nobody else around. The traffic was really 

heavy at this stage! From Bourke to Cobar (95 

miles) only 5 cars passed us and we passed a 

big truck. 

Peter alighted, got out his personal drinking 

bottle, aimed it at the petrol pump and fuel line, 

cooled them both, and hopped back into the 

car. Then I squirted my water bottle over his 

head to cool him down. He started the engine 

and off we went again! 

I guess if you made that into a movie it would 

look as if we had had this happen heaps of 

times before and we knew exactly what to do. 

It certainly pays to know your car – and what is 

needed to remedy the situation. 

This had happened years before on a very 

hot day at home when there was still a pusher 

pump fitted to the car. Once we had put a 

sucker type SU pump to the car we had had no 

more problems until now! 

At Cobar we booked into a Motel as it was so 

hot and we sat in the swimming pool until dark 

when it was still over 38°C at 7pm and was bad 

still next morning. 

Home to Moonie Xroads - Initially we were 

sitting at about 55mph until we hit black soil 

country after Dalby. The lumps and bumps (but 

bitumen so it must be good, ha ha!) is normal 

for black soil. Also with the ruts from the B- 

Doubles and with the cross ply tyres on the Y, 

we were tram-lining all over the road besides 

flying through the air. The exhaust pipe, which 

is 5 to 6 inches above the road surface, was 

bottoming badly. Not much fun so we slowed 

down to about 50 mph. The shock absorbers 

on the Y are very small and don’t do much. You 

still had to be on the ball but it was a lot more 

relaxing. We ended up travelling to Perth at this 

speed. 

St George, Queensland - was good for me 

this time as I was able to find my grandparents 

grave – quite emotional. This is something I’d 

tried to do on two other occasions when we 

were zooming through over the years. There is 

no plot diagram at the cemetery and you have 

to go to the Shire Council Office during office 

hours to look at the plan. Both other times 

before, it had been on a week-end. You know 

what it is like when you are working and have 

limited time to do things. But now that we are 

retired things have changed. 

Cunnamulla – Our camp for the night was a 

beautiful grassed area with a backdrop of sand 

dunes just outside the Caravan Park fence. 


14 


Broken Hill -We had already travelled 1,162 

miles from home, and by Peter’s facts and 

figures we had covered more than a third of our 

way to Perth. Yippee! 

Broken Hill – What a town! We always love 

it. It has so much character and history. In 

its heyday, it was a very rich city, as one can 

see by some of the fancy public buildings and 

splendid old homes. 

Magic - as we watched the sun set and then 

the sun rise again on them, the next morning. 

Cobar – The big open cut mine, the huge 

slag heap and the museum are must sees at 

this very friendly, clean and tidy town which 

services several very profitable mines in the 

area. 

We visited the Palace Hotel which featured in 

the movie “Priscilla – Queen of the Desert”, 

to look at the murals which are everywhere in 

the hotel - and almost got mobbed. We were 

spotted arriving and, at the bar, we were made 

most welcome by some “girls” from the local 

Veteran and Vintage Car Club who wanted 

to know where we were going and where we 

were from, etc. Our 10 minute visit turned into 

an hour and a half stay or was it longer! Who 

cares! The murals are spectacular and worth a 

look. Two-up is on Friday Nights. 

The Hotel decided last year to organise the 

Broken Heel Festival to celebrate 21 years 

since the movie was made. The celebrations 

went off with a bang. It looks like it could 

become an annually event with it being 

held again this year on the 9, 10, & 11 of 

September. It could be fun. The movie’s BIG 

HIGH-HEEL SHOE is at the pub. On the night 

we were there I did offer my day glow orange 

feather boa to Peter to wear, but he declined. 

Truthfully guys you don’t have to dress up in 

drag to enjoy the place. 

Wilcannia - On the self guide brochure that 

one can obtain from the information centre it 

is described as “In the middle of nowhere, the 

centre to everywhere!” Built on the Darling 

River in the late 1800s as a port during the 

time when Australia “rode on the sheep’s 

back”, its remaining grand buildings can attest 

to its importance. They even had to build a 

high level, centre opening bridge across the 

Darling at the town, to let boats come and go 

to Bourke (95 miles to the north). One looks at 

the mighty Darling now and wonders how this 

was possible, as there is hardly any water in 

it, certainly not enough to have boats going up 

and down! 

We had two nights in Broken Hill. What we 

called lay days, to catch up on washing, 

recover from continuous driving and see more 

of the town. We had these lay days in several 

places on the way over and back. We had to, 

the distances were so great and after all, this 

was meant to be a holiday not an endurance 

race. 

The second day in Broken Hill saw good rain 

that had the large spoon drains across the 

roads flowing. We visited an original (Retro) 

Milk Bar to see their museum, partake in a 

milkshake and take a photo outside the bar. 

Next thing we knew the owner told us that 

we have just been put on his Facebook page 


that helped him determine this was that he 

studied the different types of natural vegetation! 

Have we learnt anything from this! We think 

not. 

and did we mind! Then when we got back to 

where we were staying, not to be outdone, 

the owner decided that she wanted a photo 

in front of her motel the Lodge Outback Motel 

for her Facebook. Saying – “And guess where 

they are staying?” All good fun – people were 

appreciating/noticing our little old MGY. 

His Motel turned out to be a popular MG stop, 

not intentionally, as the Armstrongs (MGBGTV8 

special – from Yeppon, Qld), the Heraghtys 

(MGA Coupe – Redcliffe, Qld), and the Burns 

(MGY – Newcastle, New South Wales) all 

stayed there on their way, separately, going 

over to the National Meeting. That we know of. 

The stretch of road from here to Peterborough 

is somewhat lonely but still interesting as it is 

dotted with ranges that in years gone by would 

have beckoned those in search of their fortunes 

- be it for the gold, lead, zinc or to farm. It is 

heartbreaking to see the ruins of stone farm 

houses built by the returned soldiers on land 

they were given. Particularly, when George 

Goyder in 1865 as surveyor-general had 

indicated to the powers that be, that this land 

was unsuitable for farming and the blocks too 

small for grazing. One of his main indicators 

Peterborough - The “Railway Town”. In its 

heyday it would have been a very busy and 

rich town. There was a major roundhouse to 

turn the many steam engines around. It was 

equipped for 3’ 6”, 4’ 8½” and 5’ 3” lines that 

South Australia had at the time. On the way 

over we chose to stay over night as we wanted 

to go to the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre 

museum which was well worth our visit. And 

as the brochure says it is a museum with a 

difference! 

Kimba – Is reputed to be Half Way across 

Australia. Obviously this is from the Pacific 

Ocean to the Indian Ocean. But we had had a 

little further to go than that and didn’t reach the 

actual half way mark of our trip over until we 

were at Ceduna. 

Ceduna – Half Way on our trip! Yippee. 

1745 miles. 

(Those of you impatient to read the full story can find it on 

the Club website at www.mgccq.org.au/nostalgia7.htm 

along with other Octagon articles of enduring interest.) 

16 


All British Day 

Brisbane 2016 

36th Year 

Sunday 18th September 

2016 

8:30am - 2:00pm. 

Gates Open at 7:00am 

St Josephs College Sports Grounds 

Vivian Street, Tennyson, Brisbane 

Featuring Classic 

British Cars, Motorcycles & Commercial Vehicles 

All proceeds to charity 

Display Vehicles $15.00 

(includes commemorative metal badge) 

Walk in spectators $2:00 Car Parking $5:00 

Food and drinks available on site 

Trade sites available 

Web: www.allbritishdaybrisbane.org.au 

Contact: Max Johnson 0419784680 

Email: allbritishday@gmail.com 


Historic Ormiston House 

overlooking Moreton Bay 

Historic Ormiston House - 277 Wellington St, Ormiston, 4160 

The MGCCQ Display Day 

& 

The Gearys Sports Car Annual Concours 

Sunday 16th October 2016 

A Social Day for all MGCCQ Members & Friends 

Access from 08:00am 

Judging commences at 9:30am. 

Presentations from 1:30pm. 

Adult Entry to the grounds $5.00. Children $1.00 

Enter the Concours 

Display your pride and joy, 

or arrive in your daily driver. 

Enter the Non MG Marque Class with your 

special vehicle. 

Trophies for 

- The Concours 

- Daily Driver 

- Non Marque Vehicles 

- Race Cars 

Classic Motorbikes Welcome 

Enjoy a Devonshire Tea $5pp on the 

verandah of the historic house, or 

Rotary Club Sausage Sizzle 

Entry Forms 

These can be downloaded from the Entry forms page of the Club website at 

www.mgccq.org.au/entry.htm. 

Entries are preferred prior to the day but entries will also be accepted on the day. 

18 


May Mid Week Run 

By Trevor Jones; Photos By Malcolm Campbell. 

Well what a wonderful day we had, the 

weather was at its peak performance as 

were all the cars. We had a good roll up 

departing the Yamanto Shopping centre 

from where we travelled west onto the 

Cunningham Highway, skirted around the 

Amberley Airforce and now the Army base 

heading towards Walloon. A turn East then 

took us over the new flyover to the Brisbane 

Valley Highway. A turn to Glamorganvale 

took us up some lovely ranges with good 

driving for our MGs and other makes, 

towards Lowood and the outskirts of 

Coominya to give us a longer, more scenic 

drive to reach our morning tea stop at 

Cormorant Bay overlooking the very full 

Wivenhoe Dam. 

A few other members and cars met us at 

the dam stop while others left after morning 

tea with other commitments. As usual there 

was lots of talking, laughter and sharing 

of stories and travels within Australia and 

overseas since our last gathering. For the 

cakes the ladies make and share, thank 

you. 

Kerry Horgan, has become a granddad 

again, as is Val a Grandmum but Val 

is the one having cuddles in Africa. 

Congratulations. 

Participants: 

Bruce Bayliss 

Bruce Mutch 

Dennis & Diana Kelly 

David Miles 

Kerry Horgan 

Jeff & Pat Heslewood 

Phil Hartley 

Neil & Jenny Sommerson 

Russ & Jenny Geraghty 

Denis Thomas 

Brian Cranley 

John & Pat Walker 

Shaun Rankin 

Martyn & Gail Browne 

Don Glover & Bill Murfin 

Malcolm Campbell & Kathy Burford 

Don Webster 

Bruce & Tip Ibbotson 

John Davidson 

Brian Purvis & Di Robinson 

John & Glen Boyce 

Kevin Trower 

Trevor & Joy Jones 

Vern & Elaine Hamilton 

Dave & Ann Ferro 

Trevor & Ann Mills 

Ray & Sue Edwards 

Jeff Turner 

Volvo 

MGB 

MX5 

MG Magnette 

Corvette 

WRX 

MGA 

Jaguar 

Honda 

MGB 

MGBGT 

MGB GT V8 

MGB GT 

Santa Fe 

MGB 

Golf GTi 

MG TD 

BMW 

MGB GT 

MG TF 

MG 

BMW 

MG A 

Honda 

MGB 

MGB 

Honda 

Volvo 

From there it was onwards in our ‘treasures’ 

again this time up and over Tourist Drive 

9 – Mt Glorious with the bellbirds turning 

on their calls especially for those of us in 

‘tops down’ cars. Their songs are such a 

pleasure to hear. This drive is very winding 

both up and down the mountain, the 

scenery and greenery magnificent, a real 


pleasure on a lovely day. 

Next stop was at Bullocky Rest Park on 

Lake Samsonvale where there were plenty 

of shelters, and room for the cars; lunch 

was, as always, laughter, talk and some 

eating. 

