VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 MARCH-APRIL 2010 INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS EDITOR’S BIT Member’s Cars — Fred Bennett 3 Sunday, April 18th—Fort Langley Run Welcome to my first issue as editor. Issigonis Part 8 6 Sunday, April 25th—LAMB Putting it all together was a little bit Olympic Hillman 9 St.George’s Day Show daunting at first but once I figured Famous Austin In Vietnam 9 Sunday, April 25th—Restoration Fair things out it turned out to be a lot of Cars in Wooden Crates 10 Saturday, May 22nd—Van Dusen fun. Many thanks to Steve Hutchens Scuttlebutt 11 ABFM and after party (see page 11) for all of his assistance (via e-mail ABFM After Party 11 June 24th—July 4th: Brits ‘Round from Tulsa, Oklahoma) and to all of Welcome To OECC 12 B.C. 2010 (go to oecc.ca and click the contributors to this issue. It came Autojumble 12 On the “Brits ‘Round B.C.” link for in a little long at twelve pages but I At The Wheel 12 more info). didn’t want to cut anything. I hope you enjoy it.

Hearts, Birds & Liz By Celia Obrecht

Early Valentine’s Day morning looked pretty dismal, dered many trails promising a good show in a few weeks. but the Liz Blake Memorial Valentine’s Day Run caught a Ken Miles spotted a large owl roosting in the top of a tall break in the weather. It was a fitting memorial for Liz tree and shared his discovery with those of us nearby. because she and Steve founded and led the Hearts and Tarts Valentine Run for the MOGNW Northern Pod over many years, always including heart shaped Dove Choco- lates for all as treats. This year’s run was organized by Lorna Hoare and Win Muehling and included both the Old English Car Club and Morgan Owners Group Northwest (MOGNW) because Liz belonged to both groups.

Twenty five cars gathered at the Annacis Island McDon- ald’s. (See participant list in box.) After a generous period of socializing we followed a route along the Fraser River, through Ladner, along to Westham Island and the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. Traffic was light so the group stayed mostly in parade formation, providing entertainment to walkers and runners along the River Road levee. At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary many participants bought bird seed and walked the trails. Daffodils at bud stage bor-

Participants enjoyed the bird sanctuary at their own pace and then filtered back to Sharkey’s Bar and Grill in Ladner where Steve Blake joined us for lunch. Even though we nearly filled Sharkey’s, arriving with more people than expected, they did a great job of serving us. This run provided everything one could want; a good drive, fellowship, a bit of exercise, good food, and all in the context of appreciating our memories of Liz Blake.

OECC (12) - David and Trevor Austin, Italo Cirillo and Anna Antonelli, Doug and Rhonda Gale, Alan Inglis and Maureen Kirkbride, Bence and Helen McIntyre, Alan and Mary Lou Miles, Steve and Sheila Morris, Gerry and Anita Parkinson, Mike Parkinson and Kelly Bruce, Bart and Audrey Shaw, Malcolm and Barbara Tait, Richard Taylor

Both Clubs (7) - Steve Blake and Hugh Monroe, Steve Hutchens and Celia Orbrecht, Ric McDonald and De- nise Bougie, Bob and Judy McDiarmid, Ken and Pat Miles, Win and Christine Muehling, John and Setsuko Rennie

MOGNW (6) - Chris Allen and Pam Mahoney, Les and June Burkholder, Laurie and Verna Fraser, Terry Sadler and Val Smith, Ron and Yvonne Theroux, Brian and Tina Thomlinson

Photos by Steve Hutchens, Celia Obrecht, and Alan Miles

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 2 ‘who-to-go-to’ and through this, found that Octagon Motors Our Members’ Cars and was a place to go to for Spitfire parts. In the local paper, I found an advert for the Old English Car Club. The contact Their Stories: This issue was “I. Cox of Maple Ridge” (that’s Ian Cox who is now in Victoria). I paid my dues and joined the Club. Ian told me featuring Fred Bennett about the B.C. Triumph Registry. I went to a meeting and joined that club. I was now a member of two British car clubs and was the owner of a sad looking Triumph Spitfire! By Walter Reynolds The British motor industry in the 1990s was going through a phase of listing as many heritage British car part suppliers as they could find, and for the B.C. coast, they listed a supplier in Victoria. I didn’t know of the exis- Welcome to our Members’ Cars feature. This is a regular tence of Ruth Burgess at that time, however, through the feature in which we learn about the car or cars of one course of meetings and talking to people, I found out that member per month. This month’s article features the cars Ruth was actually the ‘go-to’ person for British car parts and motorcycles of Fred Bennett (all photos are by Fred.) and advice.

