VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 Mar-Apr 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS EDITOR’S BIT Member’s Cars 1 Saturday, May 16, 2015 - Vancou- Just starting my 6th year as editor John Clarke Visit 6 ver ABFM at Van Dusen Gardens. with one of our longest editions to Hearts and Tarts 8 See Western Driver online for more date. Thanks to all of our contribu- Mount Baker Run History 10 details or call Joan Stewart at tors for making it such a great issue. New Member Profile 12 604.736.6754 May 5, 2015 - Shop There was just too much good stuff Rear View Mirror 13 Tour at Rovalution Automotive (Land to leave out or postpone to a future Fort Langley Run 14 Rover Specialists), 867 3rd St.W, issue. Welcome to the OECC / North Vancouver, B.C. 7:00pm. Go Also, don’t forget to “like” our Face- The Boot / At the Wheel 15 for coffee and dessert afterwards. book page and join our new Face- (see website for more events ) book Group. Thanks!

Cars of Branch Members and Their jobs was to remove the exhaust from a Rover P4 Cyclops, I must have been bitten by the Rover bug at that point. Stories The first car I owned was a “Ford Special” built on a Brit- ish Ford Prefect chassis and made to look a bit like a By Walter Reynolds Morgan. An accident involving a snow bank in the severe winter of 1963 resulted in a total strip-down and rebuild - another great learning experience. The Cars of Malcolm Tait Soon after arriving in Vancouver in 1966 we bought a Rambler “American” for very little money just to have something to get around in. It had problems so the next This month we hear about the cars of Malcolm and Bar- purchase was a 5 year old white 1962 Austin A60 Cam- bara Tait. Here is their story as told by Malcolm. bridge, a car I knew something about. When we pur- chased the Austin it had done about 50,000 miles and over the next 13 years we put more than 100,000 addi- Why British cars and why a Rover? tional miles on it. In 1971 Barbara got her Canadian drivers license and we needed a second car. I was looking From a young age I had an interest in mechanical things. at the Volvo 142 which had just come on the market; I The father of a school friend owned a small garage, just liked the mechanical aspects but was not keen on the himself and one mechanic. In the summer of 1958 I was body style. We lived close to Gordon Bros. Motors at 10 th asked if I would like to work there while the owner was and Alma in Vancouver. When I came home from work on holiday. It was the Castle Garage in Newcastle-on- one evening Barbara said she had seen something inter- Tyne right next to the 12 th century castle and the work- esting at Gordon's so she took me to have a look. It was a shops were two arches of the railway bridge. red Rover 2000 TC that had caught Barbara's eye. We were both impressed by the Rover 2000's we had seen in the UK before we left but thought something like that was out of our league. The Rover bug bit again and I did- n't need much persuading. Barbara had selected the Rov- er and it became primarily her car.

The two arches where Castle Garage used to be located. (Google photo)

My main job was to take care of the petrol pumps so that The happy couple with their new P6. the mechanic could work with minimum interruption. I (Malcolm photo) got on really well with the mechanic and he soon gave me jobs to do when I wasn't busy with pumps. He was a great teacher and I quickly learned a lot. One of the first

Continued next page... Purchased: Next problem was me questioning my ability to tackle the job. I considered it to be much more sophisticated than July 1971, Gordon Bros. Vancouver – used as a demon- any other car I had worked on, the workshop manual is strator by Mr. Gordon, 4000 miles on the clock. excellent but it was a bit intimidating and led me to be- Problems: lieve that a large selection of specialized tools would be required.

There was a slight steering shimmy when braking and this was annoying but not serious. Several attempts were made to cure the problem under warranty: Brake pads replaced, discs machined, wheel bearings replaced, wheels aligned and balanced – no improvement.

We put up with this annoyance until someone recom- mended Jay's British and European Motors saying “Jay is expensive but he does the job right”. I removed the front calipers and took them to Jay. As I suspected, the calipers were partly seized. Jay overhauled them – problem solved.

