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Newsletter April, 2014

The first piece of news is that one of our fellow Directors, Andy Watson, has just been honoured by the MSA by being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.  He was presented with this award by His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent.  The award was given “in recognition of his unrivalled and unique contribution to British motor sport.”  Everyone in VSMA will wish to congratulate Andy.   WELL DONE INDEED ANDY.

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Some things you may not have noticed –  the updated public Home Page just before you logged into the members’ section, it now shows a few details of the forthcoming Reunion in October.  In the Links section of the Home Page I have added the link to Ian Provan’s online magazine which details what’s happening in Scottish Motor Sport.

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Here is a list of other items of news this month –

Members’ Database updates

Thoughts from Malcolm Parkin!

New Jim Clark Museum

Knockhill Anniversary British Touring Car Event

Photos from an early le Mans event

Interesting YouTube clips

Bits and Pieces which may amuse

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Members’ Database Updates:

Please note that the following members have now got new email addresses which can be seen in the Members and details section or just click on each name below to get to their page –  Bob Callander, Jim Grant, Jock Millar, Martin Pieraccini, Johnnie Thomson and Donald Carslaw.

Following the article in the 2014 January Newsletter on Graham Millar’s 40 years in Motorsport, you may have noticed that the article has now been populated with some of Graham’s images.  These images can also be seen on Graham’s own page on the website and a few are also in the Public Picture Gallery.

Bob Gillespie has now updated his page with a few photographs and have a look at some interesting entries in the results page from the 1986 Valentine’s Rally!!

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Thoughts from Malcolm Parkin:
I was thinking back to when our Honorary President brought the Tyrrell 003 F1 car to Ingliston in 1971(?), at his personal expense I believe, to give a demonstration.  He actually stalled it twice on the line, in spite of his mechanics putting some very low gearing into the car when they saw the circuit, but he eventually got into the swing of it and put in a cracking couple of laps within 0.5 of the outright Formula Libre record, which I think Tommy Reid held at the time.
What was interesting, was that he was actually accelerating through the Clock left hander, before the right hander in front of the grandstand, where most people were either maintaining speed or braking. It was absolutely astonishing to watch.
The Clerk of the Course on the day was the late Ernie Herrald as I recall.  The date may be wrong, so some research with members such as Graham Birrell or Ian Scott Watson could confirm.

I don’t think anyone had the sense to take photographs at the time.  I have never seen any.

  Malcolm Parkin                                           27th January, 2014  (By email)                            

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A New Jim Clark Museum:

This ventured is being planned by the Jim Clark Trust in partnership with The Scottish Borders Council and hopefully will be opened during 2018.  It is the result of the continued interest in one of the greatest drivers of all time and a hero in Scotland. Expansion of the present site was deemed necessary.  I have attached a PDF of the letter we received from our own Doug Niven and Ian Calder explaining in more detail their plans for this worthwhile venture.  Click here to read it.

Also, Doug and Ian have just opened The Jim Clark Trust website on Monday 7th April, 2014, which shows in graphic detail what they have in mind.   Do have a look.

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Knockhill Touring Car Event  –  Sunday 24th August 2014:

Although V.S.M.A will not be there officially at this event, I’m sure many of our members will be attending.  As you can see from the attached flyers from Knockhill, the event will celebrate the 40th year of Knockhill racing and also the 50 year celebration of Jim Clark’s BTCC win.  Knockhill are kindly donating 20% 0f the BTCC ticket sales towards the Jim Clark Trust Museum development.  So if you are going please remember to quote the code JIMCLARK50 when purchasing your tickets.One special item may be of interest………..The Forth Road Bridge is being closed for Knockhill on Thursday 21st August for a parade of six Jim Clark’s cars (F1, F2 and Lotus Cortina’s) across the Bridge at 11am. There will be a public showing of the cars from 9am to 10.30am, then the spectators will be asked to move to their vantage points from 10.30am onwards with the parade taking place at 11am.In addition Knockhill hope to have the 2014 cars crossing side by side!

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1959 Le Mans Images:

Pat Smith (Pat Allison as she was then) was at Le Mans in 1959, hanging around the pits with friends at Lotus and Ecurie Ecosse. Wendy Jones and she shared a room in a pension that year.  Below are a few of the photographs she recently unearthed from her loft which she thought would be of interest to members. 

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Some YouTube Clips: 

Please click on any underlined coloured title below to view the YouTube clip. They are best viewed on full screen –

 A novel way in “How to stack tyres“ – this came clip from Canada via Bill Barr.

How we might resolve traffic jams in the future – might even be cheaper than the Edinburgh Tram Network!

Now you can see German efficiency in action – “Re-Laying rail track”

And finally for those who like magic tricks – This “Chinese Magician” is quite amazing!

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Hopefully, these from Chairman Jimmy might amuse!

IRISH JOB INTERVIEW
Mick had applied for a Fermentation Operator Post at a famous Irish firm based in Dublin.

A Pole had also applied for the same job and since both applicants had similar qualifications, they were asked to take a test by the Manager.

When the results were in, both men had scored 19 out of 20.

The Manager went to Mick and said, “Thank you for coming to the interview, but we’ve decided to give the Pole the job.”

Mick said “And why would you be doing that?” “We both got 19 questions correct.” “This being Ireland and me being Irish surely I should get the job.”

Manager, “We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but on the question you got wrong.”

Mick, “And just how would one incorrect answer be better than another?”

Manager, “Simple. On question number 7 the Pole wrote down, ‘I don’t know'”
“You put down, ‘Neither do I.'”

(Our very sincere apologies to our Irish friends………..Ed}

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Logic from uncluttered minds:

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work.  As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.  The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’ The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one knows what God looks like.’ 
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’

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Five Pearls of Scottish Wisdom


1. Money cannot buy happiness but somehow, it‘s more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes Benz than on a bicycle.

2. Forgive your enemy but remember their name.

3. Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.

4. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.

5. Alcohol does not solve any problem, but then neither does milk

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Gentle Thoughts for Today –


Birds of a feather flock together . . . .and then poop on your car.



A penny saved is a government oversight.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have got to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are  XL.


If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.



The sole purpose of a child’s middle name is so he can tell when he’s really in trouble..



Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words ‘The’ and ‘IRS’ together it spells ‘Theirs…’

Ageing: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their odometers.  Not me, I want people to know ‘why’ I look this way.  I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of Algebra.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.  Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth . . .. . . . .AMEN

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That’s all folks………………. !

Stuart Parker,    April 2014

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Newsletter January, 2014

Firstly, a somewhat belated Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope you have not been too badly affected by the unusual weather we have had over the past couple of months.   Here is a list of the items of news this month  –

The 2014 Monte Carlo Historique UK Start

The Neil Sisters

New Members

Database Changes

2014 Spring Run – letter from bob Baillie

AGM Snippets

Report from Derek Palmer

Bill Henderson’s Collection Update

Graham Millar’s 40 years in Motorsport

Amusing and Interesting Bits and Pieces

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Paisley’s UK start of the 2014 Monte Carlo Classic on Thursday 23rd January:

Once again the Start of the UK leg of the Rally Monte-Carlo Historique and the CC&HMC’s Heritage Run (The Caledonian Classic & Historic Motorsport Club) was in Scotland, in the town of Paisley.   The start took place in front of Paisley Abbey.  As usual Historique Entrants being flagged off first en route to Monaco via 1960+ miles while they were followed by the Heritage Run entrants en route to Luss via the Trossachs.  Wielding the Start flag was none other than Paddy Hopkirk the Monte Rally legend of the 1960’s.  This was very appropriate as it was 50 years since Paddy had won the Monte in his works Mini Cooper S.  Another rally and Irish “celebrity starter” followed the route opening car, namely Rosemary Smith in a Hillman Imp.  There were 10 entrants making for Monaco while another 70 + cars made up the remainder who left the start ramp.Among the latter there were only four VSMA entrants this year en route to Luss.  These were as follows

Tom Bicket and Malcolm Noble in their Ford Anglia

Gordon and Karen Clendinning in Vaxhall Chevette

Donald and Catriona Gordon in thier Austin Healey 3000

Ian Gemmell and David Fotheringham in their Cosworth

The following are photographs taken by member Bill Barr of a few of the starters.  Unfortunately out of the four VSMA representatives Bill only managed to get Donald and Catriona Gordon’s start!