1970 Triumph Spitfire Mk III:

Why did I buy the Spitfire? I bought the Spit- fire in July 1992, but first, some background.

I had been involved in competitive shooting for years but injured my arm, so I became more involved in boating in 1975. I had a 28 foot ‘hole in the water’, but sold it in 1990. Then I decided to “fiddle with cars”. At that time I had been again riding British motorcycles for about four years and decided to try a British car.

My first car was a 1935 Ford, followed by an Austin A40 Devon, which was replaced by a 1947 Ford coupe. I then moved to B.C. and purchased a 1951 Ford Prefect. The Sad Spitfire Being Picked Up By Fred, July ‘92 last time I worked on a car was in 1962 and it was a 1949 Dodge. In 1962, I also owned another Prefect. The Spitfire, So, as I said earlier, I bought the car in July 1992 and as I say, looked sad, but it was so cute! The asking price started the restoration work shortly thereafter. While only was whittled down to $400 which I paid and then had the one complete rear fender was replaced, the other was re- car towed home. paired with “patch” welding. The body tub required much cutting and grinding and new metal. Other parts that had Now the story: I belonged to the B.C. Coalition of Motorcy- to be purchased included sills and sill end plates. Even the cles (BCCOM) and saw an advert in the BCCOM newslet- floor pan had to be replaced – someone had tried to repair ter for a 1970 Triumph Spitfire Mk III. The ad was buried it with epoxy resin and the end result was a structure in amongst all the ‘bikes for sale’ ads. The ad stated that looking like a doily. My son, Grant, did some of the weld- the car had a new top, new tires, new brakes and a rebuilt ing and I did the parts that I felt comfortable doing. I had engine; all lies! Perhaps the car should have stayed buried not done any welding before starting on the Spitfire but like the advert was! The car was located in Aldergrove Grant had worked on several cars. I taught myself as I and, when I went to look at it, was in a sad condition. went. By the end of the project, I had accumulated 6 Spit- At the time of buying the Spitfire, I didn’t belong to any fire doors (anyone need a Spitfire door?), 3 bonnets, an car clubs, but I did belong to the British Motorcycle Own- extra frame and numerous other parts. At one point, I ers Club. A friend of mine and I decided to buy bikes at the bought a parts Spitfire in parts. We hauled it home in two same time. He bought a Triumph and I bought a BSA. pick-up trucks. Shortly thereafter (1975), I stopped by the local Triumph The restoration took 12 years to complete and was a dealership to look at the five new Triumph motorcycles frame-off restoration. Work, family and lack of funds filled they’d recently received. The owner convinced me to take a the time periods between restoration work periods. That’s test ride on one of the bikes. Needless to say, when I re- not to say that small jobs were not done. There were many turned to the dealership with the bike, I traded the BSA of those; like disassembling parts and sub-assemblies, and for it and then rode home to surprise my wife! I got out of using a wire wheel to clean muck off parts, big and small bikes after about six years but returned to them in 1990. (lots of the latter). I did the majority of work myself Through the Triumph motorcycle club, I got to know the

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 3 (except the earlier mentioned Grant welding jobs), how- As mentioned earlier, while working on the car, I had to ever, the jobs requiring specialized training and experi- perform tasks that I had neither the training in, nor ex- ence were contracted to those with that expertise. The perience of. Cutting and shaping metal to replace rusted 1296 c.c. engine was rebuilt by Coquitlam Automotive and pieces became a new-found skill. The closest that I had our own Steve Diggins rebuilt and upholstered the seats. ever come to sheet metal work was when I was 10 on the family farm in Alberta. Here I made model cars from tin cans. The cars were all shapes and sizes. To fit them to- gether, I used household cement. This I bought with my 35cent weekly allowance when we went on our weekly Sat- urday trip into town. The size of the car I was making de- termined how fast I ran out of cement!

