NewsletterSeptember 2016

GTMOC

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Who’s WhoSecretary

Bob Snooks 73, Plough Lane Stoke Poges Buckinghamshire SL2 4JW

01753 662 951 0r 07730 703 180 generalsec@gtmownersclub.co.uk

Treasurer

Steve Bliss 17, Marti Close Melksham Wiltshire SN12 7JA

01225 793 121 treasurer@gtmownersclub.co.uk

Membership Secretary

Juls Hickman 27 Cambourne Road Rowley Regis West Midlands B65 9EZ

0121 559 7856 memsec@gtmownersclub.co.uk

Newsletter Editor

Roger Brown Brownhill House Ruyton XI Towns Shrewsbury Shropshire SY4 1LR

01939 261 121 editor@gtmownersclub.co.uk www.eleventowns.org.uk www.eleventowns.co.uk www.eleventowns.com

Editor’s columnThe weather did pick up and we have had some gooddry spells with,very recently, what you could almostcall hot for a few days. This meant there were goodopportunities for al fresco motoring. However, not allevents were so blessed with Cholmondley and CastleCombe having some rain. You can’t win them all.

We have had reason to visit Weymouth in Dorsetseveral times in the last few months which providedsome enjoyable driving. We discovered the veryuseful Cartgate picnic/rest stop on the junction of theA303 and A3088 which could be of interest to othersgoing in that direction. However, up a few levels onthe fun driving scale are the A686 north from Penrithand the road from Devil’s Bridge to the Elan valleyin Wales, both of which we did again this year. Wellworth looking for an excuse to visit either of these.

One sign of a good motoring year was that one of ourcars came up to the insurance mileage limit for thefirst time. Actually, there was a mitigatingcircumstance in that our Se7en was clearly getting inneed of a rebuild when the cycle wings fell off , soless used than usual. New parts on order so we knowwhat the winter mechanics work will be.

As always, a reminder of the next copy date - 10th

November - when contributions of articles, reports,technical tips etc will be needed. Please send the textin Word format and send pictures as separate imagefiles - don’t send text and pictures mixed in the samefile. Pictures do not have to be very high definition.

Send contributions to: editor@gtmownersclub.co.uk

Thanks to Howard Yeoman, Howard Wright, SteveBliss, John Bunting, Bob Snooks, Colin Howells,Simon Oates, Paul and Susan Curtis for contributionsto this issue.

Front pageYou don’t see many pictures taken from this sort ofangle. Howard Yeoman’s Libra in all its glory

GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM

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Silverstone ClassicWe only have a short account of this year as it wassomething of a disaster for Bob Snooks:-

We set off on the Thursday pm to meet up with Steveto erect the club gazebo. However, having hurt myback nine days earlier, I knew I wouldn't be much use.Steve and Marion did a sterling job of putting up thegazebo, in the pouring rain, with a little help from theSilverstone 'zone manager'.

Having had to queue to get in, [not happened beforeon a Friday] We had a good sunny day with 4 Libra'sand two Spyder's on the club stand. Unfortunately,because of my back I didn't manage to leave the clubstand to look around the show. In the evening we wentto the concert along with Dave & Eve, Steve and Jim.Bands including the Boomtown Rats were performing.We had to leave before the 'Rats' came on stage asmy back was very painful and it had also started torain. We ended up back in the hotel bar, joining Julsand Helen for last orders. Unfortunately, my back gotthe better of me and we decided to head home earlyon Saturday morning with a visit to A & E for somestronger pain killers. Sadly, we therefore missed theshow on Saturday and Sunday.

However, as always, Steve the Treasury wasthere with his trusty camera

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A one day classic car show linking up with CompleteKit Car magazine again for the 2nd year. You canalso take your car onto the track.

As we had only just got back from touring IrelandMarion decided not to come, so I arranged to meetup with another club member, Phil Cope, and weleft home early on Saturday morning in a convoy oftwo Libras.

In all, 5 Libras and a Rossa 1 attended the show withone Libra going out on the track early in the day.Unfortunately, I missed this because we were havingbreakfast at the time!. There was also a Spyder butthis was parked with the Bristol Kit Car Club and itwent out on the parade lap at lunch time.

