INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Aug. 4, 2015 at … · placement was a 1953 Willys Aero Lark, a 4-door sedan with a 6-cylinder engine. Willys Aero Lark (Internet photo) The Willys

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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


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-


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.


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


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


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 [email protected].


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


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


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)


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.


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.


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


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

[email protected] 604-942-8223

Vice-Chairperson: Walter Reynolds


Treasurer: Bernie Miles


Membership renewals: mail to 207-4753

River Road West, Delta, B.C. V4K 1 R9

Membership Secretary: John Chapman


New memberships and correspondence:

7923 144A St., Surrey, B.C. V3S 8C1

Immediate Past Chairperson:

Gerry Parkinson [email protected]

604-943-3824

Event and Meeting Coordinator:

Lorna Hoare

[email protected] - 604-584-2564

Communications Coordinator: Alan Miles

[email protected]—604-272-2145

Roundabout Editor : Alan Miles

[email protected] - 604-272 -2145

Good & Welfare: David Ballantine

[email protected] - 604-980-4120

Website Editor: Alan Miles



(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)

Documents

INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Aug. 4, 2015 at … · placement was a 1953 Willys Aero Lark, a 4-door sedan with a 6-cylinder engine. Willys Aero Lark (Internet photo) The Willys