During the course of the restoration, I removed so many spot welds. I even came across a tool in the UK designed specifically for the removal of these beasts. This tool saved a lot of time and effort. I also spent many mind-numbing hours stripping paint and gunk off small pieces using a wire wheel; a dirty job! Interior, stripped and restored Anyone who has performed a restoration knows that or- The 1970 Spitfire was fitted with the pollution reducing ganization is one of the keys to success. Early on I made a but performance-robbing single Stromberg carb rather room in my basement for all the Spitfire parts and sub- than the twin SUs fitted to 1969 and earlier cars. As part assemblies. This room consisted of shelves, lots of shelves. of the restoration, I wanted to fit twin SUs, but to do that, As parts were removed and cleaned, they were bagged, I needed to fit a different intake manifold. My quest for labelled and put onto a shelf. Each part of the car had a this took me to England. Sheila and I visited England in specific location on the shelves. Of course, the heavier 1993 and while there we visited Spits Bits to see what parts were kept on the floor. As contracted-out parts were parts I could get. A word to the wise: Spits Bits adverts do returned they too were put onto the shelves. I went not reflect the business’s reality. The ads reflect a prosper- through lots and lots of bags. Thanks to my volunteer ous, professional organization. The reality is that, while work as B.C. Training Officer for the Canadian Power & they may be prosperous, that fact isn’t reflected in their Sail Squadron I made up many training kits and, as a con- location or operation. That said, I was able to get my twin sequence, had many plastic bags at my disposal. carb manifold, and the ground around the shop door pro- I bought two bonnets, and, with the rusty one on the car, I vided a valuable source of used, but serviceable exhaust had three to choose from. One bonnet, of course came with manifold clamps. At this time, these clamps were as rare the car, another I bought at a swap meet and the third as hen’s teeth out here. came with a story. While there was not much missing from Once the tub was off the car, I took the frame to the sand- the car when I bought it, a major missing piece was the blaster next to Rainbow Powder Coating. There they un- Spitfire airplane commemorative emblem that was fixed to covered a minor crack in the frame, which I welded prior the 1970 production Triumph Spitfire cars. No other year to priming and painting. of Spitfire car had this emblem. My research and search for an emblem took me to many dead ends. I did however find two emblems (one at each of two locations) but the owners were not prepared to part with them. I advertised in the local papers and someone told me of a 1970 Spitfire in Surrey that may have had the emblem still on it. I went out to meet with the owner and we agreed on the terms: I would trade him a Triumph letter ‘T’ which I had, in re- turn for the emblem, provided I took the bonnet that the emblem was attached to.

Ruth was invaluable in the restoration of the car – both in parts procurement and advice. I dealt with her almost ex- clusively rather than deal with the British-based retailers.

To work on the project I had to buy tools that I previously neither owned nor needed. One of the bigger purchases was a better welder. For this, Grant and I split the cost Frame after sandblasting and painting 50:50.

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 4 quickly the welding arc created sunburn on unprotected skin);

Wear goggles while grinding (I was wearing a pair of good glasses while grinding above my head and the hot metal fragments melted themselves into the lenses);

Don’t weld a gas tank, regardless of how washed out it is (I was holding Grant’s gas tank from his Bonneville point- ing it up while Grant was welding the bottom of it. Shortly after he started welding, there was a ‘whoosh’ and a flame shot out of the fuel outlet and singed all the hair on my right arm).

Proud Fred with completed 1970 Triumph Would I do it again? That’s a good question, but one that’s already been answered. Grant and I bought a 1952 Meteor Customline four door sedan a few years ago 1950 Triumph Tiger 100 (T100) and have started the restoration of that car. In the con- I have been a motorcyclist for many years and came tinuing theme of learning new restoration skills we are across this tired, but 99% complete T100 that someone using lead rather than bondo for some repairs. Neither of brought from England 17 years before. As if I didn’t have us knew how to use it, but thanks to Eastwood, the U.S.A. enough to do with the Spitfire restoration, I bought the auto restoration materials supplier, we purchased the bike with the intention of restoring it back to its former product and a training DVD to assist us. Everything glory. I bought the bike in November 1996 and finished worked and we have now done “lead loading” which is be- the restoration (another frame-off project) on August 10, coming a lost art. 1997. The photo below shows the completed bike at the project’s end. 1% of the bike was missing: the two chrome flashes on either side of the headlamp nacelle and the tri- angular tool box. As can be seen, replacements for these parts were located and fitted.