We had a nice sunny day until about 3.30pm whenit chucked it down. Luckily, the gazebo was still upbut that meant we had to take it down, wet, inbetween showers.

Thanks go to Steve for bringing the gazebo and Philfor bringing his stove so we could have tea/coffeeand burgers/hot dogs at lunch time.

A good turn out of GTM's and a good day overall.

Bob Snooks

Castle Combe

Thanks to Bob and Steve for pictures

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Cholmondley Power and SpeedA new name for the Cholmondley event but againwords from Bob and pictues from Bob and Steve.

This was the second year that the club had attendedthis 3 day show, but unfortunately we only had twoLibra's and a Spyder on the club area.

The show, whilst the track action was as entertainingas last year, had a couple of attractions cancelled dueto health and safety reasons (i.e. BAC Strikemasterair display). As usual, you are free to roam aroundthe pits and see all the vehicles from vintageBentleys, classic motor bikes and WRC rally carsto the Ferrari FXX. There was no entertainment onthe Friday evening and a comedy show on theSaturday night rather than the usual bands. This wasslightly disappointing but at least we had a coupleof good evenings back at the hotel restaurant and bar.

There where six of us on the Thursday night and 8on Friday and Saturday night. As six of us weregoing on to Southern Ireland, in 3 cars, for ten daysfollowing the show there was plenty to talk aboutand plan.

The weather over the weekend was ok'ish with raincoming on Sunday but at least we had the gazebo toshelter in thanks, again, to Steve, and tea & coffeethanks to Alan & Anne.

As we planned to leave for our trip to Ireland about1 o'clock on Sunday to catch the 5.30pm ferry fromHolyhead, we had to take the gazebo down betweenshowers leaving Steve to cope with dismantling histent on his own.

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News

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Ragley HallAnother classic car show that Complete Kit Car magazine have linked up with Gemini Events who have beenrunning the event for a few years as a classic car show. This was a two day show, however, as CKC were onlygoing on the bank holiday Monday [supplying kit car drivers and passenger with free entry tickets], I tried tobook for the Sunday as individual entries, but unfortunately they had closed registration early as they hadreached capacity.

So we drove up on the Sunday morning and spent a nice sunny afternoon walking around the gardens ofCoughton Court, which was close to Ragley Hall, retiring to the Premier Inn for the night after dinner and afew beers.

We arrived at Ragley Hall early on Monday morning to avoid the queues we had passed on the Sunday. Wehad three Libra's and two Spyder's on the CKC area which had about 18 cars altogether. It was very cold allmorning so we went for a walk and had a look at the impressive view over the rear gardens of Ragley Hall.We also had a look around the inside of the Hall and the gardens which were open, free of charge, to showattendees.

The show was well attended and we found the commentator in the arena quite entertaining. Thankfully, bylunch time the sun had come out and we stayed until late enjoying the weather and show.

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Motor Sport at the PalaceI had a good day at Motor Sport at the Palace inCrystal Palace park despite the chilly grey Bankholiday weather. This year I took the Libra afterusing the train last year, not much difference timewise for me from the Surrey/Hants border as thedrive through the South London suburbs is a bit of achore once off the A3. The main part of the event I would say is as a Sprintcompetition with a car club display along side, andthere are enough other attractions that the wholefamily could have an entertaining day. The Sprint is a little unusual in that the classes aresplit mainly by age rather than engine size. There isa link to the list of results on the Motor Sport atthe Palace web site, but as a guide a quick singleseater is in the low thirties second bracket with oldercars/less experienced drivers at around the late for-ties. The Classic bikes did not set times but wentround on mass behind a pace car as a demo, goodidea as the last corner would not be a good place topart company with a bike. Type Crystal Palace mo-tor racing into youtube for a flavour of the place bothnow and in the late sixties. Both the Sprint and the club side seem to attract therare and unusual. Good to see a Costin Amigo be-tween a Marcos Mantis and one of the newer TSOmodels. The park was used when the original ItalianJob film was made so a set of red, white and blueCoopers were there for that reason. A couple of the kit cars were competitive in theSprint, how would a well driven GTM go I wonder,their light weight being better on the now twistycourse compared to an Audi RS6 estate even with itsover 800BHP. A nice fun competition in a lovely historic parkwhere even the park statue gets into the spirit of theweekend and wears a crash helmet.