1980: At about 75,000 miles the Rover began to run a bit rough. The problem was a burned exhaust valve on cylin- der #4. Non-leaded gas had recently been introduced and this was considered a possible cause. Malcolm in “uniform” dismantling a P6 at ABC 1993: The B.C. Air Care exhaust emissions testing was Parts. (Ruth Burgess photo) introduced. Jay tuned the car as best he could but it failed Taking the approach there was nothing to be lost I bit the and it was in need of other mechanical work. I was ex- bullet and got started and quickly gained confidence. At tremely busy at my work with no time to spend on the car least taking it apart was not as difficult as I imagined! so I took it off the road and it sat in the garage. I hated The car was now nearly 20 years old so the next question opening the garage door to see it gradually looking in an was “are parts available?” ever increasingly sadder state and hated contemplating that I would have to scrap it. Several years prior to this I had a bad experience in the

UK. My father owned a 1967 Austin A60 so while I was there I offered to do a few minor jobs. At the parts depart- ment of the main British Leyland dealership in Newcastle I was told “We do not stock parts for old cars”. So with

this in mind, what were my chances with an even older car in Vancouver?

At Bradner Hall, November 2007. (Walter photo)

Retirement and Restoration.

1998: I retired and it was decision time: Do something Engine bay restoration. Steering box is at right with the Rover or get rid of it. Was there really a choice? rear with steering linkage in front of firewall; a Theoretically I now had time to work on it. I say safety feature – no steering wheel into the chest in “theoretically” because the biggest myth about retirement event of a frontal crash. (Malcolm photo) is “that one has all the time to do whatever one wants”.

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 2 A friend had recently had a TR6 restored and when I told Stories: him what I was attempting he suggested that I contact Ken Bailey at Lancaster Restorations who had done the Trips to the Rockies: work for him. I phoned Ken and as soon as I mentioned Will we get back to Vancouver? “Rover” he said the person I needed to talk to was Ruth Burgess at All British Cars. On December 3 rd 1999, I met When we purchased the Rover we kept the Austin A60 Ruth for the first time. I gave Ruth a list of engine and which was the daily driver and the Rover was used main- brake parts that would be needed and after looking over ly for longer trips many of which were to the Rockies. The the list her response was a reassuring “no problem”. (As I first time we took the Rover to Banff we were parked at type this it is exactly 15 years to the day since that first the view point at Mount Norquay, a gentleman from Cal- meeting). gary came running over and said “I had one of those cars”

and regaled me with a tale of woe about how it spent more time being fixed than on the road. It made Barbara and I really worried that we might not make it back to Vancouver. Thirty years later at the Van Dusen Car show

a gentleman from Calgary came up to me and told me a similar story, I am sure it was the same person.

Problem Bear and Problem Parent:

Another incident on a trip to the Rockies with the Rover involved my father. At a roadside picnic site there was a black bear with two cubs – very photogenic - so I pulled in. Despite having given my parents lectures about bears Dad was out of the car like a shot determined to get the perfect picture. Mother bear left the cubs and came round Diff and in-board rear calipers ready to be re- the car and placed one paw on the trunk and the other on installed. The assembly is designed to operate with the back window right behind my mother who became the De Dion rear suspension. (Malcolm photo) hysterical. We got Dad back into the car and fortunately Ruth overhauled the cylinder head and the brake calipers. the bear returned to her cubs. Dad had reamed me out on For the overhead cam and tricky tappet adjustment I was several occasions in my youth for doing stupid things but not confident enough at that point to tackle that job. Also this time it was my turn. There is still a slight depression the rear calipers are a bit of a nightmare. The inner sills on the trunk lid from the bear's paw as a reminder of that had rusted out (a common problem with P6 Rovers), so it incident. was back to Ken Bailey to have those replaced. All other work I did myself which occupied over 600 hours in 1999.

Collector plates were obtained in January 2000, very fit- ting to have a Rover 2000 back on the road at the begin- ning of the year 2000. I had not driven the car for 7 years and my reaction on that first test drive was “Wow! Now I remember why I liked this car”.