Paddy Hopkirk flagged them all off including the Celebrty 1st Car driven by Rosie Smith just after 6.00pm. After Rosie are just six of the ten Starters who were destined for Monaco ! 

After the Monaco entrants were flagged off, it was the turn of those whose destination was a bit nearer home – Luss! 

It was obvious that Paddy had enjoyed his “Official” duties in Paisley !

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The Neil Sisters:

Pat Smith while sorting out hundreds of her Dad’s coloured slides, and scanning some to keep, came across some from motor sport in the 1940’s and ’50s.  One was of the famous Neil sisters who were one of the very early competitors in the Monte Carlo Rallies after World War II.   She sent it to VSMA to see if we could through some light on them.  Being a member of Lanarkshire Car Club I was able to confirm some details.  You can see the photograph which I have added to the Public Photographic gallery on the website – have a look.  Pat’s Dad had met the pair of them through the late Bill Watson, his great friend at Watson’s of Airdrie.  Any more detail on either Chrissie and Andy would be welcome.

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New Members:

We are delighted to welcome Ricky Gauld from Huntly, Aberdeen and Ian Cook, from Linlithgow into the VSMA fold

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Members’ Database Changes: 


Email address is now available for Fulton Beaton and George Cooper. In addition to now having an email address, John Stephen has moved from Glasgow to Northumberland.
Address changes:  The following members have changed their email addresses – 
Lindsay Kerr,  Derry Dickson,  Ken Hutchison and Ronnie Morrison.

Details of the above additions and changes can be found in the Members and Details section.

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Dear Member,        

Spring Run           

            Friday 25th April to Monday 28th April, 2014

We have reached the time of year when the Spring Run requires to be organised  and, once again, it has been decided that we will return to The Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown-on-Spey.

Those who have already been on one of our “Highland Tours” will agree that the hotel offers an ideal base for our activities and the Management and Staff have always been very welcoming and helpful.

The official proceedings will start around 10.00am on Friday morning with a run mapped from Lomond Shores at Balloch  (on the south side of Loch Lomond) through the Trossachs to a lunchtime halt either in Pitlochry or The House of Bruar. The afternoon run will start from House of Bruar car park at around 2.00pm. There will be a small reception in a Lounge at the hotel at 6.30pm on Friday evening giving a chance for everyone to meet up before dinner.

We are waiting to find out if Gordon Clendinning will be able to attend the weekend with his Scalextric track.  This depends on his commitment to Top Gear.  As before the evenings will be informal and will provide a chance to meet and chat with old friends and competition rivals. Is there a piano?

There will be tours and visits arranged on the Saturday and Sunday and details of these will be provided nearer the time of the event.

Additional Supplementary Regulations, Entry Form and Hotel Booking Form are in PDF format below.   Click on each PDF to open them, then each should be printed out.   As usual, bookings will be on a “first come first served basis”. 

There are limits to the numbers that we can cater for so apply early.  The last weekends at Grantown-on-Spey, Stranraer and Peebles have been successful and I trust that you will find the details of the proposed weekend to be of interest.

Yours sincerely
                                    

Bob Baillie, Vice Chairman     

     2014 Spring Run – ASRs           2014 Spring Run – Entry Form   

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A.G.M. Snippets:

I would like to say that we had an overwhelming attendance at our AGM last 15th November but the 14 members who did attend fortunately gave us enough for a quorum.  Thanks are again due to Boyd Tunnock who kindly gave us the use of his premises in Uddingston to hold our AGM, as well as providing us with a welcome buffet reception.
Immediately prior to the AGM, a Special General Meeting was held to amend Article 32 of our Articles of Association which would allow the numbers of Directors to be increased from a maximum of six to eight.
The AGM itself went smoothly as usual with reports from the Executive Directors on the past year’s activities and our accounts – we are still solvent!  There was no change in the election of the Executive –  Jimmy McInnes remains as Chairman, Bob Baillie as Vice-Chairman and Treasurer, while Stuart Parker is still your Secretary. The following members were elected as Ordinary Board Members – Kenny Allen, Barry Crichton, Donald Gordon, Hugh MacKinnon, Duncan Paterson and Andy Watson. They join Adele Paterson and Charlie Young who had remained as Board members from the previous year.  So in addition to our Executive, we now have the full complement of eight Ordinary Board members.

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Bill Henderson Website Collection update:  

The Collection now has an Ecurie Ecosse page and a corresponding gallery of photographs.  Click here to view the Bill’s Gallery.
Interestingly, some of Bill’s period photographs of the Ecurie Ecosse cars and transporter featured in the Bonham’s catalogue for the recent sale of the Dick Skipworth collection of Ecurie Ecosse cars. The importance of the Ecurie Ecosse team in motor racing history was reflected in the prices achieved at the auction.

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News from Derek Palmer Team Manager at Pro Motorsport (Scotland) :
To keep you up to date It would seem their attempt on the 1,000cc Land Speed Record which Derek hoped to put to bed in 2013 had to be shelved ‘till 2014 as the Salt at Bonnieville had been wet since they last tested in August 2012 (it was a lake for a month). The final nail in the coffin was that, despite the salt starting to dry, the American budget deficit has meant all parks department staff have been laid off and they had been forced to cancel their permit as the salt flats are closed – so it is 2014 for the record. It will be a good year to do it as it will be 100 years since the first use of the salt for a record attempt LSR racing.
In the meantime the Classic Super Touring Car racing has taken off big time with a big season planned by all for next year so they hope to run their 2 Nissan Primeras in that for the full season.  So with the salt, the Monte, the Touring Cars, Tour Auto and Tour Britannia they should have a good season. 

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2013, a year of celebration………

Graham Millar  –  40 years as a competitor, 30 years as a constructor

40 years ago Graham Millar took part in his first motor race at Snetterton circuit. This resulted in the “bug” biting hard and over the next forty years, plenty of motorsport events were undertaken as a competitor, race engineer and team owner.  1973 saw 3 race meetings in a Jim Russell race school car. A third, second and first place saw him being taken aside and told by the manager of the school that he should invest in his own car for the 1974 season. Money was tight so no race car was purchased but thanks to a generous bank manager a loan was granted for a Clan Crusader road car and soon navigation rallies were being undertaken. The 1975 season saw more action with the Clan before it was replaced by a Singer Chamois sport. Plenty of navigational events followed before in 1976 it was converted to a stage rally car. Various rallies were undertaken including a couple of trips to Mull for “the best rally in the world”. 