Howard Wright

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TechnicalFRONT SPLITTERII decided to replace my front splitter, as it has beensubjected to various scuffs and knocks over the yearsand has been repaired several times.

The old splitter was constructed from uPVC flatboard and bolted to the front clam.This has proved to be quite long lasting but I wantedsomething stronger without faffing about withmoulds and fibreglass!

So, half a sheet of 9mm marine ply from B&Q, someglue and a lot of sanding and shaping and splitterMK2 was formed.

I covered the surfaces with fibreglass resin from“Halfrauds”, painted the whole thing with stone chipand satin black paint and Bob’s yer uncle!

It’s bolted on as before with stainless steel bolts andtee nuts into the timber.

The splitter is slightly thicker and protrudes furtherthan the old one. Whether it’s an improvement ornot remains to be seen, although leaving our drivefor the first time following installation the splitter hitthe road! Minor scuff but no problem.

Does it improve performance?…..……3 miles upthe road we were flashed by a speed camera doing36 in a 30 so obviously it has made the car quicker!(COCK!) Paul Curtis

UPDATEIt turns out, after a DNA test, Bob is not my uncle

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HIGH SPEC CALIPERS

I have fitted 6pot yellow hi spec calipers and 28mmthick, 310mm tall drilled/grooved discbrakes withferodo pads a few weeks back. Well impressed withthe braking performance already

I have order the identical similar 4pot versions of thesame for the rear coming in the next month or so butin 24mm thickness but still 310mm tall etc

Colin Howells

Next year as its the GTM B'day I am hoping to holda GTM day at our restaurant and bar here in theScottish Borders. Mainly for Scottish cars so we don'thave to travel too far!

Date proposed is Sunday 28 May

Idea at the moment is to meet here in Ashkirk at10.00/11.00 for bacon butties, drive around theborders and return to our restaurant for a meal later.

At the moment it would be good if you could put thisout so I can gauge interest.

B&B accommodation is available in the area, as iscamping and caravan sites nearby.

ThanksPhil

Phil Boyes

The Smiddy Restaurant, Ashkirk, TD7 4NU

Telephone 01750 32242

Web smiddyashkirkrestaurantandbar.co.uk

E.mail smiddybar@btconnect.com

ANNIVERSARY EVENT

GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM GTM

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Factory built by GMT for me using a new engine & gearbox,the engine has the larger 32mm throttle body and has beentuned by ****** giving 150bhp @ the wheels. 5 spokecompomotive wheels, with Goodyear F1 tyres including fullsize spare. The adjustable GAZ shocks were serviced at theend of last year and are as new.

The interior is finished to a very high standard, trimmed inalcantara by Nobel Cars. Sabelt seats & road legal safetydevices harnesses. Radio CD & speakers. Cobra CAT2imobiliser.!Very good condition. New Mot, 12,000 problem free funmiles since built, alwaysGaraged.

Offers in the region of £8500

Please contact chrisandpeteo@gmail.com Tel 01638714821 for more details.Car located near Newmarket Suffolk.

For Sale

Commiserations to Dan Mayo who has brokenhis leg. However, it gave him time to produce

articles describing a steering rack change and atrip to Scotland which we will have in the next

issue.

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will be going and I get my butt on the seat. After theApril/May disaster I have held off making any entries,I just hope they are not oversubscribed when I cometo take the plunge!

Everything I have 2 of, including fingers, are crossed,it makes walking a little difficult and does makepeople give you funny looks but after all the hassleof a none running car hopefully things are at long lastback on track again, the 2nd Jedi Kawasaki loom isbooked in to be made on 24th August, next stop is toget the new ecu mapped on Northampton Motorsportdyno, that is booked in on 8th September (the earliestdate they had available) and I’m due to return on the11th September. Talk about living life on the edge!!All of this has being arranged by a friend, John themanager at “Wrights of Northampton”, who so kindlycollected my car and trailer from Jedi and the droveit to the various stop offs and kept me informed ofeach bit of its progress along the way. If not for thisit would have been impossible for me to even considerputting in entries and driving this year. I think hedeserves a share drive, a shame he is so much biggerthan me. If I can do a test day at Bicester HeritageCentre, which is not far away, I will have to try andshoe horn him in!!