Bear family in the Rockies. (Barbara photo)

Barbara and the RCMP

We live on the University Endowment Lands and about 35 years ago Barbara became curious as to why the local RCMP officers would salute or wave when they saw her driving the Rover in the area. It later came to light that a person of interest to the police who was indirectly associ- ated with a high a profile case drove a red Rover. There The restored Rover outside our home. were very few Rovers in the area and even fewer red ones. (Malcolm photo) Both Barbara and the other person were blonde and both

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 3

Continued next page… drove red Rovers, a case of mistaken identity! several boxes of apples and enormous “Oh Henry” peach- es. Again the Rover was called into service until the loot Ends of the Earth could be distributed. They knew they were safe giving us Since the restoration we have made several long trips the wine and fruit to transport knowing we could not most notably with the Washington State MG Club. A bring any of it back across the border. member of that group in Yakima who was also a member of the Rover Club liked to organize wine tours in Wash- ington and Oregon and other mystery trips to the “Ends of the Earth”. We led two of the “Ends of the Earth” trips from central Washington into BC.

The large P6 boot, spare tire included. (Malcolm photo)

Tait’s P6 in the lead at Grand Forks. (Malcolm photo) Forty Years On: On one of these we were in the lead heading south from Lytton, the Rover was running well but suddenly lost In 2010 the car had it's 40 th birthday so Barbara came up power. I pulled over followed by a string of MGs. I quick- with an idea of a poster for the Van Dusen show: A photo ly identified a fuel pump problem and by a stroke of luck I of the two us beside the car when it was new and another had a spare. By the time I got the spare pump out of the one taken just before the show. The caption was “Same trunk two of the MG guys had their tool kits out and had Car - Same Owners – 40 Years On”. That year the Rover already removed the problem pump. They were enjoying Club had a parts stall at the show which occupied much of themselves and would not let me work on my own car! my time so Barbara was “on duty” beside the car. Later Half an hour later we were mobile again. This is the only Barbara told me that more than one gentleman admired time the car has “failed to proceed” on the road. The only the car and the poster. One came up to her and said tool worth carrying with a modern car is cell phone – call “there are several men here today who have owned their a tow truck. car for 40 years but very few still have the same wife”. Later we added a note that I was wearing the same suit

in both the 1970 and 2010 photos.

At Gerhinger Winery near Oliver. (Malcolm photo)

On another wine tour in Washington with the MG group the Rover became the transport vehicle. The MG owners were buying significant quantities of wine but the MGs have limited trunk space. We were asked if we could transport their “excess” back to the motel where they would have time to cram bottles into every conceivable space. One winery had a fruit stand and because the Same car, same owners, same suit! (Malcolm photo) group had been such good customers the owner gave us

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 4 This year (2015) will be “45 years on” but will I be able to 1950 P4 Cyclops and if I help him with that project it will get into that suit again? be full circle from the Cyclops I worked on in 1958 which started all this. Rovers took over my life.

If I had any concerns about how I was going to occupy my time in retirement I need not have worried. The initial void was filled with the restoration during which I met new friends and acquired a whole set of new skills. The next “consumer of time” was becoming heavily involved as a member of the executive of the Rover Car Club of Cana- da (RCCC). In addition, the Rover Club has a healthy stock of Rover parts and it wasn't long before I got in- volved dismantling several cars for this purpose. This was another way to make new friends and increasing my knowledge by learning from others. I remember a school teacher saying “it is a dull day when you don't learn something new”. First example of the “Auntie” Rovers, the P4 75. 2004 was the hundredth anniversary of the Rover Car This 1951 example shown in Cardiff on the 1952 Company which led to Barbara and I and another couple Welsh Rally is a late example of the “Cyclops” front. (Peter and Marie Heaster) from the Rover Club attending (Photo from George Mowat-Brown’s book, “The the Celebration Rally in New Zealand. We met the owner Rover”) of a rare 1905 Rover in which we had the privilege of rid- In conclusion, it has been an added pleasure to have been ing and since then I have even assisted doing a bit of work able to participate in several OECC events over the years. on it. We have made a lot of friends in the NZ Rover fra- ternity and have been back several times attending their rallies.