For those travelling from the north it was a 

longer trip in the morning to get to the start. 

For those living on the south it was the 

longer trip in the afternoon going home. But 

I feel it was fair for all. 

A good time was had by all. 

20 


June Day Run 

Organized by Tim and Lynne Bateman. Photos by Lynne Bateman. 

Don and Annie led the participants from the 

Club Rooms on a grey Sunday morning with 

26 people in 14 cars, 11 MGs and 3 others. 

Following the excellent directions highlighting 

any interesting points of interest on the way, the 

convoy travelled south via Boundary, Beenleigh, 

Kingston and Logan River Roads to Beenleigh, 

finally arriving at Tim and Lynne’s home at 

Mount Warren Park. Don reported there were 

no incidents en route and everyone was speed 

compliant past the police radar. 

On arrival at Lynne and Tim’s, morning tea 

was ready and waiting. Hot tea and coffee was 

welcomed as the cool breeze started to pick up. 

Everyone enjoyed a selection of homemade 

treats that all contained some of Bateman Bees 

Honey. 

Participants: 

Tim & Lynne Bateman 

Don & Annie Webster 

Dave & Anne Ferro 

Errol & Wendy Hoger 

John & Pat Walker and Chris 

Neil Mills 

Greg & Rhonda Hannant 

Brian Purvis & Di Robinson 

Jan Burke 

Barry Lutwyche 

Peter & Michelle Sellers 

John & Glen Boyce 

Graham Ballinger & Colin 

Shaun & Phyllis Rankin 

Russ & Jenny Geraghty 

MGB 

MG TD 

MGB 

MGBL 

Honda 

MGB GT 

BMW 

MG TF 

MGB 

MGB 

MGB 

MG F 

MGB 

MG F 

Honda 

Trying to keep to the time schedule, Tim was 

soon delivering his talk on Honey Bees after 

Lynne rang the school bell to get everybody’s 

attention. This is Lynne’s way of getting Tim’s 

attention when he is at the back of the property 

attending the bee hives by the river or if he is 

working in his shed!! Tim gave an interesting 

presentation all about the life of the honey bee. 

This included showing a hive, how it is put 

together, samples of frames some of which were 

full of honey, and how it is extracted. People 

were surprised at some of the facts, such as how 

it is the females that do all the work both in and 

out of the hive and are the only ones that sting. 

The males (drones) are only good for one thing 

and they do that once with the Queen high in 

the sky, then they die! Also in winter when food 

is scarce they get kicked out of the hive by the 


22 


females. 

Everyone received a lucky door ticket, and 3 

people received a prize of either a gift bottle of 

honey with dipper, Beenleigh Poppy’s chocolate 

sampler or a bumble bee necklace. 

We would like to say a special thankyou to 

Don Webster for guiding us on our first attempt 

to conduct a club run and for organizing the 

departure from the Club rooms. 

Just after 11am, everybody set off in their cars 

again heading south through the cane fields to 

Jacobs Well. Tim took the lead on this second 

part of the run. Unfortunately he made an 

error and did a right turn too early and ended 

up on the wrong road. Oops!! So it was just a 

little detour with some interesting scenery of a 

sewerage and water treatment plant. For those 

in open top cars, apparently not a nice perfume!! 

Tim maintains the sights, smells and ‘U’ turn 

were part of the planned run. He will never live 

this down, as Lynne is usually the navigator. 

But she was in the back car with Pat and John 

Walker, and was too busy chatting to notice the 

error! 

Our destination was Harrigans Drift Inn Irish Pub 

at Calypso Bay. Three tables had been reserved 

for our group near the cosy fireplace which 

was burning. Very nice! Everybody ordered 

their hearty meals and drinks (we did see a few 

glasses of Guinness consumed) and enjoyed 

the company of fellow MG enthusiasts in the 

ambiance of this delightful Irish Pub looking out 

over the marina. Some of the ladies in our group 

thought the young male entertainer was very 

‘talented’. (You know who you are!) 

This was the first time we have organized a day 

run as we are new to the Club. It has been a 

wonderful way to meet other members of this 

very social group. And we would recommend 

other members to have a go at organizing a fun 

day/morning out. 


24 


MISS QUANT LOOKS AT MGCC HILL CLIMB 

by Ramsay Quant 

(Ed: This report of the first Queensland Hillclimb Championship held 2 June 1968 was first published in a 

QMSC Newsletter and has been reproduced with the permisson of “Ramsay Quant” aka Ken Peters. Ken 

was a competitor at early hillclimbs but is probably better known as the President of the QMSC, the Club 

which promoted all the race meetings in the earliest days of Lakeside. Those of you with memories long 

enough will be scratching your heads and possibly thinking ‘Wasn’t the journalist’s name Romsey Quints?’ 

And you would be right. Ken took the liberty of imitating the style of writing of Romsey Quints aka Bill Tuckey. 

With the recent death of Bill Tuckey, this article by Ken Peters, penned in June 1968, is both a tribute to the 

creator of Romsey Quints and also to the running of the first Qld Hillclimb Championship at Mt Cotton and is 

quite timely as the 2016 QHC has just been held. Added photos are from the Brier Thomas Collection.) 

For the first time in umpteen years Queensland 

has been honoured with the running of a Hill Climb 

Championship. It wasn’t for the want of suitable 

organisers that we hadn’t had one. It was just that 

there was no hill. Now our friends down in the valley, 

M.G.C.C., not Myers, bought a plot at a place called 

Mt.Cotton – it’s sort of half-way between the strawberry 

patch and little Bagdad-on-Nerang. And this saved the 

day! Not only have they got an up hill, they also have 

a down hill and a couple of “Oh! My God’s”. In fact 

they have just about the most interesting 1035 yards of 

bitumen on mainland Australia. 

Mind you, it’s no pony ride – I hazard a guess that 

there is still a couple of seconds in it for most drivers. 

A guy named Holinger - that’s either a US Presidential 

Press Secretary or a pistol manufacturer - puts his 

supercharged Vincent engined bedstead up and down 

and around in 47.4 seconds on June 2. He goes up like 

an ICBM but doesn’t stop so well and takes the corners 

in a series of not-so-violent jerks. So my prediction for 

F.T.D. ’69 is 43 sec. plus. 

Qld. wasn’t disgraced with a 47.7 sec. by the “old 

man” of Queensland motor sport, G.A.S (Glyn Scott) 

in a Lotus 23B. QMSC was well represented. John 

French won the Touring department with one only run 

at a screaming 51.3 and also punted the MG Midget 

at about the same rate. Young Norm Blunt, in the 

“Springtwist-Wilton-Acrylan Special” went rather well 

to record 55.6 and further widen his experience. Jim 

Gibson is also having a bash at the thing and doing 

quite nicely thank you in a pretty standard car. Ken 

Peters will have to do something in noise-making 

department. The Bavarian Beerstein is just too quiet. 

Peter Peters drove the 1100cc. Nota Sportsman to a 

customary win in the class. 

Teale then wiped off most of the appendages on Brian 

Tebble’s T.D. Jim Tedman and Noel Orphan had a 

minor skirmish around the hairpin area and then pow!! 

Barrie Garner exploded the Alton clean through the 

chain wire in B.M.C. There were nearly 2000 Romans 

to watch the gladiators so Ann Thomson was doing 

handsprings over the pile of grass- which makes us 

happy because that makes the bank manager happy 

and he’s the same one we have and he was previously 

unhappy because of that Mother’s Day shemozzle. 

In fact the only thing to mar the day was the dust in 

the pit area but even that has its compensations – it 

kept at least half of the speckies out and it encouraged 

everyone to drink more beer when it was all over. And 

that I like. 

Peter Hollinger (above) in his ‘bedstead’ - note 

no goggles, gloves or long sleeves in those days. 

(Below) Leonard Teale inspects the damage 

inflicted on Brian Tebble’s TD. 

In the let’s wreck - ‘em – and - give – the – customer 

– some – laughs – and to hell – with – the expense – 

department, Homicide’s star starred. Leonard Teale 

shot up the hill and mowed down a pole with Kevin 

John’s Sprite’s headlight. Not to be outdone K.J. 

planted one of the aforesaid poles fair amidships. Mr. 


June Mid Week Run 

by run organiser, Neil Summerson 

The group met at Keperra Picnic Grounds and 

travelled via Samford, Dayboro, to Mt Mee (with 

a couple of deviations) for morning tea and 

comfort stop. It was chilly but rain free. 

It was then onto D’Aguilar, Wamuran, 

Caboolture, Beachmere across the Bribie Bridge 

to Bongaree where the Council had provided 

parking in the park next to the museum. 

Desley Horsley, a volunteer at the museum, gave 

a short address on the displays in the museum 

which included the history of Matthew Flinders 

in the Bribie area, the history of the ship, the 

“Koopa”, the life of the artist Ian Fairweather and 

many other interesting items pertaining to the 

Bribie area. 

Dane Horgan actually found two electrical items 

he built in the early 60’s never realising that he 

would live long enough to see his inventions in a 

museum. 

Trevor and Joy Jones were delayed along the 

way as Joy had left Trevor’s phone on the dash 

and as they went around a bend it slid out the 

car only to end up in hundreds of pieces. No 

loss, says Trevor.. he never uses it anyway. 

The day was fine, the luncheon venue excellent, 

the museum was of great interest especially to 

those how had never been to this part of Bribie 

before. 

Participants: 

B Mutch & R Brunkhorst 

M Campbell & K Burford 

T & J Jones 

T Mills 

B & T Ibbotson 

E & W Hoger 

R Jenvey 

D Webster 

J Davidson 

K & D Horgan 

C Fox 

D Ferro & B Ryan 

B Lutwyche 

D Miles 

A & J Tebbutt 

I Kirkpartick 

D Thomas 

J Burke 

V Horgan 

D & M Mattea 

G & R Hannant 

V & E Hamilton 

J & P Hesslewood 

D Brown & C Brown 

O McNeill & R Clydesdale 

N Summerson & J Summerson 

J Campbell 

Subaru 

VW Golf 

MGA 

MGB 

BMW 

MGB 

Honda 

MGTD 

MGBGT 

Lambo 

Landrover 

MGB 

MGB 

MG Magnette 

MGB 

MGB 

MGB 

MGB 

MX5 

Morris Cooper 

BMW 

Honda 

Subaru 

MGB 

MGBGT 

Merc 

BMW 

26 



CHAPTER Chatter 

Darling Downs Chapter 

by Gary Lawrence 

We have had a number of very entertaining 

events over the past two months. A couple of 

standouts are the ‘Olde Time Movie Run’ to the 

historic Clifton Picture Theatre organised by 

Phil & Marilyn O’Brien and our three day run 

to the Granite Belt developed by Ron & Judy 

Gillis. 

The June cold weather has certainly struck the 

Downs with a vengeance leaving many MGs 

cloistered under cover in their warm garages. 

I am out and about on a caravanning tour as I 

collate this report, so I have relied on a number 

of authors each with their own unique style and 

penmanship. Many thanks to those who have 

contributed to the words for this edition, Brian & 

June Phillips, Ron & Judy Gillis, Phil & Marilyn 

O’Brien and Bob & Mavis Marsh. 

Granite Belt run 11 to 13 May 

After our usual friendly greeting at our starting 

point and welcoming John’s two travelling 

companions and Mark, we started our tour 

with an unscheduled detour, due to the 

inconvenience of the convenience being closed 

at the Toowoomba Visitor Centre. With our 

unscheduled stop completed and after battling 

peak hour and school traffic, we were soon 

back on track and heading to Pittsworth. 