The trouble with putting a ‘bigun’ in is getting himout again later; many years ago I collected mycompany deputy chairman in my Caterham with aplan to take him to Silverstone, as he had onlywatched racing on the TV, never live and almost hadto resort to an engine crane and a sling under hisarmpits to get his 130kg out. Oh and I did notice thatwith the weight of 2 passengers and a driverCaterhams sit much closer to the ground!

The GTM is still in progress but now being disturbedby the rain season. Just been making an aluminiumdash panel to house my ex Jedi combined oil andwater temp gauge, an old Smiths chronometric tacho(ex F3 1000 screamer, must be quite rare and wortha bit by now) Metro GT speedo and fuel gauge plusthe usual idiot lights and a few switches, ever so basicand simple. I’ve also been making a hydraulichandbrake as I’m using rotors and callipers off thefront of a Toyota on my rear Mini hubs, so nothingthere to attach cables to. I also raised the car up intothe air to get underneath to measure up and have madethe gear linkage rods to connect the gear lever to therod change gear box, a very fiddly job working blindinside the tunnel and feeling with your finger tips.

Then the following week my Muslim “brothers” gaveme an extra 2 days off work to celebrate the end of

News from members9GER NEWS

I had just made my reservations to come back inSeptember with Turkish Airways and next daywatching the early morning Sky news well beforesparrow fart and there they are reporting suicidebombers blowing up the arrival hall in Istanbul. Hmmnice, get it out of your system chaps, inshalla all willbe quiet again by September, in London you may benervous seeing middle eastern looking gentlemenwearing rucksacks, but there everybody looks likethat!

Yesterday confirmed my reservations, booked my seatand when I woke this morning saw on the news anattempted coup in Turkey. Hmmmm is this an omen,what will happen when my butt is actually on theplane?????? Shall I bathe in the Ganges, repent all mysins and say 10 Hail Mary’s, buy assorted luckyrabbits feet (not lucky for the rabbits??), only timewill tell.

The Jedi saga is still ongoing; the chap who does Jedielectrics installations has admitted defeat with myKawasaki, in spite of it running with a standard loomhung onto the side of the car with all its bits pluggedin?? He is OK with Suzuki’s and Yamaha’s, he justdoes not seem to get on with Kwaka’s. I only recentlyfound out he did the loom on my old ZX10 installationwhen the car was built back in 97 and I had a faultwith the battery not being charged and had to carry ajump start battery and charge up the onboard batteryfrom the tow barge during the lunch break. I couldnever find the fault until 4 years later when I remadethe loom installing my 1st ZZR1100 engine, just onewire missing and giving me lots of grief Grrr.

I’m hurriedly scratching around trying to sort out planB for my Jedi electrics installation woes in time forthe return, even after a couple of bad shunts and ablown up engine I have never missed a year in eventssince 1997, after all the effort and money spent I don’twant 2016 to be the first.

If plan B does not work out I could be spending myleave doing my own loom, I just hope it’s not out ofthe back of my trailer in a Premier Lodge car park likethe one I made in 2000 for my ZZR engine installation.Well I can confirm I won’t be making a loom in a pubcar park, I have just bought a DTA ecu and am havinga loom made by Tim Mason, with the mapping to bedone by Northampton Motorsport, both approved andrecommended by DTA, so fingers are crossed that it

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Ramadan, the rain was kind giving me more time tocrack on with the GTM, I want it to be running nextyear in time for GTM’s 50 year anniversary.