Malcolm, Walter and Bill pose with their Rovers after the 2014 London Brighton Commemorative Run (Barbara photo)

A big “Thank You” to Malcolm for taking the time to tell us about his Rover lifestyle. Malcolm (R), Barbara steering with the Heasters and the 1905 Rover 8hp in New Zealand. Photo And there we have this month’s story. The “Cars of Branch from the Apr – June 2004 RCCC Roverview, courte- Members and Their Stories” continues in future issues of sy of Gary Bayne, ORCC, Dunedin, New Zealand. the Roundabout. As of this writing, volunteers include Les Foster and Doug Courtemanche. I have contacted three I have almost completed the restoration of a second Rover other members (to complete the 2015 roster) but am await- 2000 TC. The only reason I can think of for doing this is ing their reply. In the meantime, if you would like to tell that I was bitten by the Rover bug again and my fingers Branch members about your British car, cars or motor- were itchy because I hadn't had a wrench in my hand for bike/s, contact me at [email protected]. some time. In addition, very recently I have become heavi- ly involved in the restoration of another TC with a friend who only has a limited amount of time to spend on the project because of his work. That car has been in storage for 40 years but we hope to have it at Van Dusen in May this year. A new member of the Rover Club is restoring a

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 5 Sports Cars & Sunglasses- The John Clarke Tour

Text by Les Foster Photos by John Clarke

Sports cars and sunglasses, they just go together and John Clarke gave us a new twist on that theme when he once again hosted the Vancouver Coast Branch- this time for our February 2015 meeting. As always, our time spent with John was both educational and Previous picture: MGA body and frame part ways. very entertaining. Above picture: MGA body sits on its special rack First, sports cars. Focus of this evening was John’s in the garage beautiful restoration of his 1962 MGA, a car that he has owned for some 37 years. John recounted the saga in his inimitable style with the help of a PowerPoint Another 10 years slipped by until, around 1998, John presentation. succumbed to the charms of an E-Type Jag, albeit in It seems that a neighbour of John’s in Burnaby, who boxes. was an engineer for Lockheed, was tired of driving his By 2002, John was ready to spend serious money on wife’s aging and slightly-less-than-watertight MGA to the Jaguar but it was strongly suggested by his much work and arriving with wet pant legs. When John smarter wife, Carol, that he finish the MGA first- after learned that he was about to trade it in for $200 on a all he’d had more than 20 years to get it done already! nice, dry, domestic car he rashly offered the owner Spurred on by the twin dreams of Jaguar ownership $400 (about twice as much money as he actually had). and the desire to fulfill his promise to take his father John’s Dad became half owner and eventually John for that drive, the MGA restoration was on. It was bought out his interest to become the sole proprietor. finished in a year. His father had cleaned and blasted He always dreamed of the two of them restoring the many of the parts over the years and this speeded the car together and enjoying joyous drives. effort so, with his father’s health failing, John had the After sitting for 10 years, pushed to the back burner car done to perfection in time for that very memorable by the demands of job, family, and life in general, John ride with his Dad. removed the MGA’s body and blasted and painted the John confided that he had sneaked some work in on chassis. Much to the amusement of his neighbours, the E-Type as he went along- rebuilding its engine in John cut the body into two halves to facilitate moving parallel with the MGA. Carol apparently did not no- it around on his own! The body and frame then were tice that on some days it was a four and on others, a filed away on a special rack in the garage. six. Somehow it seemed to be the most expensive MGA engine ever, what with ten pistons and all! The MGA was about 18 years old when John first got it and some rust had already set in but, thankfully, it was limited. John made most of the patch panels him- self except a few with compound curves that were just more sensible to buy. The patching was done with the body bolted to the frame for alignment, in 18 gauge steel rather than the original 20 gauge material as this is easier to weld and stronger and more rust re- sistant. Corroded areas were carefully removed by drilling out the spot welds and new material was plug- welded in giving the same visual look as spot welds but greater strength. After all the rust repairs were complete, the body went off to Redi-Strip Metal Cleaning Canada Ltd. in Rich- mond (http://www.redi-strip.com/) for chemical strip- ping followed by a phosphate rust preventative treat- ment. Primer was next- the body was on and off the

