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VOLUME 20, NUMBER 3 May-June 2015
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Cars of Branch Members 2 A Museum Marathon 8 ABFM Class Winners 10 End of and Era 11 Rovalution Shop Visit 12 Report from Prague 13 New Member Profile 14 Welcome to the OECC/
The Boot /At the Wheel 15
UPCOMING EVENTS July 7, 2015 at 7:00pm ,Regular monthly event—VCB Cruise In at the A&W Restaurant , 13645—102 Ave., Surrey. (102 Avenue and Whaley Ring Road , near King George Hwy and 102 Ave.) July 25, 2015—Silverdale Run—Contact Walter for details and to register at wdrauto@telus.net or 604– 463-6305
Aug. 4, 2015 at 6:30pm Annual Stewart Farm Picnic and Drive, 13723 Crescent Road, Surrey (Crescent Beach area). Triumph Club is to be invited as well. Aug. 6th—9th, 2015. AGM run to Kamloops. Contact Ken Miles for details at kengmiles@telus.net or
604-576-8036
John and Lynne McDonald and John and Lorna Hoare at this year’s All British Field Meet at
Van Dusen Gardens on May 16th. I’d love to know what Chairperson John is thinking as he
looks skyward. Perhaps “why did I agree to take on this job again, I must have been crazy” or
“was that a raindrop I just felt?”.
It was another great ABFM this year . The weather, while not overly sunny, was nice and dry
which is always a blessing at that time of year, especially if one has a convertible. The show
seemed to be well attended by both entrants and visitors alike. MGA alone, one of the three fea-
tured marques, had just over 60 cars in attendance to celebrate their 60th anniversary.
Many of our members took home awards again this year. A list of class winners is on page 10.
Congratulations to all.
(Photo: Walter Reynolds)
PAGE 2 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
Cars of Branch Members and
Their Stories
By Walter Reynolds
The Cars of Richard Taylor
In this issue we hear about the cars of Richard Taylor.
While Richard has owned several non-British cars
(1953 Willys Aero Lark 4-door sedan – the best car he
has ever owned, according to Richard, several Volvos
and a Ford Aerostar that after only 9 years on the road
ended its life with Richard dropping it off at a local
auto wrecking yard) we let Richard tell the story about
his British cars. All photos are from Richard, except as
shown.
I was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England before
World War 2. Our house was bombed in 1940 and we
lost everything. Fortunately we weren’t home. For safe-
ty we were moved to my father’s sister’s home in Ulver-
ston, Cumbria, Northern England. Dad was in the Ar-
my in North Africa at the time. He was wounded and
shipped back to the UK to work in London. In 1943 he
was transferred to Devon in the south of England and
we all moved down to join him. He was retired in 1948
and in November 1951 dad and I moved to Canada to
stay with one of dad’s brothers. Dad bought a house in
Port Credit, Ontario (now part of Mississauga, ON)
and mum, my brothers and sister joined us in June
1952.
While in Port Credit, I bought my first car, a 1951 Ford
Prefect E93. I took dad with me to evaluate the car but
he knew less about cars than I did and I ended up with
a really bad deal. The car used more oil than gas. With
the help of a cousin we found that the cylinder bores
were lengthwise oval causing the high oil consumption.
Richard (with someone on his lap)
and his Prefect
On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit Port Credit
and Eastern Canada causing extensive flooding and
property damage. The creek behind our house flooded
out of the culvert which took it under the road. Be-
cause of the Ford’s high ground clearance, I was able to
drive through twelve inches of water without stalling
the engine, but my feet got soaked due to water leaking
in around the doors.
I owned the Prefect for two years but needed a more
reliable car as I’d started a new job. The Prefect’s re-
placement was a 1953 Willys Aero Lark, a 4-door sedan
with a 6-cylinder engine.
Willys Aero Lark (Internet photo)
The Willys was cheap on gas and a lot cheaper on oil
than the Prefect and was the best car I have ever
owned. Between 1956 & 57 the car was unused at
home in Ontario because I had been hired for a job in
Kitimat, B.C. where there were no access roads. In
1958 I returned to Ontario and with a cousin, drove the
Willys from Toronto to Santa Barbara, California in
two and a half days. Our plan was to see the Grand
Canyon but the road was blocked by snow. From Santa
Barbara we took two and a half months to reach Van-
couver, B.C.
By the time we reached Vancouver we were destitute
and had to find work immediately. We were both hired
on the Deas Island Tunnel project but were laid off af-
ter only two months of work. I managed to find survey-
ing work with Parks Canada at Revelstoke, B.C. in
Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. My
cousin found work elsewhere.
By now the Willys was getting expensive to maintain
so in spring, 1959 I drove to Vancouver to buy a new
car. On the way there I hit a patch of ice, did a 360 and
hit a snow bank which, luckily stopped me from going
into Three Valley Lake!
I had my heart set on buying an Alfa Romeo Gullietta
Sports – way beyond my budget at $3,960. I tried a
Morgan but didn’t like the gear shift so I bought a
PAGE 3 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
brand new 1959 Triumph TR3 for $2,640. It was red
with a white top and black interior.