By 1979 the racing bug had come back and a Dulon FF1600 car was purchased and raced with backing from Lander Alarms. The following season saw a Hawke FF1600 car being used but in 1981, at a wet Knockhill, the car was damaged against the banking.  The team were in shock when the parts required to fix the car came to £350 but after gaining some help from a friend who was a welder, the team made the parts themselves and managed to repair the car for £3.50. Lander Alarms was sold to the RMC group shortly afterwards and as a result, no further backing was forthcoming.  With very little money available to buy a better car, the team decided to build a FF1600 car to their own design for the 1983 season.  This was achieved by April 1983 but there was nothing left in the budget to race the car, which the team had called the RoToR JT1.  After a premium bond win and some backing from a local haulage contractor, John Watson, the car took to the track in June. The car was raced 4 times by Graham Millar before Roy Low had a run in the car. Roy confirmed the car had pace but the teams’ engine let go during his race.  For the final round of the championship, Tom Brown loaned the team an engine and drove the car winning the last race of the season from pole and in so doing, clinched the Scottish Championship.

Over the next few years, Rotor Racing built cars for Formula Ford, Ford 2000, hill climbs and sprints and was competing all over the British Isles. In 1987 the team leader, Graham Millar, was injured at work while trying to rescue a woman from a house fire. Momentum was lost on the racing front but a few road car Rotors were designed and part-built as the team broadened its horizons. Early retirement from the fire service for Graham in 1995 meant a new chapter in the teams’ history when Rotor Racing ran BMW M3s in the Scottish saloon car series for Sandy McEwan and John Kyle. The team also finished the design and build of a minimalist sportscar, the Rotor JT7, that year. British GT racing with a Venturi followed the BMWs as the team expanded into new areas. The loss of a major sponsor in 1999 saw the team withdraw from GT racing but return to club racing.  Later a Mini Cooper driven by John Kyle and supported by Cardowan Creameries was purchased for the 2003 SMRC Mini challenge. Meanwhile, Graham Millar returned to rallying and a few events including a return to the Tour of Mull were undertaken in a Golf GTI.

The first Rotor for the road was registered in 2000 and purchased by a long time supporter of the marque. For 2006 the team helped David Brown, the son of a former Rotor owner, to victory in the Scholarship class of the MSA British Formula Ford Championship. During this time a Rotor Sports 2000 car was built up using a JT7 chassis that the team had kept as a spare. For 2007 a Dallara F3 was purchased for David Brown to race in the British championship but this came to an abrupt end when others out-with the Rotor team failed to do what they said they would and the backer withdrew his support. 2008 saw Graham undertake a couple of S2000 races before the team got the go-ahead to design and build a new car. This was raced in 2010 and the team had a great season before officials of the S2000 club decided it had “an unfair aerodynamic advantage”. No mention was made that the driver was seriously overweight and close to getting his bus pass. As old age beckoned the team went back to their youth and a race and a rally Clan Crusader was built. A broken leg for the driver of the cars put paid to that plan but who knows perhaps one day soon they will be out competing.

They say time flies when you are enjoying yourself and so it must be because when Graham and his team of unpaid helpers discovered that 2013 was a year of anniversaries, 40 years as a competitor and 30 as a constructor of Rotor Road and racing cars, they could not believe where the time had gone. Longtime backers John Kyle and Cardowan Creameries agreed to support the boys in a year of celebration. John loaned the team his JT7 and it was used in the Lowland Speed championship where it won its class and was runner-up in the competition car class. The team hoped to have another more competition Rotor out in the events later in the year but instead found a way to get around the new rules imposed by the Sports 2000 club and raced their modified car in the Pinto races at Donnington and Brands Hatch.

The team also managed to fit in a reunion party in November for all those who have helped them over the years. Past drivers, sponsors and mechanics turned out in force to celebrate their involvement with the team. The venue was good, the buffet was tasty and the stories were excellent.

What of the future? Well, the unpaid group of amateur racers that are Rotor Racing are hoping to continue enjoying their motorsport. Plans are underway to build a new generation of Rotor racing car and if the team, who are all getting on a bit, have the health to continue, will be out on events as they have done for over 40 years.

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Some items to hopefully interest and amuse you :

Some More PARAPROSDOKIANS: I’m sure, like me, you’ve never heard of these.  Apparently, they are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected – frequently humorous.   Winston Churchill loved them!

War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine

Where there’s a will, there are relatives. 

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Three unusual YouTube clips: 

Before you buy a new mobile phone, watch this one!

If this really works it might give you a fright – Unlock a car door with a tennis ball

You thought Special Stages could be rough 1920s Dodge promotional film

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Some Amusing stuff from Our Chairman:

One day at kindergarten the Teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, “I’ll give £10 to the child who can tell me who was the most famous man who ever lived”‘

A little Irish boy put up his hand and said, “It was St Patrick, miss.”  The Teacher said, “Sorry Sean, that’s not correct.”

Then a little Scottish boy put up his hand and said, “It was St Andrew, miss.”  The Teacher replied, “I’m sorry, Hamish, that’s not right either.”

Finally, a little Jewish boy raised his hand and said: “It was Jesus Christ, miss.”  The Teacher said, “That’s absolutely right, Marvin.  Come up here and I’ll give you the £10.”  As the Teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, “You know, Marvin, since you’re Jewish, I was very surprised you said ‘Jesus Christ'”.

Marvin replied, “Yeah.  In my heart,  I knew it was Moses, but business is business”.

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A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.  Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah’. The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to hell?’  The little girl replied, ‘Then you ask him’.

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And finally:  Another from Chairman, Jimmy McInnes –

A man in Scotland calls his son in London the day before Christmas Eve and says, “I hate to ruin your day but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.”

‘Dad, what are you talking about?’ the son screams.

“We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the father says.  “We’re sick of each other and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Leeds and tell her.”

Frantically, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like hell, they’re  getting divorced!” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this!”

She calls Scotland immediately and screams at her father “You are NOT getting divorced.  Don’t do a single thing until I get there.  I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing,  DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. ‘Sorted!  They’re coming for Christmas – and they’re paying their own  way.’

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That’s all folks………………. !                 

Stuart Parker              January 2014

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Newsletter October, 2013

Firstly, I have done some housekeeping on the website.  Regular events such as the Spring Runs, Reunions and more recently the Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival events can now be found in the Previous Events Section.  Indeed the recent Bo’ness event has just been posted there today!

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Dates for your Diary:

Latest News – It’s official!  The next VSMA Reunion will be held in 2014 on Saturday 18th October in the Shawlands Hotel near Larkhall. The Directors were delighted when Boyd Tunnock agreed to sponsor this, our fifth Reunion.  More details later, but for now put the date in your diary…………..SATURDAY, 18th OCTOBER, 2014

As reported in the last Newsletter the “2014 Spring Run” will be going back up north – to be based again at Grantown-on-Spey – this will be be our 5th spring run that Bob Baillie has organised  –  from FRIDAY 25 to SUNDAY 27th APRIL, 2014

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Members’ Database Changes:

New email addresses are available for the following members – Alan and Audrey Carlaw, Walter Gray, Denis Scott and Charlie Young.  In order to amend youryour address book these changes can be found in the Members and Details section.

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Death of Members:

Since the July Newsletter, I am sad to report the death of three of our members –  John Sword from Dullatar, Ian MacKay from Glasgow and Bruce Pettie from Stirling (originally Dumbarton).  More details of these three, supplied by members, can be found in the “Past Veterans” Section.

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New Members:

I am delighted to welcome the Margaret Smillie, Milngavie and Derek Hastings, Elsrickle Biggar, into the VSMA fold.

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Annual General Meeting:

Although some weeks off, you should put the date in your diary.  The AGM will be held on FRIDAY 15th NOVEMBER, 2013.  Boyd Tunnock has again given us the use of a room in his Uddingston factory to hold this event.  Further details will be emailed to members nearer the time.

