Author Archive

Day of Triumph 2014 Results

Friday, February 20th, 2015

Finally, with the new website operational, I can provide the results of the 2014 Day of Triumph Concours and Pride of Ownership displays.

Congratulations to Johnny Frick who took out best TR4, 4A, 5 Concours Class and also Best Outright Trophy plus the Michelotti Trophy.

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Best in the TR6 Class and Second Outright in Concours was the bright red TR6 owned by Dino Vettesse.

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Third Outright in Concours was John Tuohy’s Black TR5.

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Other Concours Class winners were . . .

Graham Jones bright yellow GT6 MkIII was judged best in the Spitfire / GT6 Class

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The lovely green Mk II Saloon of Bob Cini took the trophy for Best Saloon

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Best in the Modified Class was the glaringly bright yellow TR7 V8 of Dino Vettesse

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Jon Williams took best in the Competition Class with the outstanding Mk I 2.5 PI Saloon

Mk1 Pi Competition (2)c

Let’s not forget the Pre ’54 Concours Class with the trophy going to Chuck and Dianne Falzon’s Triumph 2000 Roadster

Pre 54 (3)c

Pride of Ownership results for 2014 were as follows . . .

TR2, 3, 3A, 3B   –   Vic Neave

TR4, 4A, 5, 250   –   Peter paterson

TR6   –   Geoff Ellis

TR7, 8   –   Lyle Taylor

Spitfire GT6   –   John Wood

Stag   –   John Boffo

Saloon   –   Trevor Lindsay

Competition   –   Geoff Burdon

Congratulations to all the winners. Trophies were presented at the Christmas Dinner / Trophy Presentation night held in December.

 

 

2015 National Meeting – Bathurst NSW

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

The TSOA NSW has released information about the 2015 National Rally.

TSOA 2015 National Meeting will be held in Bathurst NSW, 30th October til 7th November 2015.

Staying at Rydges on Mount Panorama, Concours, scenic runs, gourmet food, competition on the famous mountain, plus lots more.

From the webmaster

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

Hi all,

You might have noticed things are a changing with the website. I’ve dragged it out of last decade and into the new with an upgrade of the bits that make it all run.

I’m hoping this new incarnation proves to be more user friendly than the old scripts. At this stage the site itself is still under development but stay tuned, it should be live and ready for you all to use within the next week.

A special thank you to Noel Schmidt for his graphic work on the banner at the top.

Comments positive and negative help shape the final site, please forward any of those to ayresrocksnaturally ateth  gmail doteth com   Lose the “eth”s and convert the appropriate words to symbols.

Progress Report:
Added:
Home link
Classified ads feature
links to Photo Galleria and Suppliers Register

Design is still being tweaked, registration will soon be open for those who want to be active on the site.

Cheers,

Andy

Socially Speaking – February 2015

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

Welcome to 2015 and our 50th Anniversary Year.  We plan to have several events to mark this great achievement for our Club, so watch this space!

The Informal meeting with car boot sale went well, (despite the Tour Down Under) and the men folk enjoyed the evening with the girls heading to Mondiali Cafe on Unley road to enjoy coffee and Gelato!

Upcoming events:

Ice Cream Run – Saturday 31st January starting at Super Cheap on Port Road at 7.30pm heading to Noonies Cafe for Ice Creams and coffee.
All British Day – Sunday 8th February at the Echunga Oval – entry by 10.00 am for cars on display Visitors after 10.30am.
General Meeting – Tuesday February 20th 8.00pm Sporting Car Club
Dates for the Weekender – Friday 15th May – Sunday 17th May (two nights this year!)

So let’s all enjoy our Triumph’s in this special year.

Till we meet again.

Bill Berlemon.

Girl Torque – February 2015

Tuesday, January 27th, 2015

Wow another year has gone and boy does time fly! I had 4 weeks off work….not too sure where it all went, but Bill and I did have a few days in the Barossa for some R & R…..we spent most of the time working on the Weekender…but it was great to get away from the routine stuff! So yes the Weekender is in the Barossa this year, and it will be for two nights! Dates are 15th-17th May. More details to follow!

Some of our members are not travelling too well at present so our love goes out to Lorraine Page, Lorraine Cini and Sue Smithson and wish them all the best in the coming weeks.