Richard with his TR3
I put a lot of miles on the car in the THREE weeks
that I owned it! One trip was from Revelstoke to
Princeton in 2.5 hours. Unfortunately I was also using
the car for work and one day came down the very
twisty Mount Revelstoke road for lunch and drove un-
der a three-ton truck hauling lumber for a picnic shel-
ter.
My assistant (and passenger) was lucky though his
head hit the windshield and all he got were two 1-inch
cuts. But for me, I broke my ankle in two places and
my leg formed a straight line from my knee to my toes.
I was in hospital for two months and on crutches for a
further six. The Triumph had considerable front end
damage and it ended up in Vernon welded to another
TR3 with rear end damage.
I had no vehicle at all until Spring 1961. In the Fall of
1960 my Revelstoke boss invited me to watch the Grey
Cup game at his house. He showed me a pile of ply-
wood and canvas under two feet of snow in his neigh-
bour’s back garden. He said that I would be interested
in that, “There’s a small car under there and it’s for
sale,” he told me. In the following spring, through con-
tacts I knew, I went to see the wife of the car’s owner
(the owner was working in Australia) to find out if the
car was for sale. She said I could have the car for $500,
so I immediately went to the Credit Union and with-
drew the money.
According to the car’s registration papers it was a 1948
MG TC: I had no idea of what that was but took it any-
way. The parts for the car were everywhere: in the
basement, the bedroom, the kitchen and in the back
garden. Surprisingly, nothing was missing. I reassem-
bled the car and only had to buy new parts to replace
those worn out. Rust was only surface and easily dealt
with; the wood body frame was good except I had to
replace the part where the door catches fitted. The mo-
tor was seized so I sent that down to Vernon where
they put in the same pistons with over-sized rings, new
standard main and connector rod bearings. I also had
to replace the convertible top. With a borrowed 5-
gallon sprayer, I painted the car’s exterior black with a
red interior including the frame and engine.
Richard’s re-assembled 1948 MG TC
You may wonder why the MG was dismantled. The
owner bought the car in Calgary around 1957. He was
a CPR Fireman. While in Calgary some of his friends
jammed the ignition key slot with chewed-up paper
which disabled the car. The owner was able to hot-wire
the car to get himself and his wife back to Revelstoke.
This was in pre-Trans-Canada Highway days. One day
he was called in to work but the hot-wired car wouldn’t
start. As he was on the Spareboard and had 30
minutes to report to work or be passed over, he rushed
off in a cab forgetting that the car was still hot-wired.
Eventually the battery died and the cylinders filled up
with gas. He must have been away for some time be-
cause on his return he found that the engine was
seized necessitating its dismantling. Most of this infor-
mation I got from a friend of the owner (whom I never
did meet because he was killed in a road accident
shortly after returning from Australia).
I used the TC extensively between 1962 and 1970. I
went on long skiing trips to Alberta and Utah. One
Winter I drove it to Mount Hood and Mount Baker and
one Spring brought it down to Vancouver for Expo 86.
The best trip I had in the TC was when I drove from
Revelstoke to my parent’s home in Ontario and then
returned through the U.S. This trip occurred in the
Winter of 1962/63. It was a mild winter. On Saturday,
December 12, 1962, I packed my bags, put my ski poles
and boots in the passenger compartment, tied the skis
on the outside of the car (tips tied between the head-
light and fender on the passenger side and the tails to
the passenger door) and set off for Ontario.
My first night was spent in a motel just west of
Brookes, Alberta. I had run into a sand storm and had
to stop. The next morning I had to shovel about a hun-
dred-weight (cwt) of sand off the car and from the inte-
rior before I could move. That was Sunday morning;
where I spent that night, I don’t remember.
On Monday evening I was on the Winnipeg Bypass
heading east when my lights went out and the battery
died. I was towed back to town. It turned out that there
was a short in the starter motor so Wilson Electric re-
PAGE 4 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
built it for me. It was +400 F when I arrived in Winni-
peg but 48 hours later it was -300 F when I left! I con-
tinued east to Kenora, Ontario. On the way there the
TC’s engine temperature gauge would not register
above 1000F and my heater was blowing cold air. I
stopped at a gas station and asked for a piece of card-
board to put in front of the radiator. After several hit
and miss tries which included boiling the antifreeze, I
eventually threw away what was left of the cardboard.
Heading for Kenora, Ontario, I eventually arrived at
11 pm frozen, hungry and tired. Luckily I found accom-
modation for the night and fortunately, it was owned
by the sister of one of the engineers at work. Even
though the restaurant was closed they gave me a hot
meal and a warm bed for the night, both without
charge. The next morning at 8 am it was -350F and all
the oil in the car was frozen. It just wouldn`t budge. A
tow truck driver was helping people to start their cars
and he helped me by gently pushing the car to get all
the oil moving. After about two miles the lubricants
were finally loosened up enough for me to start the car
and away I went.