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More YouTube Clips:

A few members have mentioned that they have appreciated the odd YouTube video I have included in the past Newsletter.  So, here are a few more …. I hope you are entertained by them!  Best to watch them in full screen.

Here is one which proves that it is not just lads who get up to extreme activities! This is worth a watch – Awesome Ladies

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For lovers of Porsche cars here is a video giving a short history of their development from the North Carolina Museum of Art –  Click here.

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Just a quickie – but very funny –  Girl adds oil to car!!!!

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Amusing Stuff from Members: Mostly from James W. McI this time!

 This is a gem
……
A woman friend went to Beijing recently and was given this brochure by the hotel.  It is precious.  She is keeping it and reading it whenever she feels depressed. Obviously, it has been translated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English???.

  Getting There:
 Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall.  He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests.



  The hotel:
 This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome.  We, of course, are always pleased to accept adultery.  Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children.  Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others.  But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organise social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self.



  The Restaurant:
  Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting.  At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you.

  Your Room:
Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity!  You will not be disturbed by traffic noise since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by paederasts.

  Bed:  Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition.  If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid.  Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear.  If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers.

  Above all:  When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope.  You will struggle to forget it.”

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A tale from Scotland:  An Arab Sheik was admitted to Hospital for heart surgery, but prior to the surgery,  the doctors needed to store his blood in case the need arises. As the gentleman had a rare type of blood,  it couldn’t be found locally, so, the call went out.   Finally, a Scotsman was located who had a similar blood type.  The Scot willingly donated his blood for the Arab.  After the surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman as appreciation for giving his blood, a new BMW, diamonds & US dollars.
   A couple of days later, once again, the Arab had to go through a corrective surgery.
His doctor telephoned the Scotsman who was more than happy to donate his blood again.  After the second surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman a thank-you card & a box of Quality Street chocolates.The Scotsman was shocked that the Arab did not reciprocate his kind gesture as he had anticipated.He phoned the Arab & asked him: “I thought you would be generous again, that you would give me a BMW, diamonds & money……… but you only gave me a thank-you card and a box of Quality Street.”
    To this, the Arab replied: “Aye laddie, but I now have Scottish blood in ma veins”.

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That’s all folks………………. !                                    

Stuart Parker, October 2013

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Newsletter July, 2013

Following the Border Run, it’s back to the daily tasks of gardening, thinking about holidays and of course putting a VSMA Newsletter together.  As usual in this task, I am indebted to several members who regularly send me some very interesting stuff.  Not all of which do I publish for reasons of propriety!  Anyway, I have included a few pieces this month which I hope you enjoy.  Our Border Run has not long past and you can read what went on by clicking here or going to the Past Events section.  It seemed to be enjoyed by those who were there.  However, next year the consensus was that we return to the North – probably Grantown-on-Spey again.  Anyway, on with the Newsletter – a few pieces of VSMA news and more funnies (which I hope you enjoy) but firstly, some sad news……..

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Death of Members: 

Once again, I have to report the death of three of our members.   I only recently found out that Harvey McCaig had died last year on 5th June 2012.  More recently Graham Cowie died on 27th April 2013, and I heard just the other day that Brian McCluckie had died on 14th June 2013.  Information on these three gentlemen can be found in the Past Veterans section.

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New Member:

On a much brighter note I am pleased to welcome David McNair from Crossford, Dunfermline into the V.S.M.A.

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Members’ Database Changes:

New email addresses are available for the following members – Bob Gillespie, David Hockey, Harry Simpson and Bill Wood. In order to amend your address book, these changes can be found in the Members and Details section.

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Holiday Snap:

After a recent trip to the Balearics, Walter and Bette Gray sent me this photo of the evidence.  Please note that they are both wearing their V.S.M.A. caps!

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Rest and Be Thankful:

Non-member Neil MacDonald from Glenkinchie sent me some information on the old Rest and Be Thankful which he felt might be of interest to our members.  Neil was a former Dulton hill climber in 1988 and raced a Citroen 2cv between 1990 and 1994.  The clip he mentioned show a more relaxed MotorSport era. These are film clips from the Scottish National Archives.  Click on this link to take you to the National Archive page, and click further, on the image on the right to start the clip.  It looks better if viewed on full-screen.  I’m sure some of our older members will recognise a few faces, and they may have been competing themselves!  Please let me know if you recognise yourself!  AK Stevenson will be known to many but I think car 44, an Austin Atlantic was being driven by the late member Jack Wilson from Dunoon.  The clip lasts about 10 minutes and although silent it will give you an idea of how popular the Rest was with competitors and spectators alike.  There is another clip (number 1519) of a film made by Babock and Wilcox which is a bit more professional and has a soundtrack.  Reminisce and enjoy.

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What’s Next:

From the VMSA point of view, apart from holidays, the next thing will be the Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival 2013 Classic Car Show on 7th/8th September. This year is the 50 Anniversary of the Porsche 911, one of the most iconic sports cars of the modern era. There will be a variety of Porsche 911s on display.  It is also the 50 anniversary of Scotland’s Jim Clark winning his first Formula 1 Championship.  Jim competed at Bo’ness in the late 1950s driving a Lister Jaguar and a Lotus Elite.  Apart from all the various stands to see, the Hill Climb will surely be the main attraction – I’m sure a few of our members will be competing once more. And of course, we will be there in out “tent”.  Please do drop in and see us, have a chat and partake of some refreshment.

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A couple of unusual YouTube clips: 

For full effect, both should be viewed in full-screen mode. Click the first one The Amazing Feather Balancing act by Miyoko Shida Rigolo which is really quite amazing – you will be spellbound as to how talented this lady is. (you may have to click to skip the Advert at the start).

The second one is for our Music Lovers.  It is a video of one of those crowd events sent to me by a colleague from Vancouver. Click on Grocery Store Opera – it’s best viewed in full screen.  Enjoy.

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Any C.S.M.A. Members out there?:

This year is the 90th Anniversary of the Civil Service Motoring Association.  Harry Merry is the Clerk of the Course and a member of this club (probably for most of these years) and has organised the  “Scenic Observation Run” on Sunday the 7th of July (a type of treasure hunt) to commemorate this.  It is open to everyone and not just CSMA members. Harry can be contacted at harry.merry@btinternet.com or 01555 770652 for Regs. and Entry Forms or go to www.csmaclub.co.uk/fife click “Upcoming Events” then “Scenic Observation Tour” to download the Regs and Entry Forms.  The event is being run by the Fife Group of CSMA starting at 1300 hours and finishing some 4 hours later. Photographs taken along the route will be supplied to guide you.

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Amusing stuff from Members:

(Please do keep them coming in)

If my body was a Car …….. from Jimmy McInnes

If my body was a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model.
I’ve got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull…

But that’s not the worst of it……….. My headlights are out of focus, and it’s especially hard to see things up close.

My traction is not as graceful as it once was.  I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.

My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins.

It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed.  My fuel rate burns inefficiently.

But here’s the worst of it…….

Almost every time I sneeze, cough or sputter,Either My Radiator Leaks or My Exhaust Backfires!

Why do I have so many friends about whom I believe this applies???

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The Speeding Ticket…… From Tom McCallum

An older lady gets pulled over for speeding…….

Older Woman:   “Is there a problem, Officer?”

         Officer:   “Ma’am, you were speeding.” 



Older Woman:   “Oh, I see.” 



         Officer:   “Can I see your license please?”

Older Woman:   “I’d give it to you but I don’t have one.”

         

Officer:   “You don’t have one?” 



Older Woman:   “Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.” 



         Officer:   “I see…Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.” 