Raelene and Ian Rigby and Carolyn and Wayne Byrne have become grandparents again so Congratulations from all of us.

Naomi and Meranie are expecting and we are excited to hear that we have the little pitter patter of feet joining the club in the middle of the year…our Congratulations to both couples.

Enjoy the summer and enjoy your family time.

Margie Berlemon AM

President’s Report – November 2014

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

November 2014 Report – the Shortest one yet?

The Committee had a meeting in early November to discuss FasTRak and I am pleased to announce we will be adding some more information in there as a result of your feedback.

On the opposite side, my Presidents reports will also be a bit less as I am told I can go on a bit too long ? I am sorry, I am passionate about my cars and our Club.

So to keep it short, we are still looking for someone to join the Executive Committee. Don’t worry, I do not go on as long at the Committee Meetings, it is only every second month or so for an hour, and a quick catch up at events and general meetings etc.

Other than that, as this is likely the last chance to say it, I would love to wish all the TSOA Members and their families a very Merry Christmas. It seems so early to do it, but as the Christmas events are just around the corner and the Pageant has been held it is not too early and better than late.

Travel safely wherever you go, enjoy your Triumph and don’t forget to add all the upcoming events into your 2015 TSOA SA Calendar if you have one already, or purchase one soon!

Duane Kaak

Socially Speaking – November 2014

Thursday, November 13th, 2014

The Bay to Birdwood motorcade was enjoyed by members who gathered on Dequetteville Terrace and took part in the breakfast.

Since last TRak magazine, September saw the Breakfast run to Virgara Winery – good run- great October run via Greenhill Road, to Gumeracha Big Rocking Horse, to Beerenberg to collect the freebies and onto Littlehampton Bakery for Lunch was enjoyed by 30 members and their families.

November is a busy month with ‘Day of Triumph’ on the 9th November at Civic Park at TTG , followed by the Annual All Triumph Observation Run on November 23rd, starting at Crafers Hotel at 9.00am followed by a Club Sponsored Lunch.

December – Christmas is fast approaching so I hope everyone has booked into the Christmas Dinner on Saturday 13th December at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club….booking essential, no later than the November meeting…Then after all that Christmas cheer there is the After Christmas Run on Sunday 28th December…meeting at Crafers Hotel at 10.00am for a casual run through the hills and onto lunch at ‘The Rezz’.

Congratulations go to Duane and Meranie on their Wedding on November 7th we wish them a lifetime of happiness.

Our thoughts are also with Stephen Wade for a speedy recovery from his recent accident.

Next year…the Ice Cream Run is set for Saturday 31st January.

Best wishes to all for the Festive Season.

Bill Berlemon.

TSOA Members and their Triumphs

Monday, November 10th, 2014

2014-11-13

While I wait for photos from this year’s Day of Triumph, here is a shot of John Tuohy’s TR5 at the 2014 All British Day. John’s TR took third outright in this year’s Concours – well done John!

2014 National Rally – WA

Wednesday, November 5th, 2014

The Nationals for 2014 are over and all who attended considered it a resounding success. There were 106 registered participants although some of the 56 Western Australians were part time, and the full timers numbered about 80. The South Australian contingent was 10 registered participants, although due to the serious car accident that Stephen Wade suffered en route, there were only 9 of us Croweaters at the rally.

The Nationals were held at the Swan Valley, Novatel Vines Resort, a fantastic location less than 25km from the centre of Perth, however in a beautiful semi-rural setting surrounded by vineyards and wineries and with two championship golf courses and several hundred kangaroos at the resort.

Our first event was the welcome dinner at the resort on Saturday which was a great night, only soured by the sad news of Stephen’s accident.  All the participants signed a card for Stephen which I have hand delivered to him at the RAH.  It was however still a great night with a spring theme, bringing out the best of the creativity of several of the rally delegates.

On Sunday we all washed and polished our cars and headed south to the historic town of Guildford, where TSOA and the Triumph Car Club of WA for the “Quit All Triumph and Standard Day”, a show and shine with around 100 Triumph cars on display. Although there was light misty rain most of the day, there was still a great turnout of spectators looking at the cars on display and a fabulous range of Triumphs of all types, including a TR7 and a Stag both fitted with new 6 litre Holden V8s.  These would not appeal to the traditionalists (Stephen W, you would be horrified) however both were engineering marvels.  Even though Noel Schmidt wasn’t there, Peter Davidge stepped up to the plate in Noel’s absence and won the P.O.O. trophy with his TR6 for the best Nationals car on display as well as the People’s Choice and Triumph Car Club awards.