The work on the GTM rear end has pretty muchground to a halt until my return from my UK midSeptember break when I will be bringing back thebalance of my oil line connections and a Laminoveroil to water heat exchanger, plus Revotech ducts andhose for the carb cold air feed, my ex Jedi seat belts,glass fibre strand mat, plus other bits and bobs forbikes, etc

Having sampled life as Land Rover owner inApril/May, there were many things I thought couldbe done to improve it. It is very low geared, great forpulling trees out of a swamp, but I want to cruise alongthe motorway towing a trailer at sensible engine revs,so a Discovery transfer box was sourced and installed.I’m told it’s much more civilised now. They must beall of 2-1/2 tons in weight, so take quite a lot ofstopping, more with a trailer behind, hopefully softEBC pads will help, if not it could be a vented discconversion. A little more power is easily available andtempting, but I want to check out the improvedstopping first. Sound proofing is being installed so atleast I can hear myself think and enjoy my CD’s on along trip. I have an inverter to install to give me a 220vpower supply off a 12volt battery, so I will be able todrill a hole or boil water for coffee when in the wildsof a pub car park or a hillclimb paddock.What really surprised me when I first drove it was thepeddle pressure needed for both brakes and clutch,bearing in mind the Defender is reputed to be “HerMajesty’s” favourite car, I can only think one of herfootman is operating the peddles on her behalf!!

Nigeria is still very short of foreign money of anykind; if you have any to change and want Naira therates are fantastic! But for businesses needing hardcurrency to buy and import things are very hard, ourtomato farmers have been hit with a bug that kills theirplants and the alternative imported tomato paste isvery scarce and expensive because of import finance.Several airlines have stopped flights in and out ofNigeria as they are having to wait many months beforegetting Naira ticket sales transferred into US$, I justhope Turkish is still operating in September, or itcould be the adventure of a lifetime going overlandand if that didn’t kill me going, coming back on thereturn journey probably would. In the old days, (evenlong before my time) people working here used to sailback to Europe by ship from Lagos and would go onleave for 2 months only every 2 years.

Kano airport was originally a military airfield; half ofit still is and for a very long time was Nigeria’s firstand only international airport as it was 1000 milescloser to Europe, very important in the old propellerplanes which used to be cutting things a bit fine withtheir limited range! Later seaplanes and flying boatsused to land in the Apapa lagoon in Lagos, there isstill a Seaplane Road as a reminder of the past nearApapa Docks, but now the only thing landing thereare container ships.

Whatever next??

The Lagos State Government has shut down 70churches, 20 mosques and about 11 hotels, clubhouses and beer parlours in a move aimed at reducingnoise in the state. Bola Shabi, the General Managerof the Lagos State Environmental Agency reported…there will still be all the horn blowing cars, busses andtrucks belching out exhaust fumes, the street tradersshouting to advertise their wares and all the otherbackground noises going on, will it ever be quiet? Idoubt it.

Life no dey easy ohJohn

IRELAND ADVENTURE

With one of our party having a big birthday comingup, we thought it would be good to take the Libra'son a short driving holiday to celebrate. As we weregoing to Cholmondley in Cheshire, and Holyheadwasn't far away from there, we decided that Irelandlooked good. We had always wanted to visit there.Our group was made up of three GTM owningcouples in two Libra's and a Mazda .

We arrived at Cholmondley on the Thursdayafternoon with our newly purchased boot bags whichwere needed to increase luggage capacity as we wouldbe away from home for nearly a fortnight in total. Wehad a good time at the show [see show report] andwe left, in the rain, at 1pm (ish) for the trip toHolyhead to catch the ferry arriving in Dublin about7pm.

Although we had booked accommodation in Co.Limerick, we thought we'd spend our first eveningand most of the following day in Dublin beforeheading off to Limerick. In the morning we set offfrom the hotel, on foot, to explore Dublin. We hadbeen walking some time when we asked a man, whowas leaving his house to take his daughter to school,for directions to the place we wanted to visit. He wassurprised that we were walking as apparently it was

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about 10 miles away! We had been told at the hotel itwas only 10 minutes away but then realised that theymust of assumed we were going by car.

We carried on walking and, about 20 minutes later, thesame man pulled up in his car and offered us a lift. Asthere were 6 of us this entailed 2 trips back and forthfor him. Where else would you get such hospitality?.