Many years earlier an uncle had told me to never take
the White River/Wasa area route of Lake Superior dur-
ing the winter. He said it was the coldest place in Can-
ada. So I decided it would be warmer to head south for
International Falls and Michigan, USA, steering to-
wards Ironwood for the night. It was warmer, -110F.
On my way the gas light came on (no gas gauge in the
TC) to tell me that I only had two gallons left in the
tank. After a while the car started to sputter but I
could see a gas station in the distance so put the car in
neutral and coasted. I was on vapours as I went up a
ramp from the highway up to the pump. I put in 13.5
gallons, the exact capacity of the tank!
The following morning, December 17th I left Ironwood
and headed for Sault-Saint-Marie and Ontario,
through Sudbury then down Highway 17, running
along the east coast of Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) till
I hit Barrie. When I got onto Highway 400 I ran into
my first real hint of snow. I had absolutely no problems
with the TC; traction was good, steering was direct,
braking (which I didn`t have to do because I was pass-
ing everybody) was consistent. After 60 miles Highway
400 ends and joins Highway 401 which runs east so I
had to turn west towards Oakville. As soon as I turned
there was an accident; a Triumph TR3 had spun in the
snow and ended in the ditch. I stopped to offer assis-
tance but the driver said that there was a tow truck on
the way, so on I went. I arrived at my parent’s home
about 3am after having driven 19 hours straight, less
of course, stops for breaks and necessities.
My return to Revelstoke started on January 2nd, 1963
when I left Oakville. I was hoping to do some skiing in
the U.S. Rockies so I drove west to get to the border.
After crossing the border I headed into Peoria, Illinois
where I had a forced two-day stop because for some
reason, my right foot had started to freeze. The outside
temperature was -110F. My planned route was taking
me to ski resorts at Aspen and other points west and
eventually home to Revelstoke.
At Denver, Colorado the TC was getting sluggish; no
get-up-and-go. I pulled into a rest stop on the highway
to see what the problem was. I suspected clutch prob-
lems. A chap driving a Porsche 365 stopped and asked
what the problem was. I told him and he reminded me
that we were at 5,000 feet above sea level and suggest-
ed that I just open up the air jets then the engine will
return to normal. I did and it did. I thanked him and
continued on my way, eventually branching north onto
Highway 40 up Berthoud Pass.
At this point I realized that my old TC had driven to a
higher elevation (11,315 feet) than I had worked at
during my employment by Parks Canada in Revel-
stoke. It was at this elevation that I ran into the first
snow since leaving Ontario. So much for all the skiing I
had planned to do! On the way up to this point I start-
ed to get weary so I found a wide spot off the road,
climbed into my sleeping bag in the passenger’s seat
and went to sleep. The temperature was still around -
120F.
I woke up the next morning (about the 5th day out from
Oakville) and headed for Ogden, Utah for food and the
way to Canada. I was travelling through Idaho on the
Lewiston Highway, a straight stretch of 60 miles but
with elevation changes between 200 to 400 feet at least
a dozen times in that 60 miles. I’d heard of a new ski
resort just south of Spokane, Washington and decided
to pay a visit. No snow! So, I headed west till I hit
Highway 97 into the Okanagan Valley, north into Can-
ada.
Apart from the shorting starter, I had absolutely no
problems with the car for the entire trip. It ran like a
dream. I only wish the heater was larger. I’d taken one
from a 1937 Plymouth which didn’t work too well. The
car’s interior had lots of holes which my father (who
worked for Rubbermaid) gave me rubber mats to fit
over the carpet and staunch some of the cold air’s in-
gress. All this work and the interior of the TC still felt
like an iceberg. Shackleton probably had it warmer.
And to top it all, no snow for skiing!
A few years later I was staying at the ski lodge in Lit-
tle Cottonwood Canyon, Alberta when two avalanches
came down overnight; one on each side of the lodge
putting about 15 feet of snow on the road and parking
lot. Luckily no one was hurt and the cars parked in
front of the lodge only received a dusting of snow.
PAGE 5 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
One trip south of the border for skiing at Mount Hood
and the White Pass saw me returning into Canada
with the TC’s rear end making a terrible noise. I
crawled into Penticton where I had the crown and pin-
ion gear replaced. The repair shop had to order the
parts from Deeleys in Vancouver. They could only get
one for an MG TD which has a higher ratio (I still have
it in today). Unfortunately, they did a lousy job and
forgot to put the cotter pin in the nut that positions the
pinion gear. In Revelstoke a month later the nut came
off and the pinion gear went backwards and chewed up
the spider gears. I had to replace them and reset the
crown and pinion myself. I phoned the garage for com-
pensation but they said, “You are in Revelstoke and we
are in Penticton, tough luck!” Years later I was back in
Penticton and went to find the garage. They were no
longer there – gone ‘belly up’ I hope.
On the above trip, I made a jump and re-injured the
ankle I broke in the 1959 TR3 crash. The ankle had to
be operated on in Vancouver, fusing two of my ankle
bones – another six months on crutches!
Around 1967 I got a new government job which in-
volved considerable travel around B.C. In the Spring of
1968 I was stationed in Kamloops and it was while
here that I spotted a 1954 Jaguar XK120 parked at a
Shell gas station.