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 6 frame several times. The chassis and all its parts were Although the restoration is now more than a dozen painted in black Endura (http://www.endura.ca/). This years old, the car still has it. The MGA is featured in paint is excellent for a durable and pleasing finish. the March 2015 issue of MG Enthusiast Magazine, who The body interior was then sprayed, paving the way for were in town last year and seemed intrigued by John’s the engine to be installed. After nearly 25 years, it mantra of “making honey out of bear….! Classic Car sprang to life and was run-in for about 25 minutes! Magazine is also planning a story on this car. Pretty Final exterior paint came next. good for a home restoration done 13 years ago and reg- John did all the prep work on the body himself. That ularly driven not trailered! The bottom line is that is, he stressed, where the real work is done. Painting, John keeps the cars he loves and loves the cars he while it is the crowning touch, can only be as good as keeps. Amen! the preparation but the latter rarely garners any glory. The second and surprise half of our meeting at the John has painted cars very successfully himself but Clarke house pertained to sunglasses (and sports cars). this time he left the actual spraying to a talented Remember that Jaguar engine that John was surrepti- friend who rendered it in a lovely Woodland Green. tiously rebuilding alongside his MGA? Well that red This colour was available on special order from the fac- 1969 E-Type was also a concours car and of such volup- tory. tuous beauty that it attracted the attention of the The fun part of any restoration followed- the final re- Serengeti Sunglass people. They sponsored John on a assembly where all that effort, a year almost full-time, week long junket to Vancouver Island and Whistler for came together in a beautiful, like-new classic. shots of two beautiful people (boy and girl, of course) John’s tenacity and skill has been rewarded with wearing their new prototypes (about $30,000 a pair) recognition. His MGA has been awarded top MGA in while exploring the gorgeous scenery of B.C. North America by the North American MGA Register The budget was huge and John and the crew stayed at (http://www.namgar.com/). This award in Oregon the Empress Hotel in Victoria on the ‘secret’, un- caused some grumbling amongst American enthusiasts marked, VIP floor, and shot the models with the E- who were inclined to tag it as a “cheque book restora- Type on the closed front lawn of the grand hotel. Much tion”, and such, but Carol soon set them straight by partying was done (helps the creative juices to flow, no telling them that John had done it all himself- in the doubt) and they even rented the Maple Bay Ferry for a basement garage! That, by the way, is John’s message: private sailing, much to the chagrin of delayed locals! The Sea to Sky Highway was the backdrop for more glorious publicity shots. It was an epic adventure and one deserving of another of John’s beautiful and beloved restorations. No, John did not get free sunglasses!

What it looks like from John’s perspective. The gang sits in John’s workshop listening to his presentation.

You can do this! Sure, John is exceptionally talented but he’d be the first to say that it is 90% perspiration and help can always be found from fellow enthusiasts or professionals for the scary parts. Following this, he was invited to enter his car in the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours although he re- spectfully declined owing to the very high costs in- volved. The car continues to attract attention and awards everywhere it goes. The E-Type in front of the Empress Hotel

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 7 Hearts and Tarts 2015 Text and photos by Steve Blake

The Hearts and Tarts drive is one that Steve and Susan Blake organize to fall on the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day. This year we were able to schedule the drive for Saturday, February 14 th and thus be true to the Hearts and Tarts Valentine’s theme. Our event originated as a Morgan Owners’ Group Northwest drive in 1999 but in 2010 the Old English Car Club participated and it has been a joint drive ever since.

While watching the news last night, I saw a report from Boston showing them shoveling three feet of snow to try to get it out of the way in anticipation for the foot and a half of snow they were forecasted for later in the evening. We are pleased to say we had a balmy winter day for our drive, starting cloudy at 8 degrees Celsius and rising to 12 degrees by the time we finished lunch. It was definitely blue sky and sunglasses to get us home! Why do we live on the west coast?!!

The group met at McDonald’s in Tsawwassen at 10:30 for a brew before the 11:00 drivers’ meeting and engine start-up. (Trivia – Tsawwassen is pronounced “Ta-wos- sen” not “Sa-wos-sen” as sometimes pronounced by non- residents. Tsawwassen is derived from a Stolo Indian dialect meaning “looking toward the sea.” The original pronunciation was actually close to “Cha-wos-sen”.) We had 19 people in attendance driving a 1962 Morgan +4, 4-seater (Steve and Susan Blake), a 1964 Morgan +4 drophead coupe (Les and June Burkholder), a 1969 Mor- gan +8 (Ken and Pat Miles), a 2003 Jaguar XJ8 (Bart and Audrey Shaw, Bernie and Pat Miles), a 2001 Jaguar XJ8 Van Den Plas (John and Lorna Hoare), a 1960 MGA (Steve and Sheila Kauffman), a 1960 Morris Minor (Suzanne and Bill Grant) a 1976 Triumph Spitfire (Christine and Kendall Green) and a 1966 MGB (Neil Bill Grant parks up next to the Shaw’s Jag at the Simpson.) The OECC beat the MOGNW 11-6 for attend- McDonalds in Tsawwassen (above) and the ance and all 6 MOGNWers are also OECC members. Blake’s and Miles’ plus Bill stop for a photo op Where were all the Morgan people today? We also had (below) two guests in attendance. The drive started with a dash through Tsawwassen. We drove past the shopping centres and Winskill Park (named after the farmer who donated the land to Delta years ago), along 56 th Street and continued to 1 Avenue. Turning right, we passed Diefenbaker Park, which is a converted gravel quarry converted to a park named for our former Prime Minister. Next we turned right onto English Bluff passing Fred Gingell Park (gives upper Tsawwassenites access to the beach via a wicked trail used daily by exercise enthusiasts – 160 feet elevation from the beach to the top.)