There were three landmark points on this project. The first was when the engine started, the second was when we located a new 6 volt voltage regulator in Texas, and a third was when we fitted the rebuilt chronometric speed- ometer, cost of repair, $400.00.

Fred’s Automotive Stable:

While this article only covers Fred’s Spitfire, his T100 mo- torcycle and his half-ownership in the Meteor, his stable also includes:

3 B.S.A. Bantam motorcycles (123c.c. 2-strokes) – one each 1949, 1950 and 1951, all projects; and a 1975 Triumph Bonneville 750c.c. motorcycle, purchased new from Cari- bou Motorcycles, then located on North Road, Coquitlam.

Lessons learned: And there you have it for this issue. Next time will be the As far as some lessons learned through the Spitfire and Jensen Interceptor of David Ballantine, the British cars of Tiger 100 restorations, the ones that come to mind are: Bill Grant and the British cars of Steve Hutchens. This will take us up to September/October 2010. Make sure all combustible material is removed before starting to weld (I was welding one part of the car which The stories related to our cars are many and varied. If you still had interior trim attached and the heat from the would like to have your car or cars profiled, please give welding started a fire); me a call. In the meantime, you never know, the next time your phone rings, it may well be me inviting you to tell Wear long sleeve shirts while welding (I didn’t realize how Roundabout readers about your British car or cars!

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 5 Issigonis Part 8: Stephen Moulton – The Forgotten Man of the UK Rubber Industry

By Walter Reynolds set. The union produced nine children, all of whom sur- vived to adulthood.

The next record of him is in 1839, in America, living in This is the final part of the Issigonis Story that started New York and described as a ‘broker’. It was here that he several Roundabout issues ago as a single story. While met the American rubber pioneers Goodyear, Hayward researching for the portion of the Issigonis and the Rider brothers (see sidebar). It was through this Story, I found that Moulton’s great grandfather, Stephen friendship that Goodyear asked him, in 1842, to return to Moulton, was an instrumental player in the UK rubber England and attempt to persuade some members of the industry. This, then, is Stephen’s story. British rubber industry to put up capital to develop his improved rubber products. The British industrialists were Alex Moulton is famous for his involvement with rubber suspicious of the secrecy surrounding the inventor of this engineering. Not only did he develop the Moulton new process as Goodyear’s name was not mentioned and, with its rubber suspension, but also the rubber suspension perhaps fearful of being duped, they suggested that the used in the which further developed into the hy- inventor patent his process so that they could evaluate it drolastic system used initially in the 1100/1300 and 1800 and, perhaps then, come to some agreement. Austin/Morris series, then the 100 series and lat- terly in the MGF sports car. One could say that rubber During these discussions Moulton gave some of the rubber ‘ran’ in the family because Alex’s great grandfather, as samples to Thomas Hancock who, as will be seen in the Stephen Moulton was also involved in the rubber industry sidebar, coincidentally or otherwise, beat Goodyear to a at its infancy. UK patent by some eight weeks.

Having failed to secure UK capital, Moulton returned to America but remained bitten by the rubber bug, so much so that in 1847 he returned to England, determined to set up his own rubber goods factory. He had no desire to pay either Hancock or Goodyear royalties for the use of their patents so he entered into an agreement with the Rider brothers and a chemist called James Thomas that the for- mer would allow him to use their US factory for develop- ment work and the latter would allow him to patent in the

UK his vulcanization process which used lead hyposul- phite instead of (Goodyear’s) elemental sulphur. They, in turn would have a share in Moulton’s profits from the pat- ent. Unfortunately the patent seemed to be based more on hope than experimental results and it took two years of

Stephen Moulton, 1794 - 1880 experimentation before Moulton succeeded in developing it to a practical solution.

Stephen Moulton is considered to be the “forgotten man” of Although it had been originally agreed that the patent the UK rubber industry. Without him, it is doubtful if it would be sold on the basis of products manufactured in would have developed at either the time or the speed it did England, the Riders were suffering from a downturn in the for it was he who brought samples of Charles Goodyear’s American economy and refused Moulton more funding vulcanized rubber to England and who passed some of causing him, in late 1848 to go into the manufacturing them on to Thomas Hancock (see sidebar). business on his own.