1954 Jaguar XK120 (Internet photo)
I checked the car over and found that it had an MG
Mitten soft top. Its exterior was brush-painted in
black. While I was interested in the Jag, I had no way
of transporting it to Vancouver, plus at this stage of my
life I had a wife, one child and a mortgage. In the Fall
of 1971 I was working out of Lytton and saw the Jagu-
ar again. This time I made further enquiries and found
that the owner had been killed in a car crash and the
car was being sold by his brother-in-law, an RCMP of-
ficer stationed in Lytton. I contacted him and he told
me that there was the car, two engines and numerous
parts. I left a small deposit and told him I would be
back later to pick up the car. I considered that, in Van-
couver, I would never have another chance to pick up a
classic cheaply. I rented a pickup and went back to
Lytton, tied the Jaguar to the back of the truck and
towed it home with the truck box full of parts. The
parts plus the engine in the car (a 3.8 litre) were all
from a Mk VII Jaguar. The spare engine (which is from
an aluminum-bodied Jag but where it came from, who
knows) is a 3.4 litre and had two nice two inch holes in
the block on the off-side (LHD). Even though the en-
gine in the car was thrashed, I was able to pick up my
wife and new baby from hospital and pack them in the
car along with myself and our first child. As for the
engine, the crankshaft bearings were gone and the
rings cracked. The biggest problem with the Jag was
that it kept stalling from gas starvation. I went to a
wreckers and bought a new gas pump. When I went to
replace the pump, I found that someone had cross-
threaded the pump’s OUT pipe. The pump was sucking
more air than gas. If I had checked this first, I could
have fixed it with chewing gum!
With the arrival of the new addition to the family, the
Jaguar and my wife’s two-door Volvo were no longer
practical. Over the years we had a Volvo, Ford Aero-
star and then a 2000 Ford Windstar. The Windstar
was unfortunately destroyed on February 6th, 2015. It
had over 275,000 km on it at the time.
Back to sports cars. The Jaguar and TC were both in
my 12 foot-wide garage. By putting 6 inch diameter
poles under the cars, I was able to move them from one
side of the garage to the other to work on them. Very
little time was spent on them due to family and work
commitments. After my retirement in 1994, I was able
to spend a little more time on the cars. However, I did-
n’t fully retire and continued to work, this time for a
former student.
In 1996, I decided the garage was too cramped so
moved one car out – it was to be the Jaguar. I started
to take it apart so I could move it out. In doing so, I
was fortunate because as I was taking the body off the
frame the body folded into two pieces: The sills were
completely rotten. I was then able to move the two
halves of the body one by one. I had built a shed to hold
them and the other parts. Most of the parts I brought
down from Lytton were surplus to my needs and were
junked, although some had earlier been stolen when
my garage was broken into and burgled. About this
time, a friend heard about a 1964 ‘S’ Type Jaguar that
had just hit a utility pole and was picked up by West-
wood Wreckers in Coquitlam. The friend told me about
the wreck and I went to the wreckers and bought the
engine, a 3.8 litre, thinking it had been rebuilt and I
would not have to do any work to it. Think again! I
would have liked to buy the entire car but had no room
(and my wife wanted a garden).
When I checked the engine, it was a wonder that it ran
at all because there was not a gasket in the whole
thing, just red plastic cement. Even the oil holes in the
crankshaft were full of this red gunk. The head was
PAGE 6 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
broken and the distributor crushed but the rest
checked out OK. I took the block and crankshaft to a
machine shop where they did a line bore then ground
the main caps. Now everything is so tight that I can’t
turn the crankshaft so it went back to the machine
shop.
In 1997 I painted the frame of the XK120, rebuilt the
transmission and rear end, rebuilt the brakes with new
cylinders and linings, rebuilt the master cylinder, all
bushings on the suspension and basically all the run-
ning gear. Next came the body. I had no experience
with that so decided to give it a rest knowing that it
would take a long time.
I took a look at the TC and, knowing that I had already
rebuilt it once before and based on the fact that it had
sat around for close to 35 years, I knew it was due for a
complete overhaul. So, in the Spring of 1998 I put the
XK120 in cold storage and brought out the TC. I
stripped it down to the last nut and bolt. The wood
body was completely rotten. I went looking for decent
ash but couldn’t find any in Vancouver. As my sister-in
law’s husband used to make furniture, he allowed me
to look through his wood stock and take what I needed.
Alas, there was no ash, but wood is wood after all. I did
the framework myself but did not replace the piece
which fits between the firewall and the cowling in front
of the windshield. On the wood frame I painted three
coats of varnish and two coats of polyurethane. Then I
painted the inside of the body parts and tacked them to
the wood frame. Everything fitted. Next job was to
spray paint the 15 separate body panels which I did in
the back garden with some parts hanging from an ap-
ple tree. I sprayed about 16 coats of paint on each part;
paint one day, sanding the next, starting with wet-dry
400 grit and finishing with wet-dry 2000 grit.
The TC’s wood frame after painting
One day while assembling the car Carl Knorr paid me
a visit and suggests we assemble the original motor.