Parts of English Bluff were a bit bumpy due to new wa- ter mains being laid and temporary blacktop surfacing.

Our route continued along 12 Avenue, going left on 52 Street. We passed the new Tsawwassen golf course and could see the construction taking shape for the Tsawwassen Springs Clubhouse. Once completed, a future drive will end at this venue. Crossing Highway 17, we could see on the left the two new shopping centres under con-

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 8 struction. When completed in 2016 Tsawwassen Mills and Tsawwassen Common will be the third largest shopping centre in Canada with over 1.75 million square feet of retail space and parking for over 6000 cars.

The drive continued to Arthur Drive where we passed former Premier Bill Vander Zalm’s house. We turned right on 44A Avenue, drove past the Delta Hospital and City Hall and took Highway 17A north to join Highway 99 to go through the Deas Tunnel under the South Arm of the Fraser River. Now in Rich- mond, we left the freeway and turned down Sidaway Road. We passed Mitchell’s car collection, Mylora Golf Course and the Go Karting Track. All the Morgans sig- naled left to go into this facility to do a couple fast laps, Christine and Kendall Green secure the tonneau but it was not to be! We crossed Westminster Highway prior to lunch at the Big River Brew Pub and did a loop through the Richmond Auto Mall. While some of us glanced at the new cars for sale, others were checking out the bunnies on the lawns. After people are tired of their live Easter bunnies, they let them out at night in the auto mall. With few coyotes around, the bun- nies breed and make a nuisance of themselves by digging up the gardens.

The drive continued North on Jacombs to Cambie and then north again on Viking. At the end we passed the Richmond Plywood mill and could take in the aroma of the fresh-cut sawdust. Rounding the corner at the Albion fisheries building, we continued for one mile along River Road passing log booms and some light industrial areas. At No. 7 Road we turned south through cranberry bogs and farmland. (Trivia – BC is the third largest cranberry producing province/state in North America, behind Wisconsin and Massachusetts. We produce 12% of the overall crop at 750,000 barrels per year. One barrel is 100 pounds or 45.5 kilograms.) Points for those who spotted the Holstein cow entering the wall at Savage’s farm.

We turned right onto Westminster Highway and turned south down No. 6 Road. Another bonus point for those who recognized the building housing the Studebaker collection at this intersection! We could hear the popping of the guns from the Vancouver Gun Club to our west as we drove past more golf courses and large mansions but wondered what the turkeys at Edward’s Turkey farm were thinking. The drive ended as we navigated through the parking lots of the ice rink and Silver City theatres and parked next to our lunch stop at the Big River Brew Pub.

The pub was a hit with good food and good beer from its on-site brewery. On behalf of us Hearts, Ken Miles made a Valentine’s toast to our Tarts! There were no mishaps, nobody got lost, it didn’t rain, the sun came out, there were few cars on the road, so all-in-all it was a good day’s outing.

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 9 A Short History of the Mt. Baker - “Drive at Speed” Text and photos by Dennis Nelson

2006 - After a few trips up the mountain, the “License to Drive” article was written for the OECC and BCTR newsletters, explaining how to enjoy a drive to Mt. Baker. The article was based somewhat on Destination Highways, Wash- ington.