Moulton was born in County Durham in 1794 but his fam- The location he chose was unusual in that it was in the ily was not North Country, indeed his parents were both West of England, far removed from the more usual centres Londoners where his father ran a law stationary business. of industrial activity and was a disused woollen mill, the Mrs. Moulton was visiting her sister when Stephen Kingston Mill, at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Neverthe- ‘arrived’. His early life is undocumented but in December less, it had a wealth of advantages; coal from Somerset, 1826, the records of St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, the river Avon alongside the mill to supply power and London show that he married Elizabeth Hales of Somer- washing water, together with the closely adjacent Kennet and Avon Canal and the Great West Road to provide ac-

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 6 cess to London. It was also cheap and contained, within ued until 1956 when it became part of the Avon Rubber the eight acre site, ‘Kingston House’ which would provide Company. Production ceased at the Kingston Mill site in the family home. 1993.

Now that he had committed himself, the Riders helped Stephen Moulton doesn’t deserve to be sidelined by his- with advice and by sending to Moulton the engineer who tory. Apart from being instrumental in bringing Good- had built their machinery so that he could oversee the fit- year’s first samples of vulcanized rubber to England there ting-out of Moulton’s factory. At this time it was not possi- are three other achievements to his name: ble to buy much of the equipment needed so some was built on site and some by iron foundries to Moulton’s de- He brought American rubber manufacturing expertise to sign. By 1850 Moulton and the Riders had a joint manu- England and, arguably for the first time in this field, built facturing agreement in place. However, Thomas Hancock a factory which was conceived and equipped as one com- was not prepared to stand by and see his monopoly disap- plete unit; pear without a fight. He brought competition to the rubber goods market which, The battle between Moulton and Hancock ended up before in turn, speeded up improvements in quality (which were the Courts. Moulton claimed that his patent of 1847 did certainly needed as vulcanization chemistry was still very not infringe on Hancock’s which used sulphur by itself, or much in its infancy and quality control was virtually un- Goodyear’s which used lead oxide and sulphur. Moulton heard of);and also mixed ‘in the dry’ and further claimed that Hancock’s He spread the base of rubber product manufacturing from patent was, in any event, technically invalid. The judge the industrialized areas of Glasgow, Manchester and Lon- chose to find for Hancock on all counts but then said that don to the West County where he was soon joined (in 1875) because he had taken so long to bring Moulton to court by the Avon Rubber Company. (1847 – 1852), he felt unable to make an injunction against Moulton but ordered the motion to ‘stand over’ so that the plaintiffs could take further action is they so wished. The Sidebar: Thomas Hancock, Charles Goodyear legal battles continued until Hancock finally achieved vic- and the Rider brothers tory in 1856. This resulted in Moulton being granted a licence to manufacture rubber products excluding clothing and medical goods for the sum of six hundred pounds ster- ling, per annum. Thomas Hancock

Moulton was extremely unhappy with this outcome, not the least because he continued to harbour a dislike of Han- cock, believing him to have stolen Goodyear’s ideas and failing conspicuously to give him credit for the original discovery of sulphur vulcanization. However, he now was able to legally manufacturer a wide variety of goods and specialized in industrial and engineering applications. In fact, his records show that he continued to produce rubber- ized fabrics, beds and cushions through 1880 (the year of his death).

The major products of the company were railway and car- riage springs which, together with other railway-related products, grew from 30% of output by value in 1860 to 85% by 1890. This growth being due, in considerable measure, Hancock: 1786 – 1865 to Moulton’s patented (1861) suspension unit which con- sisted of a coiled spring embedded in a block of rubber. Other areas of importance were hoses and sealing wash- Born in May 1786 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, Eng- ers/valves. Perhaps surprisingly, the company never land, Hancock is purported to be the founder of the showed much interest in rubber tires although the pneu- British rubber industry. Some say he achieved this matic tire was not patented by Dunlop until eight years distinction by ‘stealing’ Charles Goodyear’s rubber vul- after Stephen Moulton’s death. Another area of potential canization process and patenting it in Britain in 1843, growth was footwear. However, this was bedevilled by pat- before Goodyear could achieve a patent. ent restrictions. The company flirted with rubberized con- veyor belting in its early days but had dropped out due to Hancock was the third of 12 children of a lumber mer- the intense competition and low profitability by the time of chant and cabinet maker. Moulton’s death. Searching for a more effective way to process his raw In 1891 the company amalgamated with George Spencer of material and use rubber remnants, Hancock, in 1820