We had a pleasant and uneventful drive via 

Leyburn to Karara for morning tea. We passed 

a leisurely 30 minutes catching up and enjoying 

our cuppas, except for one particular traveller - 

not mentioning John’s name – who spent most 

of the time trying to boil his kettle on his new 

gas stove that would not cooperate. 

From Karara we headed south to our next stop, 

Glenlyon Dam. Travelling through a variety of 

scenic country, the impact of drought was very 

evident. It was necessary to be vigilant along 

this section because of the bountiful roadkill 

and wildlife roadside. 

On arriving at Glenlyon Dam we set about 

organising our picnic lunches. Some minor 

repairs were needed to be done to Ron’s car 

to try to overcome some rather bad misses 

and backfires. One of our lady travellers 

was keen to get into Tenterfield, our next 

stop, to do some shopping. Unfortunately, or 

fortunately depending on your perspective of 

the situation, Ron and Gary provided some 

misinformation about the opening hours of 

shops in Tenterfield…… this is NSW and 

shops are closed on Wednesday afternoon. 

This was misinterpreted as gospel, as it was 

coming from two ‘honest and reliable’ men. 

Consequently Rob saved his bank balance that 

afternoon. Ron and Gary just stayed well clear 

of Narelle. 

28 


After our lunch in the pleasant surrounds of 

the Dam we moved on to Tenterfield where 

we met up with the Warwick and Liston group 

- Bob and Mavis, Greg and Beth, and Kevin 

and Cheryl. They all had driven directly to 

Tenterfield and were now our welcoming 

committee. After booking in and settling 

ourselves in our rooms we adjourned to the 

Barn for a very satisfying and relaxing happy 

hour. That night our dinner was cooked and 

served by our Motel hosts, and was enjoyed 

by all. 

Day 2, we left Tenterfield and headed back 

north toward Stanthorpe. Our first stop was 

Girraween National Park for morning tea where 

some of the fitter ones in the group walked a 

few of the tracks. It was at Girraween where 

Barry & Jan found a unique use for their MGB 

roadster…..it became a mobile hanging system 

for their clothing. 

After our visit to the natural environment of the 

park we headed back to the highway, making a 

stop on the way at the Pyramids Road Winery 

for a tasting. 

Travelling via Eukey and Storm King Dam 

our lunch venue at the Brass Monkey Brew 

House was our next destination. The Brew 

House provided a very tasty meal along with 

its own quality boutique beers. There is a bit 

of a tradition on these drives – drive, eat, drive, 

eat – with the odd drink thrown in as well. After 

leaving the Brew House the group drove to 

the Mt Marley Lookout in Stanthorpe which 

provided a spectacular view of Stanthorpe and 

surrounds. 

Settling into our motel for the night, the 

traditional happy hour was soon in full 

swing. Our dinner venue, Anna’s Restaurant, 

adjacent to our motel, was a great choice 

with many struggling to demolish the large 

meals. Fortunately, the odd beverage or two 

was available to help assist with the digestive 

processes. 

Day 3 dawned with frost on the local parklands 

but with promise of a beautiful autumn day. 

Once the fog had cleared, from some of the 

heads that is, we headed for our morning tea 

venue at Vincenzos. The old highway, now 

known as the Wine Trail, provides the ideal 

opportunity to appreciate the countryside as 

well as visit a number of the historical towns 

that were the backbone of the wine industry in 

this area. 

As with all tours, we had reached the point 

where participants adopted independent 

routes to their home bases in Brisbane, Liston, 

Warwick and Toowoomba. 

Participants: Ron Gillis, Mark Tranter, Barry 

Lutwyche and Jan Burke, John & Marg Boland 

with Ken & Merlene Madge, Bob & Mavis 

Marsh, Rob & Narelle Fraser, John & Linda 

Aston, Kevin & Cheryl Jacques, Gary & Janis 

Lawrence, Greg & Beth Newey. 

‘Olde’ Time Movie Run 22 May 

On Sunday 22nd May the weather was perfect 

and did us proud. Dressing for winter or even 


30 


MGCCQ 2016 Calendar 

Affiliated with the Confederation of Australian Motorsports 

GPO 1847, Brisbane Q 4001 

AUGUST 

DD 

Travel before and after Combined Weekend at Mackay, Wednesday of first week to Saturday of the following week 10 nights; 

5 Friday MG Noggin N Natter; 

6 Saturday Noosa Hillclimb 

7 Sunday Queensland Motorkhana Championships Round 4 Driver Training Centre Willowbank /poss Denis Cotton Club Display with Denis Geary Concours (P) venue TBA 

10 Wednesday DD City Golf Club Toowoomba, Lunch run, Ron and Judy Gillis; 

17 Wednesday Brisbane Exhibition Public Holiday 

19 Friday MG Noggin N Natter / poss Night Observation Run Interclub TBC (P) if not July TBA; 

21 Sunday CC Baralaba/Banana, Morning Tea Baralaba, Lunch Banana; 

24 Wednesday Mid week run organised by Jeff Heslewood 0408799611 

27 Saturday Come N Try Test N Tune Hillclimb at Mt Cotton 

INTERCLUB Sprint at DTC, Lakeside - Lotus Club 

28 Sunday Display at Peak Crossing. Full details are on MGCCQ website 

DD 

Details TBA, TBA; 

SEPTEMBER 


3 Saturday CAMS State Championship races Rd 3 Morgan Park WDSCC (P) 

4 Sunday CAMS State Championship races Rd 3 Morgan Park WDSCC (P) / HSCCQ IMotorkhana (P) Driver Training Centre Willowbank / Pittsworth Street Sprints; 

10 Saturday Mt Cotton Hillclimb series Rd 4 (P) 

11 Sunday Mt Cotton Hillclimb series Rd 4 (P) 

14 Wednesday CC TBA Lunch Run; 

DD 

Picnic - Peachaven Gardens, Highfield, Lunch run, Ron and Judy Gillis; 

16 Friday MG Annual General Meeting Noggin N Natter; 

17 Saturday All British Day setup 

DD 

Queens Park, Toowoomba, Carnival of Flowers Car Display, Gary Lawrence; 

18 Sunday All British Day at St Josephs Sportsground Tennyson 

DD 

All British Day; 

25 Sunday DD TBA, John Gosper; 

28 Wednesday Mid week run organised by Gary Lawrence 0409576231 

OCTOBER 

1 Saturday Mt Cotton Hillclimb series Rd 5 (P) 


3 Monday CC Mystery Tour, A short but interesting trip to somewhere!!!; 



DD 

Mt Tamborine, Weekend Overnight run 2 nights, Gary Lawrence; 

8 Saturday DD Mt Tamborine, Weekend Overnight run 2 nights, Gary Lawrence; 

9 Sunday DD Mt Tamborine, Weekend Overnight run2 nights, Gary Lawrence; 

12 Wednesday DD Rudds Pub Nobby, Lunch run, Ron and Judy Gillis; 

14 Friday poss MR2 club Interclub Observation Run (P) TBC; 

15 Saturday poss MR2 club Mid afternoon to Mid evening Interclub Observation run (P) TBC; 

16 Sunday CC Capricorn Coast, Option 1 – Day trip to Great Keppel Island, Option 2 – Lunch – Keppel Bay Marina; 


26 Wednesday Mid week run organised by Allan Tebbutt 0408758523 

29 Saturday Australian Hillclimb Championships at Haunted Hills, Morwell, Victoria; 

30 Sunday Australian Hillclimb Championships at Haunted Hills, Morwell, Victoria; 

DD 

TBA, John Boland; 

NOVEMBER 


6 Sunday HSCCQ Khanacross at Driver Training Centre Willowbank 

9 Wednesday DD Leyburn Hotel, Lunch run, Ron and Judy Gillis; 


19 Saturday CAMS State Championship races Rd 4 Morgan Park WDSCC (P); 

20 Sunday CAMS State Championship races Rd 4 Morgan Park WDSCC (P) 

CC 

Capricorn Coast, Breakfast at Deganis Bakery, Emu Park; 

23 Wednesday: Mid week run organised by Trevor Mills 3886 1549 - Christmas run to Bribie Surf Club 

27 Sunday INTERCLUB HSCCQ Motorkhana (P) Driver Training Centre Willowbank; 

DD 

TBA, Breakfast run, Guy and Pam West; 

DECEMBER 


3 Saturday Mt Cotton Hillclimb series Rd 6 (P) / Interclub Presentation at Cars and Coffee Coorparoo 7am – 9 am Z Car Club; 

CC 

Capricorn Coast, Christmas Dinner TBA; 


7 Wednesday DD Picnic Point, Breakfast run, Ron and Judy Gillis; 

9 Friday Hillclimb Series presentation; 

11 Sunday MGCCQ Christmas Party at MGCCQ Clubrooms; 

14 Wednesday final working bee for 2016; 

More details and information on 

our website mgccq.org.au 

Working bees are held every Wednesday at the 

hillclimb plus others as per the calendar and on 

Wednesdays as needed at the clubrooms. Contact 

Malcolm Spiden re hillclimb and Max Johnson re 

clubroom working bees. 

CC = Capricorn Chapter of MGCCQ DD = Darling Downs Chapter 

FNQ = Far North Queensland Chapter 

WB = Wide Bay Chapter; HB = Hervey Bay Section of Wide Bay Chapter 

B = Bundaberg Runs - meeting place Public Car Park Quay Street, Rowers Club 

end opposite Walla Street 

EMR = Early Morning Run – Sundays 9 am start D = Display event 

MWR = Mid-Week Run –Wednesdays 9 am start unless otherwise advised 

# # = Attendance Numbers will be needed 

TLR = Twilight Run – 5 pm start LTA = Long Trip Away 

TBA = To be advised P = Towards Annual MGCCQ Point Score 

32 


MG CAR CLUB OF QUEENSLAND INC 

NOTICE 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

FRIDAY 16th SEPTEMBER 2016 

7.30pm at 8/16 Collinsvale St, Rocklea 

AGENDA 

1. Open Meeting 

2. Apologies 

3. Minutes of previous meeting 

4. Management Committee Report 

5. Treasurer’s Report 

6. Auditor’s Report 

7. Elect President & Committee for 2016/2017 

8. Elect Auditor 

MEETING CLOSE 

A General Meeting will follow, hosted by the incoming Committee, at which members 

are invited to raise items of interest. 

To assist with preparation of the General Meeting agenda please advise the Secretary by 

2nd September 2016 

At the conclusion of these meetings, food and drink will be available. 


APPENDIX A 

FORM OF NOMINATION FOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 

MG CAR CLUB OF QUEENSLAND INC. 

We, as financial members of the MG Car Club of Queensland Inc., hereby 

nominate ………………………………………………………………….. 

For the position of ………………………………………………………… 

Proposed by ……………………………………. 

Seconded by ……………………………………. 

Club No ……………. 

Club No ……………. 

I hereby signify my willingness to act in the capacity as per the above nomination 

Signed ………………………………………….. Club No ……………. 

(Nominations must be received by the Sec fourteen days prior to the AGM) 

APPENDIX C 

FORM OF PROXY 

MG CAR CLUB OF QUEENSLAND INC. 

I, ………………………………………………… of …………………………… 

Being a financial member of the abovenamed Club, hereby appoint 

…………………………………………………... of …………………………… 

to vote for me at the *annual / *special general meeting of the Club to be held on 

the …………………………... day of ……………………… 20 …. 

adjournment thereof. 

and at any 

Signed this …………………. 

day of ……………………… 20 …. 