Older Woman:    “Can’t do that.” 



         Officer:    “Why not?” 



Older Woman:    “I stole this car.” 



         Officer:    “Stole it?” 



Older Woman:    “Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.” 



         Officer:    “You what?” 



Older Woman:    “His body parts are in plastic bags in the boot….. want to look?”   



The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up.

  Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. 

                A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

       Officer 2:   “Ma’am, could you step out of your vehicle please!” 

                                 The woman steps out of her vehicle.

Older woman:    “Is there a problem sir?”

      Officer 2:   “One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.”

Older Woman:  “Murdered the owner?”

      Officer 2:   “Yes, could you please open the boot of your car, please.” 



     The woman opens the boot, revealing there was nothing there …. It was empty.



      Officer 2:   “Is this your car, ma’am?” 



Older Woman:   “Yes, here are the registration papers.”     

  
 The officer is quite stunned.

      Officer 2:   “One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.” 



 The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer. 

The officer examines the license.   He looks quite puzzled. 
     

       Officer 2:   “Thank you ma’am, one of my officers also told me you didn’t have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.”  



Older Woman:   “Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too!!!!”

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 Finally, a few more PARAPROSDOKIANS:

These are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected -frequently humorous.

“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.”

“I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.”

“Behind every successful man is his woman.
Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.”

“I used to be indecisive.  Now, I’m not so sure.”

“To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.”

“They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’ then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.”

“Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.”

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That’s all for now folks………………. !

Stuart Parker, July 2013

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Newsletter April, 2013

Firstly, I have to report the death of Ken Fraser on 16th February last. Ken was a well-known figure in Motor Sport in the early 50s. If you remember, a few months ago he kindly lent us his Motor Sport scrapbooks, the images from which were scanned on to the website.  These can still be seen in the “Tales from the Past” section. There you can see 50+ images relating to Ken’s Motorsport experiences during that time.

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The 5th Flying Scotsman 2013, 19-21 April – Organised by the Endurance Rally Association.

Officially there were 106 starters who set out from Hertfordshire, not far from Heathrow, up through central England via Bosworth Field then north into the Peak District to stop overnight at Buxton in Cheshire. The second day they went through Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales before heading north into Cumbria and eventually stopping overnight at Gretna Green.  Not all managed up to Scotland but by the 3rd day, the remainder went through Dumfries and Galloway and the East Stewartry Coast area before turning north for an early lunch at Drumlanrig Castle, then over the Lowther Hills to the final test sections of the event. The first was at the Kames Motorsport Complex and the second at Forrestburn Hillclimb circuit run by Monklands Car Club.

I am very grateful to Bill Barr who took these photographs at the Forrestburn Hill Climb.  Details of the event can be seen at their interesting website.  You will see looking at their entry list, that although the vast majority were from Great Britain (133), there were entries from many parts of the world including Argentina (1), Austria (2), Belgium (3), Canada (3), Denmark (1), France (2), Greece (3), Germany (14), Holland (22), Ireland (5), Luxemberg (1), Spain (3), Switzerland (4) and USA (3).

Click on a thumbnail below to see a larger version  

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Spring Run – 3rd to 5th May 2013:

This is nearly upon us.  Bob Baillie tells me that the entries close on 20th April, but he is still able to take a late entry if you are thinking of going.  He has laid on some interesting stuff.  Knowing Bob it will be varied to say the least.  Bob can always be contacted at  07721 755917, but hurry.

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Members’Database and Website Changes: 

New Email addresses are available for the following members: John Barker, Alasdair Pearson and Ronnie Thom (who also has changed his abode in Auchterarder). 

May we welcome Clive Reeves from Helensburgh as a new member into the VSMA fold. 

All these changes and additions can all be found in the Members and Details section.

There has been a bit of housekeeping on the website  –  the Archived News Item section has been tweaked slightly.  Hopefully, you will now find it slightly more easy to find articles from previous Newsletters.

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“How’s this for coincidence?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .by Charlie Young

Charlie Young has responded to my plea for personal incidents in the past.  Have a look at what Charlie has provided in the Tales from the Past section.  Indeed quite coincidental!  Thanks Charlie.

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Another from Charlie Young:  For those of you have never competed in a modern rally this will amaze you, and for those who have …… just weep at the skill shown by 28-year-old Finnish rally driver Jari-Matti Latvala in a Ford Escort MkII RS BDA on the 2012 Lahti Historic Rally in Finland.  He was a World Rally Championship driver for the work Ford Team from 2008 until the 2012 season.  He has since signed up with the new Volkswagen WRC team.  CLICK HERE for thirteen minutes of YouTube unbelievable driving which is nerve-wracking.  Skip the ad  – watch in full screen.

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They certainly don’t make them like this anymore . . . .from Mike How 

Mr Allen Swift (Springfield, MA.) owned & drove the same Car for 82 YEARS.  Can you imagine having the same car for 82 years!   “How Long Have  You Owned a Car?” He received this 1928-Royce Piccadilly-P1 Roadster from his father, brand new – as a graduation gift in 1928.   He drove it up until his death last year…..at the age of 102! He was the oldest living owner of a car that was purchased new.  Mike thought you’d like to see it.

It was donated to a Springfield museum after Allen’s death.  It has 1,070,000 miles on it, still runs like a Swiss watch, dead silent at any speed and is in perfect cosmetic condition (82 years). That’s approximately 13,048 miles per year (1087 per month)….. 1,070,000 that’s miles not kilometres!!  That’s British engineering of a bygone era.

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World War II Jeep:

Donald Gordon submitted this interesting YouTube video. This might take a few of Lanarkshire Car Club members back to the days of petrol rationing when rallying had to stop.  Instead of running events, the club went down to Croft in a bus to compete in an inter-club competition.  Events, such as all the navigators going round in a bus together to find a route, and service crews competing in a timed removal and replacement of a Mini’s wheels, etc.  All very friendly fun!  We were not quite like this clip from Donald Gordon, which lasts around 4 minutes. Quite fantastic! Click Willy’s Jeep.  This is about eight C-Battery soldiers pulling up on the main street in Toms River, New Jersey for some holiday. They’re in a standard issue WWII /Korean War type Willy’s Jeep. In the span of about 4 minutes, they completely disassemble the vehicle and reassemble it and drive off in it fully operable! The idea shows the genius that went into the making of the jeep and its basic simplicity.

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More Funnies from Members:

From Glen Mortimer…….
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a car when he spotted a regular customer in service reception who was a very successful cardiac surgeon.
The surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his car when the mechanic shouted across the
 garage, “Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?”

 The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and said, “So Doc, look at this engine. I opened its heart, took the valves out, repaired or replaced anything damaged, and then put everything back in, and when I had finished, it worked just like new.

 So how is it that I make £20,000 a year and you make £250,000 a year when you and I are doing basically the same work?”

  The cardiac surgeon paused, leaned over, and then whispered to the mechanic….. “Try doing it with the engine running.”

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From Jimmy McInnes……

A Check for Alzheimer’s which was developed as a mental age assessment by the School of Psychiatry at Harvard University. Take your time and see if you can
 read each line aloud without a mistake  –  you’ll find this Pretty Amazing. The average person over 40 years of age cannot do it!

1. This is this cat.

2. This is is cat.

3. This is how cat.

4. This is to cat.

5. This is keep cat.

6. This is an cat.

7. This is old cat.

8. This is fart cat.

9. This is busy cat.

10. This is for cat.

11. This is forty cat.

12. This is seconds cat.

Now go back and read the third word in each line from the top down and I betcha you cannot resist passing it on…..