London to become Spencer Moulton. This company contin- invented his most important device: the rubber

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 7 masticator. He designed a machine with revolving teeth After the failure of the hardware store, Goodyear that tore up rubber scraps. To Hancock's surprise, the struggled to support his family with various small in- shredded bits adhered into a solid mass of rubber that ventions while moving in and out of debtor’s prison. could then be pressed in molds into solid blocks or rolled into sheets. Hancock's masticator, which was per- In 1834 he bought a rubber life preserver from the fected in 1821, made rubber manufacture commercially Roxbury India Rubber Company in New York and practical and gave birth to the rubber industry. quickly invented an improved valve for the device. (Hancock called his machine a "pickle" and kept the When Goodyear tried to sell his design to Roxbury, he masticating process a secret for 10 years.) was told that, sadly the valve was of no use – it was the rubber itself that needed improving, not the valve. The advantages of Hancock’s process caught the atten- Consumers were fed up with the way rubber melted in tion of Charles Macintosh who, in 1823 had patented a hot weather and hardened in cold. This then became process for waterproofing fabrics with naphtha-treated Goodyear’s life’s challenge: He would make rubber us- rubber. (Hence the waterproof Macintosh raincoat.) For able. his part, Hancock was so impressed by Macintosh’s naphtha process that, in 1825, he applied for a license After five years of experimenting with rubber, includ- to use the process. The two men eventually became ing more visits to debtor’s prison and two failed busi- partners in the manufacture of waterproof items. ness ventures, Goodyear accidentally discovered the vulcanization process – heating rubber-sulphur mix- Between 1820 and 1847 Hancock had been granted a tures to yield a tough yet flexible product. He strug- total of 16 patents relating to rubber. In 1822, he devel- gled for five more years before being granted a patent oped rubber tubing that could be cut into rubber bands in 1844 for his process. and life-belt tubes. He devised many medical uses for rubber and promoted the use of rubber rather than Through patent infringements, poorly negotiated li- leather for fire hoses. cense agreements for others to use his process and more visits to debtor’s prison, Goodyear died in July Hancock died in March 1865 at Stoke Newington, Lon- 1860 while on his way to his dying daughter’s bedside. don. While others would profit from the rubber manufactur- Charles Goodyear ing process that Goodyear made possible, at his death,

the inventor himself was $200,000 in debt. William & Emery Rider

The Rider brothers were working in the rubber devel- opment field in America. In 1840, Goodyear showed some of his vulcanized samples to them and they, at once, appreciated the value of the discovery and started in to manufacturing. Even here, Goodyear’s bad luck seemed to follow him for the Rider brothers failed and it was impossible for them to continue the business.

Goodyear: 1800 - 1860 Well, there you have it, the end of the last part of the Issi- gonis Story, a project that took on a life of its own and took me places I never imagined. I have learned a lot Charles Goodyear was born in December 1800 in New while completing this project and I hope that you have Haven, Connecticut, the son of a hardware manufac- enjoyed the ride with me. turer and inventor. His first venture was in 1826 when he opened America’s first hardware store as an outlet for his father’s products. Four years later, both son and Sources: father were bankrupt! www.bouncing-balls.com , a web site dedicated to eve- If any inventor’s story epitomizes dedication to a re- rything rubber. markable discovery that fails to bring any financial re- ward to its originator, it is the life of Charles Goodyear. www.madehow.com , a web site dedicated to describing how things are made and detailing the biographies of their inventors.

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 8 On June 11, 1963 Buddhist Monk Thich Quang Duc drove Olympic Hillman his Austin A95 to a busy Saigon intersection and set him- self on fire to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the By Les Foster regime of South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem. Browne won a Pulitzer Prize for his photo of Duc’s self Sometimes history catches up with you in the most unlikely immolation which was published in newspapers all over places. While taking in some of the free venues associated with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, I visited the Abo- the world at the time. Duc’s act inspired a number of riginal Pavilion and its display of native arts and crafts next other Monks to follow his example. door in Vancouver Community College. The displays were awesome and I found myself perusing goose down pillows and comforters at a booth. The workmanship and materials were superb but, alas, the prices would have kept me awake at night!

