Octagon July, 2016

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.
The Octagon - July 2016 25