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.
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.
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!”
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.
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.
| 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
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.
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
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!
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.
David Coulthard catches a 178mph golf ball in Mercedes-Benz SLS: This is another crazy motoring video – this time sent by Mercedes Benz!!
That’s all for now folks………………. !
Stuart Parker, August 2012