Still, I picked up a brochure from the Northern Goose Down Processors Ltd. Of Manitoba which chronicled the evolution of the enterprise. From its beginnings with a WWII veteran, Leland Rocan Salkeld, starting the Manitoba turkey indus- try in 1945 to the present day goose down production under the ownership of the Manitoba Metis Federation, it has been a very successful venture.

The thing that caught my eye about the brochure, though, was a tiny photograph in the upper right hand corner. Too small to really see clearly, it pictured some kind of a small car in front of the original Turkey Hatchery in the little town of Teulon, Manitoba in the late 1940’s. I took the pamphlet home, scanned it and enlarged the image. There it was- a post-war Hillman! Pictured on what must have been a hot Duc’s death eventually led to the end of the Diem regime. summer day with windscreen cranked fully open, in front of Madame Nhu, the President’s sister-in-law, in the U.S. at a brick-paper-covered square box of a building on the bald prairie was the then quite new four door saloon with black the time, called the monk’s deaths a “barbecue party” and fenders set against a lighter body. also famously added “Let them burn and we shall clap our hands”. These insensitive comments added to the

South Vietnamese people’s growing discontent with the Diem government which was overthrown by a military coup in November 1963. Both the president and his

brother (Madame Thu’s husband) were assassinated.

The photo served to remind me that British vehicles filled a need in the car-hungry aftermath of the war and helped in their own way to build our future.

Famous Austin in Vietnam

By Alan Miles

While on holidays in Vietnam recently I came across an historic Austin on display in the city of Hue. The late 50’s Austin Westminster was featured in an iconic photo taken in 1963 by photojournalist Malcolm Browne.

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 9 When Cars Rode In Wooden Crates

Wooden crates and the shipping of automobiles from the By Nigel Matthews U.K. led to Billy and Reggie Rootes venturing into the car-

manufacturing business. They began taking control of struggling British car manufacturers and built a huge em- pire producing vehicles under the names Hillman, Hum- ber, Singer, Sunbeam, Talbot, Commer and Karrier.

In 1920, the Rootes brothers were the largest distributors of cars and trucks in Britain. Their U.K .distribution methods were so successful that they moved into world- wide distribution.

By 1927, 6,000 wooden crates were leaving their distribu-

tion centre located in Chiswick. The majority of British car manufacturers were using Rootes to export their products, living up to their advertising slogan “cars packed, shipped and delivered to all parts of the world.”

The practice of shipping cars in wooden crates continued until the mid-1960s.

In 1973, Japan’s K Line shipping company built the Euro- pean Highway, the first roll on, roll off, (RORO) purpose- built car carrier capable of carrying 4,200 automobiles. Today’s car carriers are capable of carrying 8,000 vehicles.

Wooden shipping crates and automobiles date back to at least 1908.

Henry Ford was a firm believer in wasting nothing. He specified the type of wood and the dimensions of wood for use in the crates in which his suppliers shipped parts to his factories.

When the crates were empty, they were dismantled and wood was used in various areas of the Model T car he was manufacturing. Ford also produced charcoal from the waste wood under the brand name Kingsford — still a leading brand used today in the U.S. and Canada.

K Line "Thames Highway" Car Carrier

If you look closely at the top image of the Morris Minor packaged and ready for shipping to Vancouver’s Fred Deeley Motors, you will notice that the wheels and tires were removed and placed inside the car to reduce the crate height.

Above the Morris in the picture, you can see the MG sports cars were low enough to leave on the wheels and tires.

Thanks to Nigel Matthews and to classiccaradven- Ford Factory c.1914 tures.com, where this article first appeared, for their kind permission to include it here.

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 10 Scuttlebutt New members are important to usually inexpensive. b) Gain the vitality of our Club. When we awareness of enthusiasts with Steve Hutchens think about recruiting new members, OECC information placed in parts we need to be pragmatic in our efforts stores they frequent. Stress that and realistic about what we have to OECC can provide camaraderie

offer that they would enjoy. This and a knowledge base to help month I want to write about “picking them enjoy their English cars the low hanging fruit.” even more. Looking at the most recent new Place OECC Contact Cards on members of my Branch, almost all windshields of English cars we

have been between 50 and 60 and see parked.

have had a long term relationship Have a special “Family Day” with English cars. They are retired or event in which we invite our fam- nearing retirement and have more ily members (kids and grandkids) time, energy and money to play with to a special event. Provide food their hobby. and games built around our Eng-