After spending the day in Dublin, including an opentop bus tour of the city in the rain, we returned to thehotel and collected our cars for the journey toBallyorgan in Co. Limerick, a distance of about 120miles. The trip to our accommodation was uneventful[still raining] and we arrived at about 8pm. Wedumped our bags in the house and headed straightdown to the village pub, 800 yards away, to experiencemore Irish hospitality. The pub was packed with peoplefrom a walking group but they gave up their seats toaccommodate us and fed us with sandwiches and cake.There was a chap playing a guitar and everybody wassinging along with him. We all had a great evening andthis set the trend for the whole trip. Almost everywherewe went people were very hospitable, taking photosof and asking questions about the Libra's.

One highlight of the trip was the Cork Summer Showwhich we had noticed adverts for. As it was on thatweekend and had a vintage car rally we had to go. Aftereventually finding the showground, we parked in thepublic car park. We made our way to the car display

section of the show and found the organisers tent. Wetold them that we had a couple of kit cars in the car parkand asked if we could bring them in to join their

display. They were happy for us do this and gave usvehicle passes so that we could collect our cars andpark along side the classic and vintage cars on theirdisplay area. Again a good reception was received,spending most of the day talking about the Libra's, andto top it off we were presented with a plaque forattending the show.

Another highlight was our tour of the Dingle peninsula.This is a very scenic drive along the coast road andthrough the Connor pass on the way back. Not for thefaint hearted, now I've done it I won't be going again!!We drove the cars onto the beautiful sandy beach atInch which stretches for 5k. and was the location forthe film 'Ryans daughter'. We spent sometime there asit was nice and sunny (but a bit windy).

All in all we had a great trip, lots of good eveningsdown the village pub and good food everywhere wewent. The roads were better [just] than I was led tobelieve although they are very fond of speed humpswhich the Libra is not keen on. We met lots of nicepeople and I would thoroughly recommend a drivingtrip around Ireland if you haven't been there.

With three days at Cholmondley followed by nine daysin Ireland we arrived home just two days before theshow at Castle Coombe. A busy couple of weeks butwe thoroughly enjoyed it. The only problem we hadwith the cars was to change an alternator belt on Paul'sLibra, can't be bad.

Bob

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Paul and Susan Curtis called it the

We had another grand time at the CholmondeleyPower and Speed Motorsport Event in June thisyear and would thoroughly recommend it to all.

At the end of the show we and two other couples(Bob and Marion Snooks and Alan and AnneBritton) took our cars on a boat ride to Dublin. Wethen travelled South to a luxury lodge in theBallyhoura Forest Mountains, Ballyorgan, CountyLimerick and, using the lodge as our base, touredas much of Southern Ireland as we could in theeight days we had allocated.

One of our favourite trips was to the DinglePeninsular where we parked up on the beach nearSammy’s café and strolled along the beach. Wethen drove around the Dingle coastline and up theConner Pass – a really good experience.

The local pub was in easy walking distance andwas quite a draw for us – we all became Guinnessdrinkers during our stay.

We spent a day at the Cork Summer Festival andwere invited by the Blarney Vintage Club to showour cars on their pitch – it felt like home from home!!We will be very pleased to welcome any memberof that club to one of our shows when they makea trip to England.

This was our first trip to Ireland and we were reallyimpressed with the lovely people. They were allvery welcoming (and loved the cars)! We had awonderful time and thought we would share a fewof our many pictures:- the lodge, the three carsparked outside the lodge (taken from inside thelodge, cleaning the car outside the lodge , the carsparked up on Dingle beach and the local pub (withthe cars!).

IRELAND ESCAPE

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We went to our local car show for the second yearrunning as it didn't clash with Silverstone again thisyear . We went in as a late entry which on reflectionwas better than booking a club area for 1 car !

The weather was really good although we had acouple of short showers in the afternoon but that didn'tdampen the event. We struck up conversations withthe other car owners parked beside us about theirvehicles' history and the modifications they had made.We had a good day answering questions about the carwhich received quite a lot of attention.

Bob

UXBRIDGE AUTO SHOW

COUPE ON TRIAL

A couple of photos of my coupe during 3 years ofownership.