We had the first “Ironman” challenge at Guildford.  For the uninitiated, all Nationals have a competition of three novelty events between states for a highly sought after national trophy. This first one was moving plastic bottles into a bucket from outside a rope barrier using three ropes and a rubber band (you need to have been there to understand it).  Our team of Peter Davidge, Sue Smithson and Neil Martin were creditable performers in this event which attracted a surprisingly large crowd of spectators from the general public.

Monday was competition day at Barbagallo race track, which was around 45 kilometres from The Vines Resort. There were 54 cars competing including 34 TSOA members in Triumphs and a range of other vehicles including several Datsun 240Z’s, a Falcon GTHO, a Monaro, a couple of Mini Coopers, a couple of Clubmans, and sundry other vehicles. There were 16 Nationals registrants competing at Barbagallo.  There were some seriously quick cars including a TR7 with a 5-litre Rover motor with 4 dual-throat Webers that must be one of the quickest TR7’s in the world (luckily not a Nationals registrant).

The morning was taken up by racing on the “short course” with a very sharp Turn 5 whereas in the afternoon, participants drove past this sharp turn for the “long course” which increased track length from 1.76km to 2.41km.  The fastest rally registrant for both courses was perennial winner Brian Falloon from Queensland in his flying TR5, however our own Neil Martin in his TR7 V8 won both events in the eight cylinder section for rally registrants.  Bryan Young in his Vittesse started well but stopping was another matter as he ran out of brakes and ended up in the gravel in the morning, and did not compete in the afternoon.

Those not going to Barbagallo were given the option of an escorted trip to Kings Park in Perth and a guided tour of the gardens.  The feedback from those attending was very good.

Tuesday saw everyone driving around 105 km north to the Monastery town of New Norcia, an absolutely fascinating settlement completely owned by Benedictine monks and having been established in 1846.  We had a guided tour of the various buildings and gained a fantastic insight into the history of the settlement, followed by an excellent lunch at the only pub owned by Benedictine monks in Australia, if not the world. This is a place which anyone passing through should spend time touring and finding out about its history. This was a definite highlight of the week.

We had a free day on Wednesday although there was the second “Ironman” event in the morning.  This was a creative golf putting event which the course pro was so impressed with that he plans to use the format in the future.  Our team of Peter and Julie Davidge, Alex Smithson and Neil Martin unfortunately did not set the world on fire, with a motley group of honorary “Tasmanians” out-putting all comers.  There are so many interesting places in the Swan Valley that the rest of the day was easily filled.  On Wednesday night we had a great wine and cheese night at the longest established winery in the Swan Valley, Olive Farm Wines.  Wines and food were excellent together with a very informative talk from the winemaker and owner, and the most impressive cheese platter most of us had ever seen.

Thursday morning saw the second motor sport event, the “Zig Zag” hill climb. This is an amazing course in the Perth Hills at Kalamunda, with views of the Perth CBD but in a bush environment.  The course is normally a public road which was originally a railway line which scaled Gooseberry Hill, with a series of switchbacks, one so sharp that some contestants needed to do a three point turn.  The road was closed for the event and each contestant had three runs, driving back through residential streets to the bottom each time to start again. Spectators were able to walk through the bush to watch various parts of the track.  Again, while Brian from Queensland was the fastest Nationals participant, Neil Martin won the trophy for the fastest eight cylinder, and Bryan Young’s Vitesse also performed very well.

After lunch we had the last “Ironman” event, where two cars from each state had to drive around a series of cones with a football balancing on the bonnet.   Our two teams of Bryan Young and Peter Davidge and Alex and Sue Smithson both unfortunately had a ball drop during their heats and did not finish in the top three.

Friday was the observation run, a challenging course of around 90km through the Perth Hills and ending up for lunch at the Parkerville Tavern. The run had a range of challenges and we travelled through some spectacular countryside with clues all being whilst driving along the way.  Our teams did quite well however we missed the skills of Roger and Cherri Lange and Ian and Raelene Rigby who between them seem to win these events whenever they are competing. WA teams took out all the places, with the winners being the rally conveners, Ron and Leigh Marian who, we were assured, had no prior knowledge of the course or questions.