Signature ………………………………………………………………………….. 

*strike out which ever is not desirable (unless otherwise instructed, the proxy may vote as he 

thinks fit). 

34 


Lester & Rhonda MGTC, Brian & June Phillips 

MGTF and fresh from her knee replacement 

Judy & Ron Gilles in their Mitsi “MG”(Must be a 

new model). 

autumn was only essential for Kevin & Cheryl 

Jaques who motored down from the high 

country (Liston) in their top down MGC. John 

& Linda Aston also from the deep south looked 

much cosier in their MGB GT. 

Leading the Warwick contingent to Allora was 

Greg & Beth Newey who resorted to his very 

desirable Mark 2 Jaguar so he could secure 

Peter & Dee Stein as additional navigators. 

John & Jamie Mclean in their Golf R were 

followed by Ken Schmidt & Julie hot on their 

tail in a BMW. Gary Lawrence & Janis were not 

far behind leading the Toowoomba team of Rob 

& Narelle Fraser, roughing it in their Mini while 

John Smith cruised in his MGB. 

At the pre-appointed time Phil & Marilyn 

O’Brien’s Triumph TR7 led the band of intrepid 

theatre goers on an indirect route through 

parched farming land which, as consolation, 

will not look any worse when hit by winters 

“Jack Frost”. Taking a more direct route & 

hence waiting at the Clifton Theatre were 

Morning tea demolished, Tom & Jerry cartoons 

finished, we all relaxed in the canvas sling 

chairs and settled down to the 1976 Classic 

“Gumball Rally”. An irreverent look at the 

blanket 55mph speed limit imposed during the 

70’s in the good old US of A. Starring Raul Julia 

(Ferrari) a very young Garry Busy (Camaro) 

and one very strange and intense motorbike 

rider! 

Tummies rumbling we managed to stagger 

the long walk to O’Shannleys Irish Pub (Next 

Door). No one appeared disappointed when 

meals arrived & as we booked out the whole 

restaurant we could not complain about the 

other noisy dinners. 

By mid-afternoon we had waddled off in all 

directions of the compass with the resolution 

to hold an encore performance at a later date 

to be confirmed. Thank you to all who attended 

and supported the “Olde’ Time Movie Run” 

outing, as it is you, the people, who make these 

events all that more special. 

Participants: Kevin & Cheryl Jacques, John& 

Linda Aston, Greg& Beth Newey, Peter & 

Dee Stein, John & Jamie McLean, Ken & 

Julie Schmidt, Gary & Janis Lawrence, Rob & 

Narelle Fraser, John Schmidt, Phil & Marilyn 

O’Brien, Lester & Rhonda Brosnan, Brian & 

June Phillips, Ron & Judy Gillis 

Lunch Run 08 June 

The friendly warm Bull and Barley Hotel at 

Cambooya was our destination for this midweek 

run. With early morning temperatures 

dropping to single figures it was invigorating 

driving in the crisp clear air of the Darling 

Downs with the roof down while wrapped up in 

scarfs, coat and gloves. 

The colours of the changing season were very 

evident, as we transit from autumn to winter….. 

the farms freshly cultivated taking advantage 

of the recent rains; the farm animals and wild 

life foraging in the new growth; the sounds and 

smells of nature. 

The other road users were cocooned in their 

over grown heated SUV’s, listening to inane 

garbage on the radio, worrying about being late 


for appointments, racing about like lemmings 

and dreaming about retiring. 

My motto Seize the day or the Latin name 

Carpe dium taken from Robin Williams movie 

The Dead Poets Society…… retire early, buy 

an MG and ‘live life’. 

There is nothing like meeting up with likeminded 

people in a friendly pub having a hearty 

meal and plenty of laughs: and so it was today. 

Six cars carrying 12 like-minded people 

ventured out today for this not to be missed 

occasion….another wonderful day for the MG 

Car Club. 

Participants: Sylvia & Kev Johns, Imelda & 

Denis Logan, Helen Goodfellow & Ros Morley, 

Mavis & Bob Marsh, June & Brian Phillips, 

Marilyn & Phil O’Brien 

Monthly Run 26 June 

The coldest morning of the year for the district 

saw six brave people from three cars gather at 

Steele Rudd Park, East Greenmount. 

Our low attendance was due to many of our 

regulars having family and work commitments, 

migration to warmer climates for the worst of 

the winter and our real smart members, having 

found a warm spot, semi hibernating for the 

day. 

time as our paths don’t seem to cross. Rob 

explained that he is a member of fourteen car 

clubs and that certainly keeps him occupied. 

‘The practical initiative award’ for the day 

goes to Rob Callow. When Ferne mentioned 

how cold it was in the Magnette, Rob cleverly 

suggested she remove the transmission oil dip 

stick plug to get some warmth from the motor 

but try not to breathe in the carbon monoxide. 

Bob and Mavis Marsh receive the ‘cowards of 

the day award’ arriving in the Mercedes with 

the air conditioner working at full capacity and 

making unwelcome remarks concerning the 

weather. 

After morning tea and the usual enjoyable 

conversation six cheery folk set off for the run 

to Gatton, the three ladies dressed in a manner 

that could have won them fashions on the field 

at an Alaskan sled dog race meeting. The route 

took us through Mt. Sibley to the Heifer Creek 

Road and some interesting and scenic areas 

to the Gatton R.S.L club. The lunch was of a 

very high standard and good value. After an 

enjoyable outing we departed and made our 

separate ways home. 

Participants: Rob& Ferne Callow, Ron & Judy 

Gillis, Bob & Mavis Marsh 

‘The true M.G. 

purist award’ for 

the day must 

go to Ron and 

Judy Gillis who 

arrived, as usual, 

with the top 

down and frost 

bite on the ears. 

It was great 

to welcome 

Rob and Ferne 

Callow for 

the run. On a 

personal level 

I was very 

pleased for I 

have not seen 

them for some 

36 



Wide Bay Chapter 

by David Hall and Lyn Hayward 

15th May 2016 – Kelly’s Combined Run to 

Childers and Burrum Heads 

Two MGs, a TR3 and a Morrie Tourer headed 

off to Childers picking up another 3 cars at 

Howard making a total of 12 members who 

were joined by the Bundy Crew consisting 

of 21 Members and 11 cars for morning tea 

in a lovely park by the Railway Line. A good 

get together for all members catching up with 

one another and the conjoined run down to 

Burrum Heads Hotel. We were met by other 

members not wanting to do the longer run and 

a total of 45 people sat down to a lovely meal 

and a cold drink enjoyed by all. 

A great day was had by all thanks to Les and 

Joukje Kelly for organising this combined run 

for us. 

Wednesday the 18th May – Five MGs and 

a French convertible took a short run through 

the beautiful cane fields and then along the 

sea front to arrive at the popular Bayaroma 

Cafe on the Esplanade Torquay (Sharyn’s 

Choice) where we all enjoyed a wonderful 

morning tea and a chat about our cars. This 

was followed by a trip down to the exhaust 

centre for a little red MGB with a “holy” muffler 

(bless the little MG). 

The car park was full of sports cars 18 MGs 

in total (1 from another club), keeping the 

onlookers entertained with this amazing 

collection of 30 classic cars in the car park. 

The Bundy crew took a short run to Darrell’s 

favourite beach as others headed for home. 


Thursday 26th May Bundaberg Show 

Day - The Bundy Crew had a great day out 

with 13 Members and 8 cars representing 

our Chapter. They participated in displaying 

their vehicles and taking the Show Queen and 

entrants in the Grand Parade. 

Sunday the 29th May - 16 members and 

visitor Christine set off from Hervey Bay 

to meet up with Darrell & Jim (a member 

from the Gold Coast) at Granville Park 

Maryborough. We headed off to our beautiful 

destination for Morning tea at Poona Beach, 

a peaceful fishing town where time has 

forgotten! The tide was coming in as we 

arrived and after plenty of conversation of all 

things MG there was an inspection of David 

Carter’s New Alloy Radiator. A toast to Darrell 

& Jackie on their 50th Wedding anniversary 

was well received. 

We moved along to Rainbow Beach where the 

Surf Club was waiting. There we caught up 

with two other members of our club, Clarice 

& Bill Scot,t who had driven up from the 

Sunshine Coast to be with us . 

A lovely meal was 

enjoyed by all while 

our beautiful cars were 

being admired and 

photographed by the 

locals and visitors 

alike. There were 7 

MGs, an E type Jag, 

Datsun Fairlady and 

38 


an MX5 but the talk of the town was Ellen 

Wilson’s beautifully presented YT. It stole the 

show - WOW did MG make nice cars back in 

the late 1940’s. 

A great day was had by all some ladies 

disappeared to attack the shops while the 

men had another coffee. We now look forward 

to the next outing. 

Thursday 9th June - Paul Overton organised 

another beautiful run thorough the hinterland 

one of our favourite places, the Home Made 

Cafe at Point Vernon for a $5.00 home made 

Cake and Coffee - what a bargain! Eight cars 

and thirteen members attended to enjoy the 

beautiful food and that view across the bay. 

Another great day thanks Paul! After the 

enjoyable morning tea the planning team 

organised the runs for the next six months. 

Hold your hats on and let’s continue on this 

great MG journey. 

Sunday 12th June – Run to Tirroan with Allan 

Dansie It was a chilly breeze that greeted the 

Bundy Crew at the RV point in the morning. 

After a quick hello to everyone and a brief run 

down on our proposed trip we mounted our 

trusty steeds and headed for Childers. 

At Childers we met up with our members from 

Woodgate and after our smoko break left 

Childers and headed towards Biggenden via 

the Isis Highway. Turning at the Paradise Dam 

turnoff we headed to Booyal turning on the 

Bruce Highway to Tirroan. 

Arriving a little earlier than planned we 

enjoyed a refreshing drink while waiting for 

our hostess to cook our steaks and sausages. 

A very enjoyable salad was supplied to go 

with our cooked meat and after another drink 

and we said our goodbyes. The Woodgate 

members headed home via the Bruce 

Highway. We travelled some more MG 

friendly country roads and meandered our 

way back to Bundaberg via Wallaville and 

Goondoon. Everyone had a pleasant and 

very enjoyable MG outing many thanks to 

Allan Dansie. By Allan Dansie 

Wed 29 June - It was a very chilly morning in 

Paradise when 9 members in 6 cars met at 

the assembly area on the Esplanade Pialba. 

We decided to do a leisurely drive along the 

Esplanade from Gatakers Bay to Urangan 

Pier. It was a relaxing and very scenic drive 

indeed! Then taking a short run through the 

country side arriving at the French Bakehouse 

Airport shopping Centre Urangan. Where we 

were met by another member Warren Innes 

in his Motorhome.. We had a most enjoyable 

morning out and the fabulous food and coffee 

were a bonus. 

Mingo Crossing weekend - What a week 

end , Great weather ,Great friends, Great 

music and a fantastic camp site. 



Capricorn & Wide Bay Chapters 

THE OLD FLYING STATION FLY-IN AND 

HERITAGE SHOW, RAGLAN - 27 to 29 May 

Club Members from two Chapters - Wide Bay 

and Capricorn - attended this event. With the 

location being closer to Rockhampton than to 

Wide Bay it wasn’t surprising that the greater 

numbers attending were from the Capricorn 

Chapter. Their report can be read on the 

Capricorn Chapter page of the Club website. 

Val and David Peaker of the Wide Bay Chapter 

provided the entertaining and illustrated report 

below. 