In the early fall of 2006 I made the decision to do the drive each year, and to informally invite anyone who want- ed to come, to just show up. Participation has ranged from two cars in 2006, to nine cars in 2012. To minimize border pain, the drive occurs on the first Friday after Labour Day, and we cross at Sumas between 9:30 and 10:00. In reality, the less cars involved, the more fun the drive is.

From License to Drive, “This drive combines canopied mountain roads, lots of fast corners, snow-capped peaks, and quiet farming roads with no stop signs. If you begin around 9:00 am you will beat most of the traffic up Mount Baker, and then have the opportunity to drive down with almost no one on your side of the road. Count- ing the 12 minutes [now 20 minutes] at the border, my last time to the top was just under 2 ½ hours, for about 100 km fun miles [from the Campbell River Store]. Your engine will heat up a little due to the altitude and the hills, but nothing is too steep. There is one challenge with this Destination Highway (ranked #8 in WA) however, for much of the route there is nowhere to pull over if you had a flat, and there is essentially no bike lane.” Hence we travel in packs.

2006 ( 2 ) Adrian Mooe, Dennis Nelson 2009 ( 3 ) Bence McIntyre, Jerry Goulet,

2007 - no records found. Dennis Nelson

2010 ( 3 ) Denis Thompson, Bill Grace, Dennis Nelson 2008 ( 6 ) Jerry Goulet, David Ballantine, Red Rover, Harry Sharp, John Clarke,

Dennis Nelson

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 10 2011 ( 7 ) Adrian and Trish Moore, Dennis Nelson, ? 2012 ( 9 ) Mike Holliday, Vito Donatielo, Dennis Red MGA, Barry and Jeanette Puffer, ? Nelson, John Hunt, Frank O’Grady, Barry & Green Jaguar, Larry & Linda Spouler, Jeannette Puffer, Ken and Joanne Nicoll, Denis Thompson Dan Brian, Denis Thompson

2013 - Rainout

2014 ( 7 ) Bence McIntyre, Ted Laturnus, Barry & Jeanette Puffer, Richard Walker, Dennis Nelson, Vito Donatielo, Ken & Joanne Nicoll

On the 8th annual drive, Sept 5 th , 2014, we had perfect weather, and a great driving team of seven sports cars. More pictures are on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennis_j_nelson/sets/72157647156578627/

See you next year.

Dennis Nelson

60 TR3

( Mt. Baker photo credit: Gord McKenna on Flickr )

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 11 New Member Profile: Michael and Nicole De Wilde

I have an Austin Healey 3000 Mklll Phase 2. It was built on Tuesday, May 19 th 1964 and then shipped to Philadelphia, USA. Its first owner was a US Marine pilot who was sta- tioned at Pensacola, Florida. When he finished breaking the sound bar- rier with it he sold it to a guy in the Northeast who kept it for 35 years. He was going to leave it to one of his three sons, but none of them wanted it. So in 2006 I bought it.

I bought it sight unseen on the in- ternet from Harwood Restorations of Victor, New York. I did know the company from my days of living and working in New York so it wasn’t a completely stupid move. I bought the car as a simple driver. Nothing fancy, just a good solid rust free, slightly tired driver. It was red on red and had 68,000 miles on the clock. Mine is not a unique story, in fact I have heard it many times at car shows up and down the Pacific coast from BC to California.

It started with the phone call just after I agreed to buy the car. The owner of Harwood said,

” Michael we are going to install some new floor panels and a new wiring harness before we ship the car to you.”

“That’s great”, I said.

Two days later he said, ”We are going to pull the engine and the transmission to make sure that everything is done properly. This is at our ex- pense.”

“Great”, I said, “If you’re going to do that at your expense maybe I should think about a new interi- or.”

Well, you know were this conversation was head- ing.

After the interior they wanted to know if I wanted to change the exterior colour?

Fast forward fifteen months and my “new” completely restored Austin Healey arrives in West Van- couver in January 2008 in a snow storm on an open sided car truck. Would it start? No of course not. Minus 40 degree weather across the Prairies had frozen everything solid.

Since then I have loved driving it every chance I get. I have played with it a little. Put disc brakes all round. Improved the shocks. Changed the fuel pump, installed an alternator, modified the ex- haust system and balanced the drive shaft. It has had triple Webers but is now back to twin SU’s.

When the Healey is unavailable, due to weather, I cruise around in my 2005 Jaguar X wagon dog mobile.