Picking the low-hanging fruit: lish car hobby for all generations Our Hobby : Just for fun try this: If you find a tree laden with apples to enjoy. When you see someone under age 30 you will likely first pick apples within Please share your ideas on at- driving an “old” English car easy reach. To take advantage of read- tracting new members with me so I (something other than a new Mini), ily available enthusiasts, there are a can take them to the April Club Ex- note what they are driving. It seems number of things we can do: ecutive meeting and our Branch Ex- that most often it will be a classic Advertise: a) Advertise our big ecutive meeting later. Mini. We recently saw a woman who shows to the public to help enthu- appeared to be in her late 20s in an Enjoy your English cars and the siasts find us. Ads in local news- MG Midget. These people are part of beauties of spring. I hope to see you papers build awareness and are the OECC “target market.” on the road!

OECC Vancouver Coast Branch 2010 ABFM After Party

Where : The Elephant and Castle Restaurant at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel, 3500 Cessna Drive, Richmond, B.C. Phone 604 276-1962

When: Right after the show Cost: Order off regular menu

Directions: Take Oak or Granville street south from Van Dusen and get on Arthur Laing Bridge to- wards Richmond. Get in right lane once on the bridge and take first exit off bridge ( Russ Baker Way to Richmond). Get in left lane right away and turn left at first light which is Miller Road. Turn right almost immediately onto Cessna Drive, restaurant is on your left. Park out front of hotel and give front desk your plate no. to ensure free parking. If you miss the left at Miller you can turn left at the next light and come back on Cessna.

Please let Lorna know at 604-584-2564 or [email protected] if you plan on at- tending.

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 11 Welcome To OECC AUTOJUMBLE English Cars & Parts For Sale and Wanted See more ads at oecc.ca/vcb under the Autojumble menu

1949 MG TC . RHD. Good origi- nal (unrestored) condition. Run- ning. Tools to go with it. A pile of The Sacred Octagon MG magazines (1976-1994) and other MG magazines, all in boxes, go with it. $19,900.00 Contact John at 604 584 2564. More photos are on our website.

1968 Rover P6 2000: Collector- plated, 4 cyl. single carb engine, Devine, Edward & Anndee - Sechelt BC automatic transmission, de Dion-type rear suspension. 1959 Morris Convertible Servo assisted disc brakes all round, independent suspension. 1971 MG Convertible No rust, rear passenger side panel repaired in 2008, trans- mission rebuilt in 2008. Colour, Arden Green. This car is an award- winning Rover which was also the first Collector Car across the Golden Ears Bridge. Downsizing necessitates this sale. Priced for a speedy sale at $3,600.00. More photos available. Contact Walter at 604-465- 6350 or [email protected].

1970 Triumph Stag Convertible, was show car, new chrome and inte- rior, great body, 5spd, O/D, RHD. Parting out, $1.00 and up. Jurgen: 604-737-8065 [email protected]

1978 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. New paint, brakes and tires. Some interior work done. 108,528 miles. Runs well. $25,000 OBO. Contact Ken at 250 549 1524 or k- [email protected] to view.

Robertson, Brent & Andrea - West Vancouver, BC 1964 Austin Healey 3000 Mk.II BJ7, new paint (Healey Blue and white), stainless exhaust, 72 spoke chrome wheels, $36,000.00 1974 Triumph TR6 Contact Barry at 604-943-5399 or [email protected]

AT THE WHEEL Immediate Past Chairperson : Ken Miles Chairperson : Steve Hutchens [email protected] - 604-576-8036 Roundabout Distribution : Richard Taylor [email protected] - 360-733-3568 Event and Meeting Coordinator : [email protected] - 604-298-9346 Vice-Chairperson : Steve Diggins Lorna Hoare ICBC/AirCare Liaison : Fred Bennett 604-294-6031 [email protected] - 604-584-2564 604-939-1773 / Fax 604-939-1753 Treasurer : Colin Crabbe Communications Coordinator : Good & Welfare : David Ballantine [email protected] - 604-590-621 Steve Morris 604-574-9833 [email protected] - 604-980-4120 Membership renewals: 864 83 Ave., Delta, [email protected] BC V4C 2H5 Roundabout Editor : Alan Miles Secretary : Bill Aaroe 604-942-7746 [email protected] - 604-272-2145 [email protected]

VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 12