It started with 2 years of strip down, refabricationand rebuild of everything, then I decided to changeto coil overs three months ago.

I do some Classic Trials in a Triumph Torum(Spitfire chassis, 2.1 pinto, volvo amazon etc)special. I intended to use the GTM on the roads, butthen thought I could have some 'field trials' fun. I'vemanaged about 8 inches of ground clearance andprobably need a hydraulic handbrake.

I attempted the MCC Testing Trial on 3rd July thisyear at Keinton Mandeville. First time in a field,10 sections and 4 rounds - great friendly fun.

Of all the trial cars, I managed the second fastestround in 215.6 seconds, being beaten by TristenWhite in a Troll. It's a learning curve as I had todismantle the passenger door to get Alan Spencer outand a few ignition and fuel pump problems (nowelectronic ignition and new fuel pump) I waspleasantly surprised at how well the car handled butwould like a bit more grip than the road tyres supplied.

7th August saw a Testing Trial on Bodmin Moor withLaunceston and North Cornwall Motor Club, this wasmeant to be a non damaging trial. I helped to set upand it was definitely muddy and testing. I manageda puncture (2 inch gash in sidewall) and a modifiedfront end (not much give in granite!) but managed aclass win, even beat an Imp with 2.0 ltr ford engineand beetle gearbox.

I hear some saying sacrilege, but hey, I've rebuilt itonce, it's still going, it's only the driver that's brokenin the middle and it's great fun.

Next field trial is on 11th September with theWindwhistle Motor Club near Axminster in Devon.

Warning - GTMs may contain nuts!

Simon Oates

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Regional GroupsThe Southern group meet on the first Tuesday of the month.Please check on the Forum for the location as this has beenchanging.

The venues are handy for the M1 and M25 and most of theregulars have about an hours journey to get there. We are afriendly bunch and would love to have some other membersjoin us. You don't have to come every month but would benice to see as many of you as possible.

Don Stephenson organises the East Midlands meet at TheRoman Way, Newark (junction of A1/A46/A17) on thesecond Tuesday of the month. This venue was chosen to givegood access for people travelling north or south on the A1,A46 and A17, and we are always happy to see new faces.Group usually meets in the restaurant at their pre-booked tableat 7.30. Anyone with an interest in GTMs is welcome to jointhem.

Mitchell Gaynor lives in Chorley and tells us that PrestonSupercar Club meets at the Phantom Winger pub at Fulwood,Preston. Meetings are on the second to last Sunday of eachmonth and all are welcome

The West Midlands Group meet at the Bell Inn,Birmingham Road, Walsall, WS5 3JP. It's just north ofjunction 7 of the M6, close to the end of the M5 and on theA34 from Walsall to Birmingham, so is easily accessible fromalmost any direction. It’s an Ember Inn, so does reasonablypriced food and a range of beers. Contact for meeting datesis Peter Cole - peter204@hotmail.co.uk

Bruce Calverley has a Spyder and he runs a club in WestYorkshire www.northernroadsters.co.ukIf you want to meet the members of the friendliest motor clubin the North go to their meet at 8.00 on the first Friday of themonth at The Old Colonial, Dunbottle Lane, WF14 9JJ, justoff the A62 or the A644 at Mirfield (M62 J25 eastboundorJ27 westbound).

There is also no GTM group in Shropshire/North Wales butmembers are welcome to join the Shropshire Alternative CarClub (www.shacc-uk.org) Meetings are normally on the 1stTuesday at the month at the Bradford Arms, Knockin.

Why not organise a gathering in your area? Volunteers arewanted to act as regional organiser/convenor/or whatever youwish to call it. It should be a a very enjoyable job that is nottoo onerous.

Could the regional group organisers/reportersplease update the info for next time.