No problem, everything went back very smoothly. We
went to check the oil and found antifreeze in the oil.
Off came the sump and we poured more antifreeze into
the engine. We could see the antifreeze dripping from
two cracks in the block plus, the bottom of the block
was damp with antifreeze. The block was both cracked
and porous! You can fix the porosity with a silicone
product available in the UK, but this did nothing for
the cracks. According to Ruth Burgess, the best person
to repair the block had recently died so I started a
search for a new block. It took me two years to find a
donor block but there were no parts with it. I am still
waiting for the bits to show up. Luckily most of the oth-
er ancillaries came off the original engine, except for
the oil lines. The newer motors have the oil pump, fil-
ter and lines bolted to the block, but the old motors had
them separate so we had to drill holes into the donor
block to accept the external oil lines. This donor block
is from a 4-door 4-seater MGTY, 1954 vintage.
Restored TC
The wiring harness in the TC was not too bad. I took a
4x8 sheet of plywood and laid the wire on that. I then
cut out the not-so-good pieces then spliced in new wire.
I couldn’t get multi-coloured wire so just used the solid
colour stuff and changed my wiring diagram at the
same time. In addition, I installed extra wires for di-
rectional signals, gauges and more stop lamps. The TC
came with MGA-type rear lamps on the fenders but the
lenses had faded to clear and had cracked. No replace-
ments were available so I purchased tail lamps that fit
on the MG TD; I don’t like them but they’ll stay. I also
installed another stop lamp above the gas tank.
TC during restoration
PAGE 7 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
I had the block and crankshaft checked out at Coquit-
lam Automotive. They said the engine was perfect but
had to clean up the crank. In doing so they did not ra-
dius the journals and so reground from 0.010 to 0.030,
more expense! The water passages are slightly differ-
ent in the donor block; round vs. pear shaped in the
original block. I have tried newer and old style head
gaskets and have found no difference in cooling. I’ve
still got Ken Finnigan in Kamloops looking for the rest
of the donor engine parts, but they are still MIA.
Steve Diggins is basically the only person who has
done any work on the car; he completely rebuilt the
driver’s seat and he made the fabric top and tonneau
cover. The car has been back on the road since 2009
but, unfortunately it broke an axle (the second one) on
River Road on the way to the OECC AGM at the Lad-
ner Winery - its first long run. Stronger axles have now
been implanted and last summer (2014) they proved
themselves. I drove the car in +300C heat on the Fraser
Highway to Kamloops for my oldest granddaughter’s
High School graduation. We (the TC and me) were the
talk of the town. Everybody was phoning Ken Finnigan
to find out if this was his car or if he knew who it be-
longed to. I finally saw Ken four days later and intro-
duced him to the TC. The car ran the round trip to
Kamloops without any problems, it used no oil and
burnt only 18 gallons of gas. This resulted in approxi-
mately 28 mpg at 3500 rpm which provided around 50
mph.
Restored TC
Whilst I had the car in Revelstoke, in a little better
than six years I put over 42,000 miles on it and only
three times did it break down on me; only once did I
need a tow truck. I used it sparingly between 1967 and
1970 as I was always in the field for my work. From
1971 to 1996 I had wife, work, family and house to look
after so the MG was not used.
One final chapter: In Revelstoke I was also the me-
chanic for an Austin Healey Sprite, a 1961 Austin Hea-
ley 100-6, a 1962 Austin Healey 100-6 (to which the
owner and I changed the transmission from a side shift
lever to a centre shift lever), and an MGA whose owner
didn’t trust me enough to perform a de-coking (he took
it to Vancouver – Deeleys, I think for that work). While
I was in Ontario I went to a sports car garage whose
specialty was racing Lotus cars. The owner taught me
how to tune twin carbs. I have now re-painted the
XK120 – a light blue (63/64 TR4 colour).
Richard’s partly restored XK120
In removing the brushed-on black paint I found two
other colours. The colour history of the car appears to
be maroon (original colour), green, brushed-on black
and TR4 blue (current).
The jury is still out on whether or not the blue will be
the restored car’s finished colour. While work is pro-
gressing on the XK120, there is no target completion
date.
A big Thank You to Richard for taking the time to tell
us about his British cars.
And there we have this issue’s story. The “Cars of
Branch Members and Their Stories” continues in future
issues of the Roundabout. As of this writing, volunteers
include Les Foster, Doug Courtemanche, Allan Reich
and Dave Warlimont. In the meantime, and as per usu-
al in this space, if you would like to tell Branch mem-
bers about your British car, cars or motorbike/s, feel
free to contact me at wdrauto@telus.net.
PAGE 8 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
A Museum MarathonA Museum MarathonA Museum MarathonA Museum Marathon
By David Ballantine
Graham How of the OECC South Island branch sent
out an invitation to other OECC branches to join the
branch on a 4 day bus tour including the Lemay Mu-
seum in Tacoma. John Chapman and I decided to
join them on what looked like a very interesting trip.
John and I met the bus at the Tsawwassen ferry ter-
minal where we boarded and met the members from
the South Island branch.
