SPRITESPRITE TT O O R R Q Q U U E E www.spriteclub.com October 2009 Catering for AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE and MG MIDGET enthusiasts Taken at the pond at Jen’s Café at Mittagong on the Club Run on Sunday 13th September Photo: Ric Forster SPRITE TORQUE President’s Message Editorial Feature Articles Social Report Events Calendar Competition Rpt Meeting Rpt Torque Trader Page 3 Page 5 Page 10 & 12 Page 13 Centre-Fold Page 16 Page 23 Page 26 CONTENTS Committee Members and Contacts 2 President’s Message 3 Editorial 4 Notices, Correspondence, New Members 5 AGM Notice 7 Why a Group S Sprite? Part 1 - Brian Weston 10 Wedding Bells — The Norris’s 12 Social Report 13 Social Events Calendar 14 Competition Calendar 15 Competition Report 16 2010 Challenge Programme and Entry Form 20 General Meeting Report — 8 September 2009 23 Photos of Club Run to Jen’s Café at Mittagong — 13 September 2009 26 Torque Trader — For Sale — Wanted 28 Front Cover: 2010 Challenge — Poster October 2009 Sprite Torque 1 THE SPRITE CAR CLUB OF AUSTRALIA INC. ABN: 62879038-526 Club Patron: John Sprinzel Committee 2009 President: Greg Holden 0418 286 831 [email protected] Vice President: Keven Sly (02) 9604 2010 [email protected] Treasurer: Les Payne 0416 020 466 [email protected] Secretary: Graham Wells (02) 9654 1344 [email protected] Membership Secretary: Annie Lawlor A beautiful nose in the sun at Jen’s Café on the September Sprite Run Photo: Ric Forster 0416 020 466 [email protected] Marque Mentors: Social Director: Mk1 Sprite Bert Langford (02) 9982 2293 Avis Fowler Colin Dodds 0414 789 263 02 47293726 Mk2 Sprite Neil Scott 0409 326 021 [email protected] Mk3 Sprite Greg Strange (02) 9909 8607 Magazine Editor: Keven Sly (02) 9604 2010 Ric Forster 0409 225 613 1500 Midget Greg Coonan (02) 4257 1307 [email protected] All correspondence (except magazine contributions) to: Competition Captain & CSCA Delegate: S.C.C.A. Paul Orton P.O. Box 696 0408 488 767 [email protected] Kingswood NSW 2747 Registrar & Club Plates: Magazine contributions to: [email protected] Colin Dodds 0414 789 263 (Magazine contributions close 20th of each month) [email protected] General meetings are held at: Parramatta RSL Regalia: Leah Holden Start time: 7.30pm - Bistro Area) 2 Macquarie Street 0418 286 831 [email protected] (2nd Tuesday of each month) Parramatta NSW 2150 Club Web Site: SCCA Web Site: www.spriteclub.com Warren & Annie Lawlor 0421 783 985 SCCA Email list: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/spridgets-aus/ [email protected] A Membership Application is available at: www.spriteclub.com/general.html Cams Delegate: Barry Cockayne Sprite Torque is available in full colour to all SCCA Members. Go to the SCCA Website, 0427 066 878 click on the Members Only link, enter your username and password. Librarian: PLEASE NOTE: These are all honorary positions undertaken by private individuals in their David Lawrence spare time. Please contact them at sensible times and accept that they may prefer to call you (02) 9810 8982 back at a time more convenient to themselves. Club Point Score: The Sprite Car Club of Australia Inc. accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of Greg Holden 0418 286 831 articles, correspondence, opinion or advertisements contained herein. General Committee: Greg Strange (02) 9909 8607 2 October 2009 Sprite Torque PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE As most would know, the last couple of months have been very busy in the Holden house, Kimberley and Brad’s wedding went very well, with fine weather gracing us all day. The party after was a cracker, and all had a good time, and it is nice to celebrate it with good friends and family. It capped off a month of parties which had started with a house warming for Mike and a mate who have flatted together followed by a 21st Birthday party for the boy, for which I was slightly inebriated at both. The next weekend saw us at the Lowenbrau in town for a bucks’ night, all of which was backed up with several footy games in the corporate box at the SFS. Indeed all good fun. While all of this was happening we have been working with the committee on many aspects of the SCCA. The magazine has changed and to date we have reduced our subscriptions for the printed mag consid- erably. Please let us know if you want to go to an electronic magazine and we can change it for you. Talking electronic, Warren has been doing a great job with the Web site and also the information being sent to members electronically. It is