Boom! Shudder! What WAS that? Hundreds 

of caravans, camper vans and campers 

turn off the highway at Ambrose, and drive 

between the tall gums, along Gentle Annie 

Road before entering Langmorn Rd, Raglan. 

You drive along a dusty road, across a 

couple of dry creek beds and past crisp, 

brown grassy paddocks, before paying $40.00 

to camp in the cow paddock, fertilised 

appropriately at the Old Flying Station. You 

can park anywhere and they did! Parallel, 

vertical, save a space for friends/family with 

a folding table or chair and drive back to 

your campsite on a tractor. 

Don’t arrive before 12:30 they said, but our 

brother rellies weren’t the first to arrive at 

10:30 am, with 132 before them. Maybe the 

queue blocked the entry road, like cows 

lined up at the diary. The tent pegs were 

freshly hammered into the dry, hard ground 

when we arrived at 1pm. We’re in their 

2nd bedroom - the annexe, with our soft 

queen size, air bed. They are in their fully 

equipped, en- suited 22’ caravan. Outside, 

children are noisily playing. Planes roar over 

ahead giving the pilots’ greeting, a winged 

wave from the air. 430 more caravans set 

up in the paddock. 

George Creed started the 6am dynamite 

tradition as the wake up call, but the ‘settle 

down’ evening dynamite is at no set hour. His 

family have carried on this shocking tradition 

since his untimely death in 2011, but it’s not 

for the faint hearted! This mammoth fund 

raising air show has been held for 25 years. 

This is a fund raiser for the Capricorn RACQ 

helicopter rescue service. A spectacular effort! 

We are here with thanks to the advertising 

flyer from the MG Club. 

It’s 6am Saturday. The dynamite has 

been exploded. The wake up music and 

announcements are playing over the loud 

speaker - we get it in stereo. Perhaps they 

think we missed it the first time. 

Possibly we did! The air is fresh and crisp. 

The sky is clear apart from a few risk 

taking, feathered birds dodging the early 

motorised, sky birds. The sight from our 

folding chairs under our covered annexe is 

magic. The tiny planes purr gently along 

the grassed runway, with wheels the size of 

a wheelbarrow. Bigger warbirds, with their 

massive radial engines, roar into the sky to 

give the dynamite disturbance a run for its 

money. If you weren’t awake before, there’s 

no chance of a sleep in now. 

40 


1100 day trippers snaked in convoy from 

the highway to the gate to pay their $20.00 

entry fee. Hundreds of planes come out 

of the Heavens to assemble across the 

far side of the runway. The pilots pitch 

their tents under the wing. Dozens of 

tractors (Chamberlains, Massey Fergusons, 

McCormacks, Bulldogs, Fords, John Deeres) 

show off their power as they drag their sleds 

to compete in the tractor pull. Antique trucks 

(Macks, Bedfords, International) sit proudly 

beside the shiny new rigs hoping for the 

people’s choice vote. Country hospitality is 

displayed in home made cakes, breakfasts, 

lunches or dinners served by friendly, local 

volunteers. Entertainment for the little kids 

comes in blow up slides, jumping castles, 

face painting and twisted, balloon toys. 

Antique cars, motor bikes and heritage 

machinery (1912 Foden steam tractor in 

pristine condition) have their separate display 

areas but it’s all eyes skywards for the 

afternoon air show. Matt Hall, a former 

RAAF Fighter Control Combat (Top Gun) 

Instructor and international Red Bull aerobatic 

competitor, displayed his daring skills. The 

bulky, folding wing, World War 11 Grumman 

Avenger simulated bomb drops starting a 

grass fire. The pilot of a modified Pawnee 

displayed his low flying skills to extinguish 

the fire with all sirens blearing. The Yak 52s 

and the Pitt specials were swirling through 

the sky knife edged, inverted, tail sliding, 

stall turning and looping against the clear 

blue skies. Mono wing, bi planes, Fokker 

Tri planes, micro lights and amphibious 

planes showed off their ability to an 

enthusiastic crowd. 

Young, adventurous, dreaming visionaries still 

take to our skies. Lachlan Smart (photograph 

below), an 18yr old pilot from the Sunshine 

Coast, wants to break the record as the 

youngest pilot to fly solo around the world, 

in his Cirrus SR22, departing July the 4th. 

As the plane engines cooled along with 

the evening air, the bands fire up. Huge 

wood fires toasted the crowd. Chain saws 

and cross cut saw challenges drew in 

the revellers. These Hervey Bay-ites are 

unprepared for the overnight temperature 

of 4 degrees. You wouldn’t believe it! The 

insulated sign near the caravan door doesn’t 

apply to the annexe! Shiver and learn! 

Soon after daylight, Sunday, the planes 

opened their throttles, looked down on 

the station and gave the pilot’s farewell. 

Caravans and campers drove off up the 

dusty road as volunteers cleared bins, 

watered the dusty ground and cleaned the 

facilities. For a donation to the helicopter 

rescue, the Creed family hosted dinner 

for the volunteer crew and the remaining 

campers in their Big Shed. We walked back 

under the diamond studded sky to our lonely 

van, amazed that a family, in the middle 

of the bush can put on such an amazing 

display. What a mammoth undertaking. 


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42 



Far North Queensland Chapter 

Contributions by Wayne and Lyn Morgan, Kim 

and Fiona Halloran & John and Cherie Fransen 

Sunday 1 May - Hi Falls Farm, Whyanbeel 

Attendees - John and Helen Honan (MGB), 

Wayne and Lyn Morgan (Healey), Tony Basham 

(TD), Alan and Aileen Bielefeld (MGF), Steve and 

Maureen Girardi (Triton), Kim and Fiona Halloran 

(Merc), Leon Johnson (Mini), John and Annette 

Collet (MGA), Alan Searle (MGF), John and Cherie 

Fransen (Midget). 

Good turnout today for our northbound run past 

Port Douglas up through Mossman, onto Hi 

Falls Farm. After leaving Cairns we had a quick 

stop at Mossman, opposite the old Church, to 

regroup, taking some pictures and then continuing 

on. Always a nice drive north and the weather 

was good today, as we have been having some 

unusually wet weather out of season recently, lunch 

scheduled for Hi Falls Farm and every time it is a 

treat. Good local service and nice fresh produce, 

including tropical fruits, the restaurant is set right 

beside a beautiful clear running creek and you can 

hear the water over the rocks as you sit, eat and 

chat, often a blue Ulysses butterfly will flitter past 

as you sit on the undercover deck, just to remind 

you that we are truly in Nth Qld. The run home 

was a little eventful, with Leon in the Mini having 

a breakdown before reaching Port Douglas. The 

Morgans kindly drove home to grab their trailer, only 

to return and pick up Leon and on this run ‘his not 

so trusty little green machine’ and driving him home 

to Cairns, very much appreciated. 

Saturday to Monday 18, 19, 20 June – All British 

Day, Townsville 

Attendees - John and Helen Honan (MGB), Wayne 

and Lyn Morgan (MGB), Tony Basham (TD), John, 

Cherie and Zali pup Fransen (Midget), Bob and 

Patty Ingram (Bugeye Sprite), Harvey and Kay 

Williams (Lotus), Brendon and June Hammersley 

(MGB), Alan Wardlaw (MGB), Tony and Yanti 

Boland (Porsche). 

Saturday at the Cairns Stockland Marlin was 

our starting point today, the skies were a little bit 

uncertain but a few clouds never deter us, we 

were looking forward to the Townsville Jag Club’s 

All British Day and our annual group drive south 

to Townsville makes for a fun weekend together. 

Quick pause at Innisfail for coffee then onto 

Cardwell’s park by the sea for the ‘iconic pie van’ 

lunch stop. A nice drive onto Townsville was without 

issue and we pulled into the Monte Carlo Motel mid 

afternoon. Once settled, it was time for relaxing 

and then to Franks Pizza/Pasta for dinner a short 

walk down the road. The heavens started to look a 

bit dubious, so it was a matter of cross our fingers 

and see for the morning. 


44 


Townsville is renowned for being one of the driest 

places in Nth Qld, but that was not the case this 

weekend!!! Lightning and thunder overnight and 

Sunday morning didn’t bring positive news with 

the Jaguar Club cancelling the event due to the 

weather. In hindsight, it was probably just as well 

as the Lotus, Bugeye and one of the MGBs didn’t 

have canopys, so would have made for some wet 

attendees. What to do???? 

Photos from top to bottom - Ready to leave from the 

Marlin Cairns, Starting point at the big Marlin, Coffee at 

Innisfail, Cardwell by the Sea, Cardwell stop, Cardwell 

lunch stop, On the way to the All British, Bob’s newly 

restored Bugeye. 


Well this bunch can have fun no matter the 

situation, so it was off for brunch, then some laughs 

for the girls on Keno at the Cowboys Leagues 

Club and watching the Darwin V8s on the tele for 

the boys, it wasn’t hard to while away the day just 

enjoying each other’s company. 

Monday after breakfast we were back on the road, 

with of course a gorgeous outlook and only a few 

clouds above. Oh well it was a nice weekend 

together, just not the original plan of showing off our 

‘British Beauties’ to the people of Townsville. 

Saturday 25 June – Lunch run – Mountain View 

Hotel 

Terrific day for a run with John and Helen Honan 

(MGB), John Collet (MGA), Bob and Patty Ingram 

(MGA), Wayne and Lyn Morgan (MGB), Kim and 

Fiona Halloran (MGB) meeting at Tom Dooley Park 

at Smithfield 10.30am for an 11am departure. Then 

Steve and Maureen Girardi (MGB), Tony Basham 

(TD) and Tony and Yanti Boland (TD) met up with 

the rest of the group at the lunch stop, Mountain 

View Hotel, at the base of the Gillies Range. 

It was a really lovely afternoon spent on the deck 

overlooking the river. The company was great and 

the food was beaut, all agreed it was a ‘top spot’. 

We were also joined by Roy Jaques who drove 

down from Herberton with his newly refurbished 

Series Jaguar E Type Roadster, simply stunning. 

After a great afternoon, we all said our goodbyes 

and headed on home, all cars ran beautifully and 

we now get them ready for our Chapter trip to meet 

up with the other Qld Chapters in Mackay in August, 

now that will be a fun time, all looking forward to it. 

46 



Capricorn Chapter 

by Gurney T Clamp 

Mt. MORGAN GOLDEN MOUNT FESTIVAL -- 

Saturday 30 April 2016 

While some of our members headed off to Airlie 

Beach for the long weekend, Roger Warne & 

Phylis , Brian & Glenis Russell, Rosco James, 

Neville Funch, Trevor Andersen and Gurney Clamp 

decided to take up the invitation from the Golden 

Mount Festival committee and travel up to Mount 

Morgan to take in a view of what takes place during 

the festival. 

We were pleasantly surprised by the large number 

of stalls in the main street of Mt. Morgan and also 

got to view the quality of the entertainment by the 

Rockhampton Line Dancers, Belly dancers, and 

Pipe band. 

At 1.15 pm we gathered along with members of 

other car clubs and a huge line up of well designed 

and colored floats supported by a large contingent 

of individuals dressed up in all sort of period 

costumes and outfits. The parade started on time 

at 1.30 pm and took us along the both sides of 

the main street where we were cheered on by 

thousands of onlookers that lined the main street 

and beyond. 

After the procession Rosco James took us on a 

trip up to where the Telstra Towers are located 

that gave us a great view of Mt. Morgan township, 

the mine and dam. A view that we will have to 

take again in 2017. The Bouldercombe Pub was 

a popular stop on the way home as there were 

members from other clubs there also enjoying the 

hospitality of the pub. 