Off we proceeded to our first stop, the Blain border
crossing. After about 20 minutes or so we cleared
customs and proceeded to the Sparks Museum in
Bellingham. We had an hour's show on the history
of how electricity is formed and how it grew to vari-
ous uses over time. After we had a box lunch that
Graham had arranged to have there, we then took a
tour of the museum. I have a 1933 Stewart-Warner
Radio that my father in law had given to me. Seeing
all of the various radio tubes that they had on show
I asked one of our guides if it would be possible to
buy any for my tube operating radio. He replied that
they had the largest collection of tubes in our area
and if I gave him the tube numbers, he more than
likely could match them.
After lunch, we stopped at the Outlet Mall in Tulalip
where all of the ladies and some men went shopping.
The bus then took the rest of us to shop at Harbour
Freight, which is kind of like a cross between Cana-
dian Tire and Home Hardware stores (the best way I
can describe it), where I found some handy tools that
were quite reasonable in price. Back we went to pick
up the folks at the mall in Tulalip and proceeded to
our hotel in Tacoma. There was no mistake about
where we were as the hotel was right next to the Ta-
coma Dome! After having a drink and supper at the
hotel restaurant we all went to our rooms and
packed it in for the night.
Thursday morning we were on our way again board-
ing the bus at 9.30 am to head off to the LeMay Mu-
seum. When we pulled up in front of the museum, I
was struck by how impressive the building is from
the outside. Once inside I was even more impressed
by the structure. The roof was of beautiful local
wood, I am not sure if it is cedar or pine or even
used both throughout the building. There is a total
of 350 vehicles throughout the 4 floors of the collec-
tion. This, by the way, we are told by our guide, is
only about 25% of the total Lemay collection. After a
2 hour tour it was time for lunch where we ate at
their restaurant on the first level. After I had a bite
I went down to look at the British cars they had on
display. I would say that overall in the building they
had about 12 or 15 of British cars on show.
Next stop was the Museum of glass nearby. We were
to be there by 2:30 for a guided tour. One of the
highlights I thought, was the ceiling of glass. Quite
impressive with all of the various colours of glass.
We also saw the actual glass creations being made
with the 4 hot furnaces blasting away. Quite the art
to watch it being done which I found quite fascinat-
ing. We then were able to freely look around at the
various exhibits. As we left the building, we went
through the gift shop. There were various pieces of
glass that had been created on the premises.
We then headed back to the bus for our hotel where
John and I had a drink and then headed to a local
Mediterranean food restaurant nearby. Afterwards I
was quite happy to retire to bed after a busy day,
Next morning Saturday, we had breakfast and then
boarded the bus for the 9:00 am appointment to the
Le May family collection at Marymount. This is
where a few of us went around 10 years ago when
Bence McIntyre had arranged for us to join the
L.A.M.B. group for a day tour. While we had a guid-
ed tour of all of the buildings, lo and behold, tucked
away in a corner we found Brian Lees Wolseley Po-
Ceiling at Museum of Glass
PAGE 9 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
lice Car. We found quite a few more British cars at
this collection. At noon, Graham had again arranged
a boxed lunch for all of us to have in an area the mu-
seum had put aside for us. While we were having our
lunch, who should pop by to say hello to us but Nan-
cy Le May. A charming and delightful lady she is,
Very friendly and easy to chat with. In the collection
amongst all of the cars is the actual car that was
used in the TV series Happy Days. We were told that
this past February, Nancy had driven the car from
Nebraska to Tacoma!
After lunch, we then boarded the bus to the Wash-
ington State History Museum. Lots of very well laid
out carvings to show you the various aspects of life
in the late 1800's. We arrived at the hotel in Lyn-
wood where we had a chance to freshen up and head
to the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant for supper.
After a humorous speech by Robert Atkins, giving a
summery of events thus far, we all gave a round of
applause, thanking Graham for all of the work and
planning that was involved to make it run so
smoothly.We were not done yet, we still had 2 more
museums for Sunday before we headed home. Firstly
we had the Heritage Museum, Paine Field, Everett
for a 2 hour guided tour. There we saw a lot of various
planes from WW2 including Japanese, German, British
and American types. Amongst the collection I was very
surprised to see an actual V1 (known as doodlebugs or
buzz bombs) recalling some of the names that we called
them, and also a V2 rocket on display. Afterwards, we
again had some lunch (we forever seem to stop for
lunch) and then went to the Boeing factory. If you ever
go down to the factory, they are VERY strict about you
having a camera, cell phone or any other electronic de-
vice during the tour as they have had incidences of
people dropping things from the balcony level onto the
floor below. Since I was there with my wife and my
mother in about 1987 they have expanded the factory
quite extensively. They have separate buildings for
building the 787, 777, 767 and 737 ( I think that I have
all the models they are currently working on, surely
they will run out of 7's sometime) It surly was fascinat-
ing to see an assembly line operation. I seem to recall
that the guide said they turnout 1 plane a day. Quite
astounding I thought
At 5:00 pm it was time to board the bus and head
home. Again, the border crossing went very smoothly
as we were on our way again within 20 minutes or so.