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Yet Another from our “beloved Chairman” James W:

The Talking Centipede

A single guy decided life would be more fun 
if he had a pet.



So he went to the pet store 
and told the owner 
that he wanted to buy an unusual pet.

After some discussion, 
he finally bought a talking centipede, 


which came in a little white box 
to keep the centipede in.

He took the box back home, 
found a good spot for the box, 


and decided he would start off 
by taking his new pet 
to the pub for a drink with him.




So he asked the centipede in the box, 


“Would you like to go 
down the pub with me today? 
We will have a good time.”

But there was no answer
from his new pet.

This bothered him a bit,
but he waited a few minutes
and then asked again,
“How about going
down the pub with me? but again there was no answer
from his new friend and pet.

So he waited
a few minutes more,
thinking about the situation.

The guy decided
to invite the centipede
one last time.

This time he 
put his face up against 
the centipede’s house and shouted,

“Hey in there, would you like

to go to the pub with me?

…..


YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS ……

This time a little voice 


came out of the box !!!

“I heard you the first time!

I’m putting my bloody shoes on”

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Finally, just a few PARAPROSDOKIANS:

I’m sure, like me, you’ve never heard of these.  Apparently, they are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected – frequently humorous.   Winston Churchill loved them !

“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.”

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”

“Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.”

“Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.”

“You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.”

“I’m supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now.”

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That’s all folks………………. !

Stuart Parker, April 2013

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Newsletter February, 2013

 

Members’ News: 
The changes below can all be found in the Members and Details section.  Email address are now available for;  Ken Strachan, Bob Callander, John Melvin, Brian Harrison and Hugh Greenshields.
New Email addresses for the following members: Bob Bisset, Gus Pattison and Ian Stewart

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John Melvin’s photos:

Here are a couple of images John Melvin recently sent in for the website.  Have a look at “John’s page” to see more – they will certainly bring back memories to a few of our older members.

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News from Canada:

For the past few years, Peter Jeffrey has been racing his 1961 Triumph TR3B in Historic races in BC and Washington.  However, last year, when he reached his 70th birthday he finally retired from active motorsport – as he thought the car was getting a bit too old for it all!   He did say that he had had a great run for his money.

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An Email request from member David Ross:

David had received a plea from his friend Ian Harper in Aberdeen who is rebuilding a Porsche 911 and is keen to gather as much information on the car as possible.  Here are the basic facts – the car was delivered to Unity Motors, Edinburgh in November 1965 to order from a Mr Usher (reg no supplied by him!?).  It was amongst the first 911s into the UK and the only blue one that year.  He has the chassis/engine numbers and he thinks that it suffered accident damage between ’66 and’75. If anyone in the Edinburgh area can give Ian a lead to further info on its early life he would be so grateful.  Ian can be contacted at by email at harperdeeside@aol.com

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The 2013 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique – Saturday, 26th January

Car 200, Tommy Bryce with his 1928 Citröen, Tommy had competed in the 1954 Monte in a Riley 2.5 ( Photograph courtesy of Bill Barr )This was the third year that the Caledonian Classic & Historic Motorsport Club (CC&HMCC) had organised the start for this event.  The main event was the Classic Monte Carlo Rally which would take competitors all the way to Monte Carlo, while the bulk of the others followed on in the Heritage Rally which was being run for CC&MCC members only.  According to the Glasgow Herald, there were more than 15,000 brave souls who turned up on a cold Saturday morning to wave the competitors off!   Tommy Bryce, of Viewpark Uddingston, had competed in the Monte back in 1954 when he was the mechanic in a Riley 2.5 litre along with his boss Herbert Feldman and the garage owner Joe Strang.  This time he was given the honour of leading the cars from Buchanan street down to the start in his own 1928 Citroen B14G. This year’s start was from Glasgow Green, the cars having been on display earlier in Buchanan Street, Glasgow. Among the other city, starting points were Barcelona and Copenhagen.

Eight of the Glasgow Historique Entries  

Over 100 classic cars were at the Glasgow start, however only ten were leaving for Monte Carlo, the remainder were going on a Heritage Run, some to Luss, some to Dumfries and a few to Yorkshire.

Some of the other Heritage Entries  

There were a few members from VSMA present including Tom Bicket and Donald Gordon, who were seen leaving on the Heritage run.  We are indebted to member Bill Barr who was at the start and took all the photographs.

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AGM Sunday, 2nd December 2012:

This was our 6th AGM since the conception of V.S.M.A. in 2001.   Boyd Tunnock kindly allowed the use of his factory premises in Uddingston to hold the event.  Thirteen members were present, twenty others have sent in their apologies and proxies.  Before business commenced Boyd had laid on a delightful spread which included, as you might have expected, lots of Tunnocks’ goodies PLUS a huge tray of their Scotch pies which rapidly disappeared.  Chairman Jimmy McInnes was, unfortunately, unable to attend so Vice-Chairman Bob Baillie took charge.  There was nothing really of note to report from the meeting.  The following were elected to the Board unopposed:  Chairman – Jimmy McInnes, Vice-Chairman – Bob Baillie (also elected as Treasures), Secretary – Stuart Parker and Ordinary Board Members – Mike How, Adele Paterson and Charlie Young.  The latter three joined Kenny Allen, Hugh MacKinnon and Duncan Paterson who remained from the previous Board.  Bob Baillie gave a brief outline of the forthcoming Spring Run, and it was announced that there would be a Reunion to be held in the autumn of 2014, otherwise, there was little of note to report. The business was speedily concluded by Bob Baillie with thanks to Boyd Tunnock for his kindness in providing the venue for the meeting plus the excellent refreshments.

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Spring Run, 3rd to 5th May 2013:

Bob Baillie’s Spring Run will soon be upon us.  If it’s anything like previous years’ there will be lots of interesting places to see, and lots of time to enjoy good food and companionship. The headquarters this year will be in the Barony Castle Hotel in Eddleston near Peebles.  For those of you who haven’t been there before, the two images above will give you some idea at least of what the place looks like. Click on Bob’s letter, Event Regulations, Entry Form and Hotel Booking Form to see what’s on offer. This download is in PDF format.  You will need Adobe Acrobat ReaderTM in order to view these files.  If you do not have one, you can download the software from the Adobe website, free.   However, if you are having problems printing out any of these files please get in touch with me and I will send you “hard copies”.  Although it is a couple of months before Entries must have been submitted, I would suggest you get your Entry and Hotel Booking Forms off to Bob as soon as possible!

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Past Veterans:
You may or may not have noticed that when a member has died their names are no longer to be found on the “Members and their details” section.  Information on these members, where available, can now be found in the “Past Veterans” section.

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That’s all folks………………. !                                             

Stuart Parker, February 2013

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Newsletter November, 2012

 

New Members:   

May we welcome the following new members to our Association.
Brian McLuckie, from Larbert and Donald Gordon, from Paisley

Details for each can be found in the Members and Details section.

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Website amendments: 

Details of these changes can be found in the Members and Details section.
Sandy and Helen Morrison have flitted to a new address in Stirling – however, they still have the same telephone number and email address as before.

Bob and Margaret Baillie have moved from Mauchline and now live in Kilmarnock.  See Bob’s page for their new address and telephone number.

Sammy Colman has now flitted from Wishaw to Douglas

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Death of two members:

Noted in the Glasgow Herald was the death of member Colin Hope who died on 15th September 2012.