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 12 REAR VIEW MIRROR

Here’s another picture of Walmsley Motors at 1233 W. Georgia Street (see Nov.-Dec 2014 issue for more pictures and info). Judging by the Hillman Minx in the showroom window I’m assuming it is taken at or around the same time as the previously men- tioned shots, probably late 1930’s or early 1940’s. The second photo shows what I believe to be a 1939 Morris 10 in front of the Seaforth Armories on Burrard St. in Vancouver. Again, there was no date on the photo but if it was a publicity shot (which it looks like to me) then it probably is 1939 or 1940. Photos are from the Vancouver Public Library .

Thanks to Steve Diggins for sending them in.

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 13 Fort Langley Run 2015 Text and photos by Alan Miles

At last November’s London to Brighton Commemora- tive Run, Walter and his committee had us all taking a pit stop at the Fort Langley Historic Site parking lot (there are washrooms there!). While we were all gath- ered there socializing and making use of the aforemen- tioned facilities it was suggested that perhaps it was time to resurrect the old Fort Langley Run.

Now for those newer members who might not know, the Fort Langley Run was a regular run on the VCB schedule until a few years ago when it was stopped Walter rallies the troops at the 10:00am due to lack of participation. The run was always held driver’s meeting in April and organizing duties were usually split be- tween Walter Reynolds and Steve Diggins with each The run itself lasted just over an hour and amazingly, taking the helm on alternating years. covered some roads we had not previously driven on (not an easy feat considering how many years this run has been going). The route wound its way through Fort Langley (twice) and Langley itself ending up for lunch at the Fox and Fiddle Pub on the Langley By Pass. The original lunch destination was set for Adrian’s at the Langley Airport but had to be changed as they couldn’t accommodate our burgeoning numbers.

All in all we could not have asked for a better run. The weather co-operated (not always a given in April) and we had a lovely drive and a great lunch afterwards. As is tradition the Old Sparks Award was given out to the oldest car in attendance. This year’s recipients were John and Lorna Hoare with their 1953 MGTD “Poppy”. Special thanks to Walter for organizing a fab- ulous event. Hopefully the Fort Langley Run will once John Brettoner checks out some of the again become a regular addition to our yearly calendar participating cars of events.

Apparently Walter must have gone home after the LB Run in November and started ruminating on whether or not he should resurrect said Ft. Langley Run. Luck- ily for us he decided that he would indeed resurrect it and I must say, from my perspective, it was one of the best, if not the best, versions of the event we have ever had. We had 23 people attending bringing with them 14 cars. I do not have access to past attendance rec- ords but I would bet that if we did not set a record re: attendance we came very close.

As per tradition we all met in the Fort Langley park- ing lot and at around 10:00am Walter held a driver’s meeting. He was keen to point out that he had man- aged to keep the driving instructions to one page and that there were no questions to answer along the way. In other words, or in Walter’s words in fact, this was Participants gather at the Fox and Fiddle not to be a “divorce rally”. for lunch

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 14

Two pictures from our March

3rd visit to Pacific Auto Trim on W. 5th Ave. in Vancouver. 33 members attended

Top: Sarah Wilson’s beautiful Austin Healey 3000 draws some admirers. Bottom: The three amigos, Larry, Steve and David.

AT THE WHEEL Membership Secretary: John Chapman Communications Coordinator: Alan Miles [email protected] 604-590-3749 [email protected]—604-272-2145 New memberships and correspondence: Roundabout Editor : Alan Miles Chairperson: John McDonald 7923 144A St., Surrey, B.C. V3S 8C1 [email protected] - 604-272 -2145 [email protected] 604-942-8223 Immediate Past Chairperson: Good & Welfare: David Ballantine Vice-Chairperson: Walter Reynolds Gerry Parkinson [email protected] [email protected] 604-463-6305 [email protected] - 604-980-4120 604-943-3824 Treasurer: Bernie Miles Website Editor: Alan Miles Event and Meeting Coordinator: Lor- [email protected] 604-943-0535 [email protected] 604-272-2145 na Hoare Lor- Membership renewals: mail to 207-4753 [email protected] - 604-584-2564 River Road West, Delta, B.C. V4K 1 R9

VOLUME 20,NUMBER 2 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 15