Jim our bus driver dropped John and I right at the
parking lot where we had parked our cars.
All in all for me, it was a most enjoyable trip, getting to
meet fellow club members from the South Island
branch who were very friendly and sociable and mak-
ing John and I quite welcome.
Wolseley Police car once owned by Brian Lees
plus David with Nancy LeMay
V1 Rocket from WW II
PAGE 10 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
2015 Vancouver All British Field Meet
Vancouver Coast Branch Class Winners
Class 4— Austin Healey 3000 (roll up windows) - 1st Place—Sarah Sanderson-Wilson, 1965 Austin Healey
3000 Mk3 Convertible
Class 18—MG B/C GT—3rd Place—Michael McChesney, 1967 MGB GT
Class 24—Morgan 4/4—1st Place—Ric MacDonald, 1965 Morgan 4/4 Roadster
Class 25—Morgan Plus 4—3rd Place—Steve and Susan Blake—1962 Morgan Plus 4-4 Seater
Class 26—Morgan Plus 8—2nd Place—Win Muehling—1986 Morgan Plus 8 Roadster
3rd Place—Robert McDiarmid—1995 Morgan Plus 8
Class 51— Morgan DHC (1939-1969) - 2nd Place—Ken and Pat Miles—1960 Morgan Plus 4, DHC
- 3rd Place—Les and June Burkholder—1964 Morgan Plus 4 DHC
Class 40—Commercial Vehicles— 2nd Place—John Pel—1968 Austin A60 Pickup
Class 42—Jensen—2nd Place—Tom Popovich—1976 Jensen GT Coupe
Class 45—Rootes Group—2nd Place—Alan and Mary Lou Miles—1962 Sunbeam Rapier Series IIIA
Convertible
Class 54—English Ford—1st Place—Clifford Jones— 1969 Ford Cortina Estate
Class 57—Motorcycles—2nd Place—Rick Freestone— 2008 Triumph Rocket III
(Congratulations to all of our winners. I have done my best to include everyone who went home with
an award this year. If I have inadvertently left anyone out please let me know and I will correct it
next issue. Thanks-Alan)
Walter poses with the new VCB tent at this
year’s ABFM (above) plus “how many past and
present Executive members does it take to get
said tent back into its bag?” Three apparently.
Four if you include the person taking the pic-
ture.
(Photo by Alan Miles)
(Photo by Lorna Hoare)
PAGE 11 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
The End of an Era
By David Ballantine
The day had to eventually come to sell my 1974 Jensen
Interceptor after having owned it for the past 22 years.
Due to my MS making it more difficult to do the sim-
plest of tasks, it was getting more difficult to maintain
and it was becoming more of a chore rather than a
pleasure.
It has certainly been a great ride (pun intended) all the
years that I have owned it.
Having received 21 awards
at various shows, I look
back with satisfaction, real-
izing that my peers have
shown their admiration for
me by keeping the car look-
ing as good as it can be and
in good running order. The
car I am sure could still do
0-60 in 7.7 seconds.
The nicest thing about own-
ing a classic car, you get to
meet and make friends
with fellow owners with the
same interests as you,
therefore, able to help each
other with similar prob-
lems that you encounter.
Being a member of a club
like ours, is knowing that
when you are out on an
event together, you are not
left stranded. This was
proven to me last year
when we all met for a pic-
nic and my torque convert-
er decided to give up the
ghost on the way home.
Not one, but four members
stopped to make sure that I was OK.
The other side of our hobby is when you pull into a gas
station to fill the car up, when an admirer comes to
talk to you about the car it takes twice as long. Never-
theless it was all part of the fun.
The Jensen only had 38000 miles on the car when I
bought it. When I sold it, still only had 78000 miles on
the original motor and still going strong.
Having done one trip to the San Francisco area, one
trip to Carson City Nevada and one trip to Hood River
Oregon, I met fellow Jensen owners and made many
new friends at Jensen Western National meets. The
trip on the way home from San Francisco, I was driv-
ing along the I-5 at 70 miles an hour and I went to put
on my turn signal to change lanes. Instead of turning
the signal on, the lever decided at that moment that it
was lonely and did not want to let go of me. There I
was, with the handle in my hand in mid air !! I was
telling someone that I had to change lanes very care-
fully. He said to me that I could always use hand sig-
nals. I promptly replied "no thanks as I did not want a
dislocated shoulder flying along at 70 miles an hour". I
was able to stop by at a fellow Jensen owner and he
had it fixed in twenty minutes. As it had not broken,
he was able to take the steering
wheel off and put the pieces
back together and reassembled
it.
The joys of motoring certainly
leave with you many memories,
some good and some not so good,
but that is the fun of it all. No
matter what pre-trip prepara-
tions you make, the unexpected
somehow seems to pop up. May-
be not so much with the newer
cars of today.