TANBY GARDENS & BYFIELD -- Sunday 

26thJune 2016 

Following the disappointment of having to postpone 

the Tanby Gardens and Byfield tour due to rain on 

Sunday 19 the tour on the new date of Sunday 26 

was a very successful one. It was held in great 

MG touring conditions with most hoods down. The 

run started when the central group of Rodney Blair, 

Terry Dwyer, Stuart & Ada Clark, Neville & Barbara 

Funch, Rosco James, Gordon Kelsey, Allan & Trudy 

Stacey and Ian Wilhelmsen met up with the Coastal 

group of Trevor Andersen, Ian Carleton, Gurney & 

Gloria Clamp, Gary & Julie Kunst at the junction 

of Yeppoon and Dairy Inn roads. Here we all got 

to meet new members Jack & Rae Cowie in their 

1999 Silver MG F which boasted a state of origin 

coloured top. 

The next stop was at Tanby Garden centre on 

Tanby road on the coast for morning tea and on 

arrival we were greeted by Sandra Armstrong with 

her granddaughter waiting for us all to arrive and to 

also find that there were a husband and wife team 

entertaining the public with some good music and 

singing. As we were finding our seating Gurney 

invited a visitor to the centre in Martine Lempire 

to join us, to find she and Rae Cowie had some of 

the same friends in Rockhampton. It was here that 

the members who did not go on the Great Northern 

tour that toured the Central Highlands, Charters 

Towers, Townsville and Mackay got to hear some of 

the stories of the adventures told by the members 

who did go. One was about their meeting with MG 

car owners from Mackay and Bowen who indicated 

that they are looking forward to the All chapter 

meeting in Mackay in August where they hope that 


a new chapter will be formed that may be called the 

Whitsunday Chapter. 

After morning tea Gary & Julie Kunst and Sandra 

Armstrong had to leave the group to spend the 

day with visiting family while the rest of the group 

headed via the scenic highway to Byfield where 

Garth & Leslie Barnes joined the group as did 

Phil Henry after recently arriving home from the 

American tour he and his wife Margaret took. 

We then toured through Yeppoon beach front to 

Farnborough then over the small range on the 

Browns lane road to Byfield. On arrival Trevor 

Andersen found that a New South Wales couple 

had spotted him in his Daimler Dart in Yeppoon 

and followed him to Byfield to allow them to have a 

chat with Trevor as they too are the proud owners 

of the same model. We were also greeted by new 

owners of the Byfield store and found the quality 

of the meals etc still the same. It was here that the 

Poker run winners were announced with Stuart & 

Ada Clark winning for the Coastal group with a pair 

of threes and Ian Wilhelmsen winning for central 

with two pair. 

GREAT NORTHERN TOUR, June 13 - 20 by Ian 

Wilhelmsen ………. Assistant Coordinator 

The GNT as it shall henceforth be known, began 

under grey skies and light rain. Gathering at the 

Kershaw Gardens were Stuart and Ada Clark, 

Terry Dwyer and Anne Burbidge, Robbie and Gary 

Galloway, Gary and Julie Kunst, Ian Carleton, Phil 

White and Ian Wilhelmsen, all resplendent in their 

T shirts especially made for the occasion thanks to 

Terry. The other party of Ron Atwell and his son-inlaw 

Phillip would join us in Blackwater for morning 

tea. We then hit the road with a tour to Lake 

Maraboon and the Fairbairn Dam, travelling over 

the dam wall and back to Emerald. The next leg 

saw us heading to Clermont for our first overnight 

stay. 

A tour around Clermont started the next day and 

we visited Hoods Lagoon, a grotto marking Mary 

MacKillop’s Sisters of St Joseph activity in the area, 

a memorial to Billy Sing “The Crack Sniper of the 

ANZACS” and the piano in a tree. Thus began the 

most daunting part of our trip, the long lonely drive 

to Charters Towers with only a stop at Belyando 

Crossing for lunch. Wednesday was explore 

Charters Towers day and with so much history and 

a council promoting it excellently, there was no 

shortage of things to see and do. 

It’s now Thursday and time to pack up and drive to 

Townsville but before we get there, Phil White has 

arranged for us to visit Lansdown CSIRO Research 

Station at Woodstock. On the road again, we took 

a detour to Mt Stuart to have an elevated view of 

Townsville and surrounds and everyone remarked 

what a good hill climb track it would make. Arrival in 

Townsville saw us checking in to our motel and then 

afternoonsies on the deck overlooking the Coral 

Sea. Friday was the day for everyone to do their 

own thing with Robbie, Gary G, Ada, Stuart, Gary 

K, Julie, Phil, and the two Ians deciding to go to 

Magnetic Island. 

In the morning we gathered for the leg to Bowen. 

We met Cathie Meredith from Mackay in her 

yellow 1978 MGB and Graham Hoyle from Bowen 

in his MGB GT and had lunch at the café on 

Flagstaff Hill. Cathie then lead the troops to our 

accommodation for the night in Mackay. I would like 

to thank everyone for the great spirit in which the 

adventure was undertaken and we certainly have 

many stories to tell of the Great Northern Tour of 

2016. 

New members Jack and Ray Cowie at Tanby Gardens, 

Neville and Barbara Funch at Byfield and Car Line up 

Tanby Gardens. 

48 


A large collection of photos from this major 

trip can be viewed at https://1drv.ms/f/ 

s!AvkQV9Nvi9aNnltQHujR39OGkuCH - space 

allows for publication of only a small selection of 

them.

(Top photo) At Rockhampton (Second line) Blackwater; 

Clermont (Third line) Road between Clermont and 

Charters Towers; At Charters Towers (Fourth line) 

Lansdown Station; Townsville (Bottom photo) Bowen 


WIDE BAY CHAPTER AND THE INAUGURAL WONDAI SPRINTS 

by David Hall & Lyn Hayward ; photos by Lyn Hayward 

The Inaugural Wondai Sprints 

were held on 11/12 June and 

it was decided by a few of the 

MGCCQ Wide Bay that we 

would attend as our members 

David and Margie Roberts would 

be entering the sprints in their 

beautifully presented Datsun 

260Z (the FAST Yellow Peril). 

David has done a lot of work on 

the car to get it in full race mode 

for the up and coming Sprints and 

Hill Climbs including Mount Cotton 

and Noosa. We are sure he is 

going to do well as he has a great 

attitude to this type of racing. 

David and Margie arrived in their motor 

home on the Thursday to set up Camp with 

Workshop alongside as close to the start as 

possible. John and Annie Carol came with 

their caravan and David and Lyn arrived a 

little later in their Motor home towing their 

MGA Coupe to enter in the Show & Shine to 

be held on Sunday! 

Saturday arrived to a glorious blue sky as 

the sun was shining on Wondai! It was very 

special! The sprints were starting and some 

good times were being achieved. Mal and 

Elizabeth Cumes members of the Wide Bay 

Chapter and owners of an MGA Twin Cam 

Roadster came along as support. Then a tap 

on the shoulder, and there appeared another 

four members from our chapter who had also 

come along to support the Yellow Peril. Darrell 

Martin brought Bill Manns, Peter Worland 

and Peter May along for a day out and to 

cheer David and Margie along. 

One hundred and five cars lined up to the 

starter on Saturday to take their first run for 

the morning. The entries ranged from our 

friend John Luttnell from Tinana in his Renault 

Dauphine to open wheeler full on race 

cars. There was even a split windscreen 

Morris Minor with a Chev V8 engine - boy did 

he go. The newly laid tarmac track around 

the Industrial estate and some good times 

were achieved once the track warmed up. 

Dave Roberts leaves 

the starting line in his 1976 Datsun 240Z called Yellow 

Peril (photo by Peter Matthews) 

Some thought it was going to be easy until 

they realised that witches hats had been 

placed strategically on the straights just to 

make things a little more challenging for the 

competitors with David and the yellow Peril 

being one of their first statistics. Ooops - 

knocking a witches hat added 5 seconds to 

the total time for the run. When the tyres and 

track warmed up some pretty good times 

were being recorded and David’s times were 

no exception. 

On Sunday Morning we woke to an overcast 

day and a bit of a chill in the air but still a 

good day for a Show & Shine. 120 entrants 

lined up from Hot Rods, Classic Cars, Motor 

bikes, Vintage vehicles and even Moderns. 

However MGs shone through and gave a 

little ray of sunshine to the day. It was nice 

to see the late Ken Wilson’s Black MGB GT 

V8 looking in pristine condition with a new 

air conditioner fitted. We were all pleased to 

see it looking so smick. Cars were judged 

by People’s Choice and we managed a first 

place with our Red MGA Coupe for best 

Sports Car Pre 1966. 

The whole weekend was very well attended 

and organised by the local community who 

did a fantastic job involving all the schools, 

Sporting clubs, SES and local Service clubs 

50 


to look after the thousands of people attending. 

Their country hospitality and friendly 

nature will be remembered for years to 

come and I am sure I speak on behalf of our 

twelve members who attended this brilliant 

weekend that we will be returning to Wondai 

again next year. 

We found out after we arrived home that 

Peter and Delia Rayment were in the Noosa 

Beach Caravan Timing the runs. Sorry Peter 

and Delia we should have known you would 

be there! 

(Photos from top to bottom) David and Maggie Roberts 

with the trophies won by David and Simon Boss-Walker, 

Mal Cumes (L) and David Hall relaxing in the pits, 

Relaxing beside the Yellow Peril - L to R Owner Driver 

Dave Roberts WBC mates Darrell Martin, Bill Manns and 

Peter May, David Hall and Lyn Hayward’s 1960 MGA 

1600 Coupe winner of the Pre 1966 Classic Sports Car 

Class 3, David Perks MGB GT V8 previously Ken and 

Ellen Wilson’s award winning car and a proud David Hall 

and Lyn Hayward in front of their MGA Coupe with the 

winning trophy (photo reproduced with permission of 

South Burnett Online) 


Competition Corner 

QUEENSLAND HILLCLIMB 

CHAMPIONSHIPS 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 in very few taking up the offer of 

additional practice. Rain on Saturday saw only 

the adventurous come out to try the conditions. 

This rain washed any rubber from the track 

surface and even though Sunday gave a brilliant 

winter day the track surface was a dry yet cold 

track surface so the possibility of record times 

looked uncertain. The entry attracted Malcolm 

Oastler current Australian, New South Wales 

and Queensland champion in his OMS 28 again 

with the Hayabusa turbocharged engine. 

DA and BJ COTTON 

SPONSORED CLASSES 

First class of each run was for the Holden HQ 

group which was won by Anthony Toft with a 

best run of 56.01 seconds. Barry Smith (Ford 

V8 Special) took the Group K (Post Vintage 

Thoroughbred cars 1931 to 1940) with a 

61.64 run from John Anderson (Woltri, 63.87). 

Production Touring Cars (1958 to 1972) Group 

N up to 2000 cc went to Ken Freeburn (again 

down from Cairns for the championships) with 

a 53.70 time from Paul Shergold (54.35) both 

driving Ford Cortina models. Noel Wicks won 

the over 2 litre class in his Holden Torana GTR 

XU1 (50.91 sec). Fred Sayers took the Group O 

for Sports Sedans (Historic Racing and Sports 

Racing cars 1966 to 1969) in the ex Don Holland 

lightweight Morris Cooper S in 52.03 sec whilst 

Steve Purdy Group S (Production Sports Cars 

1941 to 1977) MG Midget 49.87 sec. Roy Davis 

took the Group T (Production Sports Cars with 

a Competition History 1941 to 1981) in his 

Triumph GT6 running a 49.13 time with the 

Group U class (Sport Sedans up to 1985) going 

to Chris Johns in his Ford Escort with a best run 


of 47.54 seconds. 