a better way to communicate and much faster if things change. I was talking to several sponsors over the last few weeks and I was pleased to hear their commitment to the Sprite Car Club of Australia and also their passion for our cars and the Marque. Sure, they’re in busi- ness to make money, but they are also in the business because they love it. So when you are next look- ing for that illusive part, give them a call and support our sponsors. Our lives would be harder without them on our side. You’ve all read and heard stories about me and my love with Fergie, well for the last couple of weeks I have had a Bobcat to play with and it has been scary fun. Firstly, I was told by Mike’s boss that you can not roll it, and then after a very frightening out-of-seat safety bar raised, head on windscreen two wheeled ride, I had developed a far greater respect for the thing. I can give you a tip, always check the diesel level and do not do things because you have a spare hour of so the night before the wedding. I had run out of diesel in the Bobcat and was home alone. Leah and Kimberley were running around doing wedding stuff. No big deal, go up the road and get some more… However, the toughest part was getting out of a secure cab with the hydraulics not moving. I will tell you all about it at a pub one day. What to remember — 2010 Challenge next Easter at Goulburn and Crookwell. Put it in your calendar. Greg Holden President October 2009 Sprite Torque 3 EDITORIAL There is not that much to report this month other than, apart from the regular departments including espe- cially the notices for coming major Club events, the noticeable paucity of articles being submitted for pub- lication by members; excepting of course in this instant, thankfully, Brian Weston, even though he alleges that I nailed him to the wall for his! I have put it to the Committee that perhaps we should instigate a rule, similar to other clubs that minimize or don’t have this problem, that the last person/vehicle to turn up at the meeting point for a Club Social run (or even a helper for a competition event!), is duty bound to write the report for that event. This not only encourages promptness, but they are usually the person who has the most adventure, or possibly suf- fered the greatest misadventure, getting there, and hence has the most to write about…At least they will have a greater incentive to be on time or earlier, the next time. Having mooted the idea when I came into this office that we should have an appropriately published con- voy procedure for Club runs, I’m glad to see progress with development of this, which when completed and approved by your Committee, will be published in the magazine, the web site, and presumably on the back of any trip notes and maps printed for the participants. This will also hopefully avoid some of the frustration, and misunderstandings, of what one should do to make life more pleasant for the `other’ par- ticipants and less stressful for the “Leader” and “Tail-end Charlie”, not to mention the “Organiser” who has gone to so much trouble to plan and execute the event. As we all know, incidents and breakdowns do occur, and some can’t resist halting for a photo opportunity, food, or an urgent comfort stop, which may not be convenient for, nor should inconvenience, the rest, out- side of the scheduled stops. Planning, Preparation, Principal (Leader, etc), Punctuality, Procedure, Posi- tion, Pressing-on, and Parlay (good communication; not prattle!) by all Participants should alleviate any frustration and make a well run and enjoyable day/event for everyone. I participated in HRSCA’s Winter Historic at Wakefield Park in September (see my Competition Report) and once again improved my previous best time there, so am happy with the result, despite being in the rear of the pack of mostly Group Sc cars. Other than one spin whilst trying too hard on very worn tyres, and a broken throttle cable which was quickly replaced after being towed in, I had a good and incident free weekend. The Group Sb/Sc/T category appeared to be the biggest of any of the noticeably smaller entries during the weekend, probably due to the plethora of meetings this year having stretched most pockets to the point of only entering one’s favoured meeting. I know that this poor old pensioner can’t afford all the events that he would like to enter. Hope you are enjoying the magazine, especially the full col- our version on the Club’s website, and anticipating seeing you all at the AGM and Christmas Party in December.