September1344 Abraham Ali1326 Peter Yeomans1284 Colin Oberlin-Harris1242 Peter Staniforth1233 Trevor Giddings890 Julian Hickman861 Ferg Ranson852 David Pridmore778 Ian Gregory774 Doug Lucas458 Julia Powell

October1265 Joe Jackson1262 Richard Baxter1234 Julian Fishwick1211 Roy Bolton1210 Philip Rhoden1172 Peter Smithies1140 John Halliday1048 Phil Crowe951 Peter Osborne893 Nick Forder777 Kerry-Anne West932 Barry J. Smith1238 Colin Butchers1345 Kevin Williams1346 Paul Lewis1347 Simon Grist

November1328 James Morley1350 Chris Toothill1329 Dave Perry1307 Paul Barber1230 Geoff Hawkes1159 Mick Coomer1086 Mathew Harrison1049 Tony Gerrard941 James Copeland835 Bob Snooks737 Bill Homley533 Robin Carter1330 Heather Shield1348 Bob Baxter1293 John Richard Owen1349 Richard Cocuin808 Andrew Crayston

Membership Subs Due

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Club RegaliaAll of the following regalia can be bought by mail order (postage andpacking extra) with the exception of the mugs and glasses which are onlyavailable at shows. Please make your cheques payable to ‘GTM OwnersClub’.All garments have an embroidered owners club badge and are available in several colours and sizes.Please phone/e-mail to check choices available. If you are thinking of purchasing items at a Kit Car,show please contact me beforehand so that I can ensure that I bring the relevant stock as space in theLibra is limited.

Showerproof jacket £44.00

Sweatshirts - Round Neck £13.00Sweatshirts – V Neck £14.00

T- Shirts - Round Neck £8.00T- Shirts – V Neck £9.00Ladies T – Shirts £9.00

Polo Shirts £14.00

Baseball Caps £9.00

GTMOC Mugs £4.00GTMOC Pint glasses £4.00

GTMOC Tax Disc Holders (stick on) £1.50GTMOC Leather Key Fobs with enamel badge £3.50GTMOC Enamel Badges £2.50GTMOC Embroidered Badges £2.50GTMOC Window Stickers (85mm dia.) £1.50GTMOC Surface Stickers (150mm dia.) £3.00GTM 50th Anniversary Stickers (85mm dia) FREE

Enquiries to Bob Snooks 01753 662951 or 07730 703180

e-mail – generalsec@gtmownersclub.co.uk

Prices are for stock items and are subject to changewith new orders.

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Events List2016MARCH5-6 Restoration Show at the NEC

19-20 Goodwood 74th Members Meeting. West Sussex. Now open to the public.

28 Motorfest, Weston Park, Shropshire. Club area tbc.

APRIL24 Drive It Day

MAY1-2 The National Kit Car Motor Show, Stoneleigh Warwickshire. Club area and Marquee, AGM Sunday 2 pm, Barbeque Sunday evening.

14 CKC/Omex Track Day at Llandow

30 Motor Show, Ragley Hall Warwickshire, Club area tbc.

JUNE.5 London to Brighton Kit and Sports Car Run.

10-12 Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, Cheshire. Club area.

18-19 Le Mans 24-Hour.

23-26 Goodwood Festival of Speed, West Sussex.

25 Classic, Kit & Retro Action Day at Castle Combe. Club area.

JULY7-11 Le Mans Classic.

16 Transport Rally at British Iron Works, Shropshire

24 Kent's Kit, Custom and American Car Show. Kent. Club area tbc.

29-31 Silverstone Classic, Club area.

AUGUST14 Mini in the Park at Santa Pod

29 Knebworth Classic Motor Show, Stevenage, Club area tbc.

SEPTEMBER 9-11 Goodwood Revival, West Sussex.

17-18 Manchester Classic Car Show, Event City

24-25 Sywell Classic, Pistons & Props.

NOVEMBER 5-6 The Classic Restoration Show, Shepton Mallet, Bristol. Club area tbc

11-13 Classic Motor Show at the NEC

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Web siteThe club’s web site is www.gtmownersclub.co.uk

The article published in Complete Kit Car magazine on the history of GTM has now beenadded by kind permission of the editor.

Suggestions as to what you would like to be included are still needed. So, ideas please or, evenbetter, produce some content. Currently, the Members Only section has links to the newslettersand committee contact details. Let us know if you think there should be change there. Emailto editor@gtmownersclub.co.uk

The password to enter the members page is now blonde75