CARRIC ACCOUNTING AND 

BUSINESS SYSTEMS 


The All Wheel Drive Forced Induction class 

went to the multiple Queensland Motorkhana 

Champion, Noel Caplet, in the Subaru Liberty 

turbo with a best run of 48.21 seconds and Derek 

Grant in his Subaru Liberty turbo GT with a 57.79 

time. 

Mark Pryor was quickest of the Hyundai Excel X3 

Series cars with a 51.85 run which was only 0.08 

sec outside the class record with Bradley Smith 

(53.68) and Tony Walsh (55.35). 

BRAD KIMBERLEY CARS 


The smaller engine capacity class in Improved 

Production cars was won by Grant Liddell 

(Datsun 1200 Coupe, 52.74) from Karl Reinke 

(Hyundai Excel, 61.28) slightly ahead of Jo 

Reinke (Hyundai Excel, 61.63 seconds). Dave 

Sidery (VW Beetle, 50.61) finished ahead of 

Karlie Buccini (Proton Satria, 50.76) in the 1601 

to 2000 cc class whilst the 2001 to 3000 cc class 

saw a tussle between Ken Graham (Datsun 1600 

SSS,45.93) and Pauline Graham (Datsun 1600 

SSS, 46.33) with Troy McGrogan (Mitsubishi 

Lancer, 48.45) and Martin Egglesfield (Ford 

Fiesta ST turbo, 49.41) completing the class. Ken 

was quickest over the first 2 runs until Pauline 

grabbed the lead with a 46.33 run to hold this 

position until the fifth and final climb with Ken 

recorded the winning run with a 45.93 time. 

Paul Buccini took the over 3 litre capacity class 

with a run of 47.13 secs in his BMW 135i from 

the Holden Commodore of Noel Preston (51.27 

seconds). 

The PRC Rally car class went to John Gibson in 

his Mitsubishi Lancer GSR with a 53.47 time from 

Ray Evans driving the Ford Escort with a best run 

of 54.05 seconds. 

Daryl Morton was quickest in the Sports Sedan 

category up to 1600 cc class with a 48.44 

seconds best run in his Morris Cooper S followed

y Gavin Taylor who was using a new set of tyres 

to record a 49.35 second run in his VW Golf to 

finish from Ken McAndrew (Datsun 1000, 52.30) 

then Kristy McAndrew (Datsun 1000, 53.15) 

while the 1601 cc to 2 litre class went to Ross 

Mackay with a 46.90 time in his Ford Escort. In 

the over 2 litre class the first four place-getters 

were covered by 0.73 seconds with David Malone 

(Torana GTR XU1, 44.24) being the quickest 

from Garry Ford (Ford Escort V8, 44.87), Daryl 

Small (Commodore VL, 44.92), Mark Trenoweth 

(Jaguar XJS, 44.97) then Alex Daniels (Ford 

Escort turbo, 47.27), Jeff Daniels (Ford Escort 

turbo, 48.59), Sean Sorrenson (Ford Anglia, 

50.98), and Christopher Sorrenson (Ford Anglia, 

57.12). 

Bill McCollum took the Production Sports cars 

up to 1600 cc in his Mazda MX5 with a 60.97 

run. The 1601 to 2000 cc saw an exchange of 

lead between Zaid Latif (Lotus Exige) and Brad 

Stratton (Mazda MX5) for the class win. Brad had 

the early lead (52.61 sec) to Zaid (54.18 time) 

then Brad from Zaid (49.93 to 51.38) before Zaid 

drove a 49.30 time to break the record Teruo 

Delacroix of 49.33 set in 2013 and win the class. 

Craig Winter and Peter Andrews continued their 

close tussle in their MGFs. Peter was ahead after 

the second run 53.46 to Craig’s 53.73 run before 

Craig went ahead with runs of 52.73 seconds 

then a final run of 52.10 to Peter’s best run of 

53.30 whilst Stephen Callaghan drove a 58.39 

time in his MGB. 

THUNDERBOX TOOLBOXES 


Brian Pettit won the Marque Sports up to 1600 

class in his Westfield Clubman in a run of 46.03 

seconds from Ainsley Fitzgerald (Arrow Clubman, 

47.72) then Jon Young in his Caterham Super 7 

(53.65 seconds). Other class winners were Jason 

McGarry in his Caterham Super 7 (48.69 sec) 

who won the 1601 to 2000cc class whilst Mark 

Crespan (Ford RMC, 46.04) took the over 2 litre 

class. 

Sports Cars (Closed) went to Randall Bryson 

in his Suzuki Swift turbo (51.03 secs) just 0.04 

seconds ahead of Steve Torphy (Mazda RX7 

turbo, 51.07) then Russell Bryson (Suzuki Swift 

turbo, 52.12 seconds). 

Classes in the Sports Car (Open) up to 2000 cc 

was won by Therese Wade in the Chris Johns 

Suzuki Cappuccino turbo (54.03 secs) whilst the 

over 2 litre went to Jeff Graham (Mazda MX5 S/c, 

49.01) from Alan Barlow (Austin Healey Sprite 

turbo, 50.67 secs). 

Mark Maczek won the Superkarts class with a 

best run of 45.62 seconds in his PVP kart. 

TIGHE CAMS 

SPONSORED 

CLASSES 

Travis Johns took the Supersports/Sports 1300 

class in his Esprit Sports 1300 with a best run of 

45.97 seconds which was the fastest sports car 

during the Championships. 

Rick Miles was the quickest in the Formula Ford 

category in his Kookaburra FF91 (45.81 seconds) 

ahead of Gary Goulding in the Vector TF94 

recording a 47.11 time. 

EUREKA LANDSCAPES 


Mark Pickering took the up to 750 cc class in his 

Tibikart Special with a 55.69 second run. Neil 

Lewis won the 751 to 1300 cc class with his best 

run of 40.67 in his Fly 001 set on his second run. 

His third ended in the nuts and catch fence as 

he arrived at the hairpin from the second loop to 

find he had no brakes. The electronics recorded 

a 152 kph speed and a 5 g force going into the 

nuts. Next in the class was Jim Milliner (OMS 

200M) with a 41.19 seconds then Dave Morrow 

(Krygger Suzuki, 42.60), David Homer (Group A 

GAE001, 44.23), then David Quelch in his Black 

Arrow Honda with a best time of 45.87 seconds. 

Michael von Rappard (Dallara F392 Hayabusa) 

won the 1301 to 2000 cc class with a best run 

of 38.97 from Darren Read in the Hayward 

09 chassis for a best run of 40.46. The large 

capacity class would produce the outright winner. 

The first run saw Dean Tighe (Dallara Judd 

4.0) was ahead with a 38.60 run from Malcolm 

Oastler 38.84 (OMS 28 Hayabusa turbo) then 

Ron Hay (Synergy Dallara, 43.02) and Darren 

Duffield (RPV 01B, 44.80). Both Malcolm and 

Dean recorded their fastest time on their second 

attempts with Malcolm moving ahead with a 

37.87 time to Dean’s 38.01 seconds. Ron Hay 

improved his times to 41.37 as did Darren with a 

44.02 seconds 


Trophy winners 

Malcolm Oastler - 2016 Qld Hillclimb Champion 

Malcolm Oaster receives the trophy from major sponsor, Jason 

McGarry of Eureka Landscapes 

Dean Tighe - 2nd outright and winner of John English trophy 

for fastest Qlder 

Dean collects the John English trophy for fastest Qlder from 

John English 

Michael von Rappard - 3rd outright and winner of the 

Paul Aitken trophy for fastest time by a motor cycle 

powered car 

Michael receives the Paul Aitken Trophy from 

Dick Johnson 

54 

Travis Johns - Glyn Scott Trophy for fastest sports car 


Matt McEachan MP for Redlands presents Travis Johns 

with the Glyn Scott Trophy

Martin Tighe Trophy for fastest time by a Formula Ford 

Dean Tighe presented the Martin Tighe trophy for best 

Formula Ford to Rick Miles 

David Malone - Vince Appleby trophy for fastest time by 

a sedan 

The Appleby Trophy for fastest sedan was presented to 

David Malone by Dick Johnson 

Roy Davis - Hamilton Trophy for best performance by an 

historic car 

In the Hamiltons’ absence Dick Johnson presented Roy 

Davis with the Hamilton Historic Trophy 

Craig Winter, winner of Best MG 1601-2000cc, with Dick Johnson 

Steve Purdy, Best MG Group S with John English 


Phone or fax for a 

FREE 

54 PAGE 

CATALOGUE 

56 


2016 INTER-CLUB 

CHAMPIONSHIP 

In the past two months, 

there have been two 

pointscoring rounds for 

MGCCQ which have 

put us second on the 

pointscore table behind 

the Lotus Club. 

INTERCLUB HILLCLIMB, May 14 

This event was the third in the series of 

Interclub challenge events and brought to 

the hillclimb some cars and entrants not 

normally seen there. The diversity proved 

interesting to the good number of spectators 

who came along. 

FTD - Jim Milliner (MGCCQ) and 

(below) Superkarts - Gary O’Mullane (MGCCQ) 

The entries ran in twelve classes - slightly 

different to the usual series classes - and 

our Club gave trophies to class winners and 

FTD. 

Fastest time of day went to Jim Milliner who 

had posted three near under 40s with the 

best of them, a 40.15, giving him the trophy 

along with the class win and Interclub points 

for MGCCQ. 

Class winners : 

Road registered cars up to 2000cc 

- Don Milner (AQ) 

Road registered cars 2001 and over 

- Noel Caplet (HSCCQ) 

Imp Series production cars up to 2000cc - 

Scott Doyle (HSCCQ) 

Sports sedans - Piers Harrex (SMWCC) 

Historic sports and racing cars 

- Don Webster (MGCCQ) 

Imp and Series prod cars 2001 and over 

- Pauline Graham (MGCCQ) 

Prod sports cars up to 2000cc 

- Zaid Latif (LCQ) 

Prod sports cars 2001cc and over 

- Phil Hart (LCQ) 

Clubman sports cars - Brian Pettit (MGC- 

CQ) 

Sports cars -- Travis Johns (MGCCQ) 

Superkarts - Gary O’Mullane (MGCCQ) 

Racing cars up to 1300cc - Jim Milliner 

(MGCCQ) 

MACLEANS BRIDGE, May 22 

This was the fourth round and, while no individual 

points were given, there were Club 

points for participation and, thanks to the 

number of our members who took their cars 

along to Belmont on May 22, our Club continues 

to run in second place in the series. 

Cars in our display which rightfully demanded 

most attention from the viewers 

were Ross Kelly’s J3 and MGA and Craig 

Carlson’s MG TC. They got the attention of 

the judges as well with Ross going home 

with two trophies. 

Club members known to have their cars on 

display include: Don Webster (MG TD), Ray 

Chappelow (MGB), Peter and Sue Hope 

(MGB), Ross Kelly (J3 and MGA), Grahame 

and Wendy Amy (MGY), Craig Carlson 

(MG TC), johbn and Pat Walker (MGA), 

Neil and Joanne McCorkindale (MG TF), 

Bernie Pereira (MGB), Neil Mills and Clive 

Mulder (MGB GT), John Davidson (MGB 

GT), Shaun Rankin (MGB GT), Mike Barnett 

(MGB GT), Vern and Elaine Hamilton (Morris 

Cooper S), Brian Purvis (MG TF), Glen 

and Jill McDonald. 