 

Alastair Findlay died in the Stranraer Hospice on 18th September 2012. He had returned home in early August from the Yukon having been diagnosed there with terminal cancer.  He will be well known to the rallying fraternity especially those in Ayrshire.  Over the two years in the Yukon he emailed his diary almost weekly, recording his doings and thoughts, plus many amusing anecdotes which might be worth reproducing sometime in the future.  Read more in the Past Veterans Section on the above deaths.

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The 5th Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival, 8th and 9th September 2012:

Details of this event can now be found under the “Previous Events” section

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Phantoms and Shadows – 

some weeks ago I was approached by an Alan Dalton to request the use of one of the images on our website, one of Boyd Tunnock competing in his MGA, on a book he was writing on the history of Motor Sport around Edinburgh. On checking this with Boyd the image has been duly inserted in his ebook “Phantom and Shadows”. This can now be downloaded from Amazon.  The Kindle edition costs a mere 77p.  Having obtained a copy I can confirm that it is certainly worth this small price. I’m sure it will be of interest to those who been involved with motorsport around the Edinburgh.

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Finally, may I remind you of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of our Association which will be held on Sunday 2nd December at 2.00pm.  Boyd Tunnock has kindly offered his premises in Uddingston as a venue for this event.  Hopefully we will see a number of our members there.

That’s all folks………………. !

Stuart Parker,  November 2012

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Newsletter August, 2012

 New members:

May I welcome another new member since the last newsletter into the VSMA fold  –  Robin Christie from Port William, Newton Stewart, will be known to most of the rally fraternity from the sixties onwards.  He was and is a stalwart of the Machars Club.  Robin’s details can be found in the Members and Details section.

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Website amendments:

As usual these changes below can all be found in the Members and Details section.

Charlie Brown and Gus Carnegie have new email addresses.

Margaret (MacKenzie) Lowrey’s has flitted to a new address, also with a new Tel. No.

Oliver Tomlins has now updated his Motor Sport career data.

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Addendum to the “2012 Spring Run“:

Not really an addendum but a note on the three members who didn’t manage down to Stranraer.  Namely Kenny Allen, Hugh MacKinnon and Tom MacMillan who did manage to get over to the Isle of Man for the Manx Classic that same weekend!  They can be forgiven for their absence in Stranraer as they were all competing as representatives of Team Bo’ness.  Kenny was in his Lotus Elan Sprint, Hugh in the Porsche 911 and Tom in his Westfield Megabusa.

The Manx Classic, organised by The Manx Racing Club is, an annual three-day event: one sprint, two hill climbs, three days of great Manx Motorsport on closed public roads.  Apart from competing the three were there to market the Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival as the cars were of the same type as they would like to attract to Bo’ness. 

 

Hugh had 2 class wins (he is holding one in the after event picture), Kenny and Tom did OK!  They came 3rd in the team competition.  (I think there were only 3 teams but shhhhh!) The Ramsay Sprint was held at 6 pm on Friday night. Tom went off the line on his last run with headlights on looking for the braking markers at 100mph+  — “It must be the best laxative know to man!”

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The 5th Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival, 8th and 9th September 2012: 

As I have mentioned before VSMA are going to be present at Bo’ness this year. We hope to have a similar set-up as we had at Knockhill in the past.  A venue where our members can drop in to have a rest, blether to other members, have a cup of something, etc. As might be expected, many of our members are involved with this prestigious event – both as organisers and a few as competitors!  It promises to be a great weekend.  Do come along on at least one of the days – you will be made very welcome. This is the Fifth annual Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival and this year they are celebrating the careers of two of Scotland’s greatest motor racing heroes of the 1950’s – Ron Flockhart and Bob McIntyre.  Fifty years have passed since Ron and Bob both died in tragic circumstances in 1962.

Ron Flockhart competed at Bo’ness on many occasions, including his epic battle with Ken Wharton in 1953 when he went on to set FTD and also broke the track record in ERA R4D. Ron is probably best known for his back-to-back Le Mans wins in the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars. Bob McIntyre was a fiercely competitive motorcycle racer and was a works rider for AJS, Bianchi, Gilera, Honda and Norton.  He won several Grand Prix and was the first man to lap the Isle of Man course at over 100 mph average speed. Bob competed at Bo’ness in 1951 – one of his first competitive outings – winning his Class on a BSA 350.   The  2012  Revival meeting  will include displays of Ecurie Ecosse D Type Jaguars and other cars associated with Flockhart.

In addition, the Ecurie Ecosse Transporter will be on display. There will also be racing motorcycles and other memorabilia on display associated with Bob Mcintyre.
The Hill Climb competition takes place on Saturday and Sunday and in addition, there is a huge classic car show in front of the historic Kinneil House.  Competition cars range from 1913 to 1972 and around 100 entries are expected to tackle the famous old Kinneil track with its dauntingly narrow stone bridge, very fast Old Paddock Bend and then the tricky ‘S’ Bend through the building lined Courtyard.

Programme of Events

Saturday 8th September
09.30 – 12.30	Practice Runs
12.30 – 13.00	Cavalcades
13.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 18.00	Competition Runs
18.00	Prize Giving
Sunday 9th September
09.30 – 12.00	Practice Runs
12.00 – 12.30	Cavalcades
12.30 – 13.30	Lunch
13.30 – 17.30	Competition Runs
18.00	Prize Giving

The timetable above will be very dependant on how many “offs” occur. Further details of the 2012 event can be found on the BHCR website which is regularly updated. http://www.bonesshillclimb.org.uk 

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Derek Palmer’s effort on the 1000cc World Land Speed Record:

Derek and his team are due to try again at Bonneville Salt Flats this month.   It’s great to see one of our “veterans” still pursuing his dream.  Have a look at last year’s attempt on the 12-minute video on http://www.speedscotland.com/.  Hopefully, this will be his year. Good luck Derek.

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Frank Dundas’s Morgan –

Frank was a very well known rally competitor in the 50s and 60s from the South of Scotland. He competed in various marques but will probably best remembered by his handling of the Morgan PSM 506.  He had several different navigators mainly John Bogie, but our own Eric Dymock navigated for Frank on many events.

Frank Dundas starting one of the many autotests in the 1955 Scottish Rally with Eric Dymock navigator. Recently Eric was approached by a Guy Spollon who had just bought PSM 506 in bits with the intention of restoring it!  If you care to search Eric’s blog you can find more info on Frank’s cars, not just the Morgan but his Cooper which he drove prior to the Morgan.  Eric’s Blogg

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Some Bits and Pieces

Just click on an underlined text to view the video.

The Dingman collection – Old Neon Signs and Great Ford Cars: Jimmy Rae emailed me this piece he found simply staggering on the net.  I must agree with him.  Have a look at this Dingman Collection video and decide for yourself.  It’s certainly interesting!

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Ken Block’s Gymkhana Gallops through the streets of San Francisco:  Bruce Lyle and Wilson Paton both sent me an email about this Ken Block’s video.  Have a look.  It could only happen in the U.S.of A.  Enjoy.

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David Coulthard catches a 178mph golf ball in Mercedes-Benz SLS:  This is another crazy motoring video  –  this time sent by Mercedes Benz!!

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That’s all for now folks………………. !

Stuart Parker, August 2012

Back to Archived News Items

Newsletter May, 2012

New Members:

Firstly, since the last Newsletter may I welcome another six new members into our Association.  They are –

Ian Cunningham from Edinburgh
Jim Grant from Stenhousemuir
David Seaton from Bonnyrigg
Tommy Scott from Kilmarnock
Oliver Tomlins from Insch, Aberdeenshire
John Roberts from Tough, Alford, Aberdeenshire

Their contact and other details can be seen in the Members and Details section.