Our final day was a brunch at “The Mallard Duck”, a very attractive restaurant overlooking a lake where the TSOA Nationals choir once again sang the Greg Bird (from Queensland) composed and conducted Nationals Theme Song, and later our presentation dinner.  As well as Neil Martin being one of the standout trophy winners, he and Bryan Young were able to get SA to 2nd place in the motor sport combined total, behind WA which had a team of six participants. Peter Davidge also took away all the Pride of Ownership trophies on offer however we were unfortunately unplaced in the Ironman trophy which was won overall by the team from NSW.   We danced the night away to a surprisingly good Neil Diamond tribute singer who was originally from SA and clearly was a very keen Norwood supporter.

Breakfasts each day were at the resort (other than the day of the brunch), and we had evening meals most nights either at the resort or at other restaurants in the Swan Valley area, all of which were of very good quality.

The week was absolutely fantastic, and whilst the interstate contingent was comprised of people who are regular Nationals attendees, we met a lot of new people from the WA TSOA club, which although relatively small in number of members has a very high participation rate.  Everyone made us feel very welcome and we all made new friends over the week. The organising committee, particularly Ron and Leigh Marian did a great job of making sure the week ran very smoothly, and everyone in the club really pulled their weight to make it such a great event.

On the last night, Peter Wards from NSW gave a presentation on next year’s Nationals to be held in Bathurst from 30th October to 7th November 2015. Again this will be a great program in such an iconic location, and we are already looking forward to attending.  Then of course it is our turn in 2016, and under the leadership of John Frick, we are already making great headway into planning this event.  If it is anywhere near as successful as the WA Nationals this year, it will be an event not to be missed.

Alex Smithson

President Report – October 2014

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

October Report

This is my favourite time of year in the Club’s Calendar as my favourite annual events of Day of Triumph and All Triumph Observation Run. Then the Christmas Dinner, Mid Week run and the Ice Cream Run. Great weather for driving a Triumph with the roof off, down or just the windows down.

Competition events are still on, and each month our club mailbox is flooded with other clubs in other towns holding classic car events for this time of year and into the new year. Certainly something for everyone with any taste of a Motoring Passion.

Our last meeting had on stage an Audi R8, not a Triumph, but it was great to meet the owner who is as passionate about his car as most of you are. His story was certainly entertaining of how his purchase of an Aston Martin turned into the Audi. And his love of his car shone through.

Reminded me a little of how my search in 1999 for an MG resulted in a car I had never seen nor heard of, the Triumph Spitfire. The places the Spitty and I have travelled to have likely amazed the most qualified mechanic with its whines, grinds, wheezes and rattles, but I love that car so much and despite the occasional fault from lack of use, it never stops to put a smile on my face.

On the last club run through the Adelaide Hills it was given a chance to stretch its legs without a navigator, enough to catch up on the cars in front, and leave some behind all at legal speeds. The Spitfire can barely exceed the legal limits, but handles so well through the twists and turns of the Hills areas and due to my recent absence from the race track, it was a blast hugging the apex and zooming through our glorious country side with the breeze blowing around me. I truly feel alive when driving my classic cars. There is nothing boring about it.

Thankfully on our runs we always keep our driving standards safe. It is a shame that we have to share the road with other less attentive drivers and it was with great shock I was alerted to an accident involving one of our members on his way to the National Meeting in WA. All the signs indicate he was not at fault, but I fear that his beautiful Triumph, featured in our 2015 Calendar, will no longer feel the open road again. However Triumphs can be replaced, lives can’t and it was pleasing to hear that although he sustained some serious injuries, he lives another day to enjoy his passion of Classic Cars. On behalf of the TSOA, we wish him a full & speedy recovery.

Due to my Wedding Plans, I will not be able to attend the Day of Triumph at Civic Park which I am sure will be a huge success. Come along in your Triumph to get your Historic Rego Inspection completed, or to collect a free copy of our 2015 Commerative Calendar. I am looking forward to seeing some great photos and hearing some great reports. Until then, safe and happy motoring.

Duane