While this issue is in production, some of our members will be competing in round 6 of the 

series, a sprint meeting at Morgan Park on July 9 organised by the Porsche Club. Following 

that, on July 3, Round 7 is an extended observation run. 

Overview of 

MGAs, Ross 

Kelly’s J3 

and MGA, 

Ross Kelly 

collecting one 

of his trophies 

and Craig 

Carlson’s 

MGTC. 

58 


CARRIC ACCOUNTING/TIGHE CAMS 

HILLCLIMB SERIES Round 3 

by Ace Reporter; photos by Steve Johns 

Winter really arrived this weekend with cold 

temperatures. The track surface was dry; 

however, given the rain over the previous 

weekend the grass verges either side of the 

track surface remained slippery. 

Throughout this event as more rubber was 

being laid on the surface with each of the 

10 runs there were broken records for 2 

competition classes including the outright 

club record which was the first sub 37 

second time set by a Queensland driver. 

REGULARITY 

The first run set the close competition for 

the day as Gregory Tebble (Locost Roadster 

Turbo) lost 5 points ahead of David Dumolo 

(Triumph TR3A, down 6 points), Andrew 

Willesden (MGB, loss of 7 points) with 

Lindsay Derriman (Toyota Camry, down 10 

points), Shaun Rankin (MGBGT, minus 12) 

with Flavio Paggiaro (MGBGT V8) having 

a spin at the hairpin which dropped him 17 

points. Greg maintained his lead after run 

2 with one point from David and Andrew 

equal on 7 points, Lindsay 10, Shaun 12 

and Flavio down 27. Run 3 resulted with 

Greg (-6), David (-8), Andrew (-9), Shaun 

(-14), Lindsay(-28) and Flavio (-31). Andrew 

claimed the lead at run 4 as he did not lose 

any more points to jump Greg (- 10) then 

David (-12), Shaun (-20), Lindsay (-34) and 

Flavio (-43). Greg jumped to the lead on 

the penultimate run (-11) with David and 

Andrew tied on minus 13 ahead of Shaun 

(-20), Lindsay (-50), then Flavio (-55). Final 

run gave the class win to David Dumolo who 

remained on minus 13 points followed by 

Andrew (-17) then Greg (-18), Shaun (-22), 

Flavio (-59) and Lindsay (-62). 

SEDAN CARS 

Production cars up to 1600 cc class went 

to Daniel Zeimer (Toyota Corolla, 54.30); 

n Bucifal (Hyundai Coupe, 68.38) won the 

1601 to 2 litre class with the over 2 litre 

class going to Martin Eggesfield (Ford Fiesta 

ST turbo, 49.58) from Cameron Bolt (Nissan 

Skyline 350GT, 51.76), Chris Balhatchet 

(BMW 325i, 53.34) and Ray Balhatchet 

(Nissan Skyline turbo, 60.49 seconds). 

Shane Merrick (Datsun 1200 Coupe, 48.56) 

was quickest in the Modified Production up 

to 2 litres from Dave Sidery (VW Beetle, 

51.24), Noel Dore (VW Beetle, 52.50) 

including a spin coming out of the first loop) 

from Karl Reinke (Hyundai Excel, 60.37) 

and Jo Reinke (Hyundai Excel, 60.60). In 

the over 2 litre class winner Paul Buccini 

(BMW135i, 47.15) was followed by Brendan 

Merrick (Datsun 120Y turbo, 51.02), 

Jonathan Anable (BMW 325i, 52.05) then a 

tie between the Falcon of Paul Milevskly and 

the Commodore of Bill McCollum (both on 

52.48 seconds) with Bob Bowden (Datsun 

180B SSS, 53.02) and Warren Milevskly 

improving his times from 68.80 to 62.02 

seconds. Paul Milevskly had a long slide out 

of the first loop and onto the inside grass 

verge during his second run on Saturday. 

All Wheel Drive Forced Induction went to 

Damon Stuckly (Impreza WRX, 52.50) from 

John Stuckly (Impreza WRX, 52.61) and 

Derek Grant (Subaru Liberty GT, 56.41). 

John held the lead for the runs on Saturday 

with a 54.02 from Damon 54.30. Damon 

grabbed top spot on second run on Sunday 

(run 6 for the weekend) with a 53.69 time 

from John (53.81). The order was reversed 

on run 8 with John now ahead on 52.61 

from Damon (53.63). Run 9 produced the 

final places with Damon recording his best 

52.50 time run from John (52.61). 

The Hyundai X3 Series class went to Mark 

Pryor (51.55) followed by Brad Smith (53.39) 

with Gloria McAndrew (56.25) edging out 

Ross McAndrew (56.32) from Gary Goulding 

(57.98) with Shane McAndrew (58.42). 

Ray Evans won the PRC Rally car class with 

a best time of 52.89 in his Ford Escort. 


Improved Production up to 1600 class was 

won by Grahame Rumballe in his VW Golf 

(55.35 secs). The 1601 to 2000 cc class 

went to Karlie Buccini (Proton Satria GTi, 

50.96) including a neat 360 degree spin out 

of the first loop on the first run on Sunday 

morning to finish from Wayne Ferguson 

(VW Fastback, 57.38) and Ian Dalglesh (VW 

Fastback, 58.62). Ken Graham took the big 

capacity class in a 45.88 time from Pauline 

Graham (46.46) in the Datsun 1600 SSS. 

Sports Sedans up to 2000 witnessed the 

Escort tussle between Ross Mackay and 

Tyson Cowie. Ross Mackay was ahead 

on Saturday with a 46.25 time in his Mk 1 

Escort ahead of Tyson (46.49 run in his Mk2 

Escort). Unfortunately for the spectators 

Ross was unable to get gears from first 

run on Sunday morning so we watched as 

Tyson tried to best Ross’ time. Tyson’s runs 

were 47.77, 46.91, 46.57, 46.43, 46.29 the 

on the final run a 46.08 time to claim the 

class. Next in class was Daryl Morton Morris 

Cooper S (47.51) just 0.41 second ahead of 

Gavin Taylor (VW Golf, 47.92), then Craig 

Harrison (Daihatsu Charade, 51.10), Jason 

Martell (Ford Escort, 52.12), Ken McAndrew 

(Datsun 1000, 52.20) and Kristy McAndrew 

(Datsun 1000, 52.42). 

Mark Trenoweth steered the large Jaguar 

XJS around in 43.50 just 0.17 second 

outside his record to take the over 2 litre 

class from David Malone (Holden Torana 

GTR XU1, 44.05), Glen Anable (BMW 2002 

turbo, 47.46), Scott Anable (BMW 325i 

turbo, 47.85) and Paul Wilson (Datsun 1600, 

55.84). Glen’s weekend ended on the fourth 

run when the oil escaped from the engine 

via the oil filter. A quick cleanup by volunteer 

marshals, drivers and pit crews enabled 

the remainder of the last run on Saturday 

to be completed. The track was readied on 

Sunday morning for competition. 

FORMULA CARS 

Jim Heymer took the Formula Vee 1200 cc 

class in his Hornet Formula Vee with a 53.35 

run. He reported that with the cold weather 

he found it difficult to get heat into the tyres 

as well as keep himself warm even with his 

newly acquired race suit. Craig Hughes took 

the Formula Vee 1600 class with a 49.68 

run in his Hughes VWMA. 

Nathan Quelch won the Superkarts class in 

his Honda CRF Arrow (47.32) which was set 

on his first run just ahead of Gary O’Mullane 

(Kinsella, 47.43). Gary’s runs included one 

stop in the hairpin (on his second run) then 

a visit into the Queensland nuts the first time 

into the hairpin on his third run. 

Formula Libre up to 1300 went to Jim 

Milliner OMS 2000M with a 40.02 then Neil 

Lewis (Fly001, 40.80), David Quelch (Honda 

Black Arrow, 44.78) and Mitchell Allwood 

(Energy Firecat, 47.68). 

1301 and over saw Dean Tighe (Dallara 

Judd) lower his own class record from 37.93 

set during the April meeting to 37.87 (on 

run 2) and 38.70 on run 3 on Saturday. On 

Sunday Dean continued to lower to 37.70 

(on run 6), then 37.08 (on run 7) and a 36.99 

time on run 8 to set a new class and outright 

club record plus also being the fastest 

Queenslander around Mt Cotton. Michael 

von Rappard Dallara F392 recorded sub 40 

second times with 39.63 (on run 3), 38.87 

(run 6), and a personal best of 38.48 on run 

9 to finish runner up in class and overall on 

the day. 

HISTORIC 

Geoff Frizell won Class P starting with 

a 64.98 in his Elfin Mallala replica then 

recording quicker times of 61.70, 60.74, 

59.95, 58.71, to finish with a best run and 

record of 58.59 seconds. Alan Telfer lowered 

the Group Q (Historic Racing and Sports 

Racing cars 1970 to 1977) from 59.61 to 

58.11 then 57.97 in his Lotus 7 Clubman. 

Group U (Sports Sedans cars to 1985) 

went to Chris Johns in his Escort in 46.86 

seconds. 

SPORTS CARS 

Marque sports cars 1601 to 2000 cc 

witnessed a great tussle between Zaid Latif 

(Lotus Exige) and Brad Stratton (Mazda MX- 

5) which lasted until the final run. Saturday 

runs found Brad ahead with a 49.98 to 

Zaid’s 50.61 run. This order remained until 

climb 8 with Zaid (49.26) to Brad’s 49.40. 

Final run saw Brad stop the clocks at 49.21 

60 


then Zaid claimed the class with a 48.47 

time. Close behind was Ross Ponting 

(Mazda MX-5, 51.60) who chased down the 

51.86 time set by David Robertson (Subaru 

BRZ, 51.86), Andrew Lake (MGF, 54.31), 

Berenice Stratton (Mazda MX-5, 54.52) and 

Greg King (Toyota MR2, 56.08). The over 

2 litre class went to David Roberts in his 

Datsun 240 Z in 49.50 seconds. 

Brock Paine took the Sports Cars (closed) 

under 2 litre class with a 52.17 run in his 

Nissan Silvia (52.17) with the larger capacity 

class going to Terry Johns (Nissan JFR S15) 

in 50.15 seconds. The Sports Cars (open) 

class was won by Therese Wade in the JFR 

Suzuki Cappuccino turbo in a time of 52.74 

seconds whilst the Clubman Sports Cars 

went to Ainsley Fitzgerald (Arrow Clubman, 

49.04) set on Saturday before he had 

electrical issues as fuses kept blowing. Next 

were Greg Fairbrother Westfield SEW 51.93 

and Jon Young Caterham Super 7 with a 

52.77 run. 

TOP SIX 

David Malone (44.63), Mark Trenoweth 

(44.90), Neil Lewis until smoke emitted from 

cockpit on his way to the finish line resulting 

in a DNF, Jim Milliner 41.98, Michael von 

Rappard who slowed through the second 

loop as maybe the pit crew omitted to refuel 

the Dallara thus robbing the spectators of a 

tight finish to record a 56.21 run, and Dean 

Tighe (37.84). 

Fastest time of day: Dean Tighe 

Top Six elimination: Dean Tighe (see cover photo) 

Young driver, 

Brock Paine who 

won the Most 

Improved Award 

for best first-timer 

at the hillclimb 

and (below) 

Best MG: Flavio 

Paggiaro who 

won the Award 

despite this one 

indiscretion. 


Round 3 photos from Ian Colley 

62 



64 

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