Meanwhile the Jensen is start-
ing a new career of its own. The
car was purchased by a man in
New Jersey and his partner in
Austria. It was picked up from
the house on a flatbed tow truck
and taken to the shipping dock
in Richmond. There it was put
in a container and put on board
a ship destined for Rotterdam,
via the Panama Canal. Too bad
that the container does not have
windows as I am sure the car
would love to see the Panama
Canal (he he). The car will have
travelled quite a few miles and
not showing any miles on the odometer. Arriving in
Rotterdam, the car will then be driven from Rotterdam
to its new home in Austria. As I said the car is moving
into a new lifestyle of a collector.
In Austria they have a race for collector cars. To quali-
fy, the cars can only be as new as 1972 at the moment.
I have a feeling that sometime in the future that my
former car will be entered in it. Here is the link for the
race. http://www.ennstal-classic.at/en/
As I said, for me, the end of an era.
PAGE 12 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
Talkin’ ‘bout a RovalutionTalkin’ ‘bout a RovalutionTalkin’ ‘bout a RovalutionTalkin’ ‘bout a Rovalution
Text by Alan MilesText by Alan MilesText by Alan MilesText by Alan Miles
Photos by Alan Miles and Les FosterPhotos by Alan Miles and Les FosterPhotos by Alan Miles and Les FosterPhotos by Alan Miles and Les Foster
May’s Branch event, held on Tuesday the 5th, took us to Rovalution Automotive
in North Vancouver. Owner Don MacDonald and Customer Service person
Chrisma Wortley were our hosts and provided a very welcoming environment
for our first visit to this establishment.
Don is a graduate of the BCIT Automotive Technician Diploma Program. After
finishing at BCIT he then went on to do his apprenticeship and Land Rover
Factory Training at a local Land Rover dealer. He opened Rovalution on March
1st, 2007 and has recently doubled its shop size. Don and his technicians handle
repairs to all makes and models but as their name suggests, specialize in Land Rover products old and new.
They also boast a large well stocked Land Rover parts department.
John McDonald started things off with a short business meeting and then owner Don gave a talk on his history
with Land Rovers and the history of Rovalution plus answered many questions from the members present. All in
all it was a very enjoyable event. Don and Chrisma could not have been more gracious hosts and it was nice to
see such a well-organized and clean shop.
Approximately 30 members showed up with about half that amount meeting at the Red Robin a few blocks away
for dinner beforehand.
PAGE 13 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
Report from Prague
Our overseas member, Carl Knorr, recently attended a car show outside
of Prague, Czech Republic. Carl sent photos of a vintage Riley, a bull-
nose Morris Cowley and a MGA coupe and an MG Midget that were
amongst a total of eight British cars that were displayed along with var-
ious Czech and other European cars.
Carl also sent this photo of himself behind the wheel of a vintage Tatra
Formula racer.
-Les Foster
PAGE 14 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
Attached is a photo of my new toy!!! Purchased just a few weeks back, I don't think I
have wiped the smile off of my face since I bought it!!!
Pam and I have been married for 20 years. I was born here in Vancouver and she in
the UK. I have been an avid motorsport enthusiast and British car nut since I first
purchased a yellow Corgi Jaguar E-Type when I was 10 yrs. old. Well, this car had to
wait for our four children , Julian, Tristan, Hermione and Caspian (twins came
last!!!) to grow up a wee bit...but here it is!!!
Other interests....Pam and I are big music lovers. Pam runs a hugely successful open
mic cafe (Kanaka Creek Cafe) in Maple Ridge every Wednesday night. My other pas-
sion is classical and jazz records. Other interests are literature....but I will leave all
that until we get the chance to meet you all at the get togethers!!!
Cheers,
Robert Burns
New Member Profile: Robert and Pam Burns
AT THE WHEEL
Chairperson: John McDonald
sirjohn@hotmail.com 604-942-8223
Vice-Chairperson: Walter Reynolds
wdrauto@telus.net 604-463-6305
Treasurer: Bernie Miles
pat.miles@telus.net 604-943-0535
Membership renewals: mail to 207-4753
River Road West, Delta, B.C. V4K 1 R9
Membership Secretary: John Chapman
johnchapman@telus.net 604-590-3749
New memberships and correspondence:
7923 144A St., Surrey, B.C. V3S 8C1
Immediate Past Chairperson:
Gerry Parkinson g.parkinson@eastlink.ca
604-943-3824
Event and Meeting Coordinator:
Lorna Hoare
Lornahoare@shaw.ca - 604-584-2564
Communications Coordinator: Alan Miles
milesfamily@telus.net—604-272-2145
Roundabout Editor : Alan Miles
milesfamily@telus.net - 604-272 -2145
Good & Welfare: David Ballantine
2dballantine@telus.net - 604-980-4120
Website Editor: Alan Miles
milesfamily@telus.net 604-272-2145
PAGE 15 THE ROUNDABOUT VOLUME 20,NUMBER 3
(Clockwise from upper left) John and Lorna
plus Steve and Gerry Parkinson at the Louis
Brier show on June 14th. Lorna displays
one of her daughter’s wonderful cakes at
the June Branch event. Lorna and the three
Johns (Hoare, McDonald and Chapman) at
the Masonic Care Home show, May 21st.
(Photos courtesy of Lorna)
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