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Website amendments:

Roger Turnbull has moved back to Lockerbie with a new address and phone number.  These changes can also be found in the Members and Details section.

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2012 Spring Run:

A full report with “photies” can be seen in the “Previous Events” section.  Before you have a look may I remind you, and especially if you are new to the site, how to view images.  Not all images are capable of being enlarged, but you can easily tell which ones do.  When you hover the mouse pointer over an image, in addition to displaying the image caption, the pointer will change from the usual arrow to a pointing finger. When this happens, by simply select-clicking over the image with your mouse you will be taken to another window where a much larger image will appear.  You can then use the symbols at the foot of this new page to navigate around and in most cases enlarge the image even more; or if you wish, just keep clicking the image and it will enlarge to give you very much more detail.

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5th Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival, 8th and 9th September 2012:

Just to remind you that we will be at this event. If you haven’t as yet considered signing up to this organisation – have a look at what they are offering in the Newsletter March 2012.  The latter can be found in the Archived News Items – it’s well worth it.

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SMS (Scottish Motor Sport):

I received an email from Bruce Lyle recently regarding a new MotorSport Group.  He felt we should be made aware of its existence.  The email was addressed to all motorsport participants.  The gist of the information the email contained:

“The new group is called Scottish Motor Sport (SMS) and was formed 18 months ago.

So what is SMS?
It is important to stress that it is not a new governing body or a new association. SMS is a strategic body, designed to speak with one voice to the Scottish Government about all things motorsport. It consists of representatives of two- and four-wheel motorsport – including the car clubs through the Scottish Association of Car Clubs (SACC), the kart clubs through the ASKC, and Knockhill. The Scottish Auto Cycle Union (SACU) represents the interests of the two-wheel community.
What is SMS going to do?
SMS is not a ‘doing’ body; it is a strategic group. The intention is that SMS will provide a channel for motorsport to talk with Scottish Government and its associated agencies (Sport Scotland, Event Scotland, Visit Scotland, etc) distilling a coordinated message from the entire motorsport sector.
What will it achieve?
They believe that motor sport should be recognised as a sport of National Performance Significance to Scotland and SMS will assist in achieving this recognition. This, in turn, will lead to the submission of a strategic plan for the sport in Scotland which will give us the basis to be able to open discussions on potential funding streams.
Progress – has been somewhat delayed this year by the Independence debate. The SACC has sought member clubs’ opinions on the matter, which has happily concluded that in the event of an independent vote being successful, the MSA would remain the Governing Body of Motor Sport in Scotland. This will allow the MSA to continue its commitment to the new entity SMS who will move forward to encourage the development of the sport in our country. In the longer term, the SMS is confident that clubs and competitors will benefit from being part of a Government supported the initiative to create higher quality venues, better competition opportunities and stronger career development possibilities for Scottish drivers, marshals and associated individuals, all the way from the grass-roots to international level.

The Chairman of this new organisation is a Mr Tom Purves.

The aims of this group are surely to be commended and it is to be hoped that it does succeed in its endeavours, and hopefully does not turn out to be just another talking shop.

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Bill Henderson’s MotorSport Photograph Website:

I’m sure all veterans if they competed actively at all, will remember Bill Henderson snapping away at most event of any standing in Scotland.  His son William has started to digitalise Bill’s many thousands of photographs (a huge task), and his efforts can be view at The Bill Henderson Collection.  If you haven’t already seen the collection – have a look, you won’t be disappointed.  Bill, by the way, a VSMA member, can still occasionally be seen at events.

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That’s all folks………………. !

Stuart Parker,  May 2012

Back to Archived News Items

Newsletter March, 2012

 

New Member:

May I welcome a new member into our ranks.  He is Alex Brown from Stenton, East Lothian.  Alex was one of the speed fraternity and he is still competing in hill climbs.  Details can be found on his page.

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Ian Loudon Cox: 

Following the January Newsletter, Johnstone Syer emailed me that he was told by a former employee of Ian Loudon Cox that Ian had died recently.  Although not a member, I’m sure many of the Veterans will remember Iain on many rallies, sprints, driving tests and races.  Johnstone and Bill Syer both co-drove for him, and Ian and Johnstone did the 1963 Monte together in Johnstone’s frog-eyed Sprite.
Ian lived in Cyprus for at least 20 years and he had got in touch with Johnstone on hearing of Bill death as the two of them were big mates at one time.   Ian had visited Johnstone later last year along with his brother, Graeme, a former Sheriff of Dundee. and they had a long stroll down memory lane.  Apparently, he came over to the UK to visit at Christmas, caught a bug which turned into pneumonia and died in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

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Database Changes:

Bill Barr, Marion Hopkins and Doug Niven have all got new email addresses.  Each of these changes can be found in the Members and Details section.

Tom MacMillan, Secretary of the Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival has updated his page – motorsport career and lots of pictures.

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The 2012 Monte Carlo Historique Rally – Sunday 29th January – update:

It was a really drench Sunday evening when the cars left the start ramp from Clydebank.  The organisation of the start was again under the capable hands of members of the Caledonian Classic & Historic Motorsport Club (a few of whom are members of VSMA).  The more public of these was David Ross who gave a running commentary on both the front-running 12 entrants and those following the Monte Starters to Dumfries and those on the much gentler run to Drymen!  Mairi and I were in the latter group along with Jimmy Rae, both in MGBs.  I did say gentler but our route was spoiled by the numerous potholes along the whole route.
One of the Official cars going to Monte Carlo belonged to member Derek Palmer.  Derek’s car, a 1979 Porsche 924 turbo,  was one of the few Monte entries which started from Clydebank.  He felt that those from Glasgow were at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the Rheims starters as it was an immense challenge.  His Porsche driven by his friend Rick Pearson (who now lives in Nice) and Stuart Pringle (Manager at the BRDC at Silverstone) in the co-drivers seat.  He felt it was tropical in Clydebank, compared to France, 18 below and a gale blowing at Valence, even Monaco was only 1 degree above, chilly.!  They finished with little damage, but the car park at Monte apparently looked like a scrap yard!  Four of the Glasgow starters retired due to mechanical problems, and only two finished with no penalties.  The Porsche was one of them along with Ralph Forbes and Wesley Massam in a 1978 Fiat 128.

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Ian Townsend’s Wilson Lotus  – Chassis No. JMYWT1 – Update: Further to last month’s piece about Ian Townsend’s search for information on his Lotus Shell, David Ross was able to pass on some information.  Tim Wilson, who had the Nine Mile Burn Garage south of  Edinburgh and got the legendary Jo Marquart to design the Wilson for him.  The car was subsequently owned by Alastair Macintosh had who raced a TVR along with David’s own Ford Anglia Allardette 1500 and then the Wilson, thereafter a Mallock.  David Ross has unearthed a couple of pics of the said car which he took at Rufforth.  It’s Alastair working on the engine.

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Flower of Scotland: Not a tribute to what has become almost our sporting National Anthem, but a tribute to one of our members, Derek Palmer,SNR and his company Speed Scotland.  They have been the force behind the attempt to break the World Land Speed Record in their 1litre Supercharged Class, “Flower of Scotland” Streamliner.  Already they have been twice to the Bonneville salt flats in Utah, USA, the last occasion being in August 2011 at the Bonneville Speed Week. The record in their Class stands at 313mph and they managed 265mph before mechanical problems stopped further attempts last year, but they are pretty sure they can break this record!  If your interested in taking up this great offer of BHCR membership I have attached a PDF Membership Form.  Have a look at their web page http://www.bonesshillclimb.org.uk/ which gives more information on the forthcoming Hill Climb and what you can look forward to.