NOTE DATE CHANGE: OUR NEXT VCB EVENT IS JANUARY 8! Randy Schultz Workshop, 13076 Crescent Road, Surrey (Whiterock) - wood and metal restorations of cars and musical instruments A BIMONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE VANCOUVER COAST BRANCH OF THE OLD ENGLISH CAR CLUB OF BRITISH COLUMBIA NovemberNovember----DecemberDecember 2018 Volume 23, Number 6 oecc.ca/vcb Photo by Les Foster Chairman’s Welcome Walter Reynolds, VCB Chairman Hello Everyone, Well here it is, my final Chairman’s Welcome. My two years as your Chair is up. At times it’s taken a long time to get here, but somehow the two years seems to have flown by. Alan Inglis takes over as Chair on January 1, 2019, and I move into the Immediate Past-Chair position which will be vacated by John McDonald. So I will be following in the footsteps of past greats like the afore- mentioned John McDonald, and Gerry Parkinson, Fred Bennett, Bart Shaw and many others. My thanks to Bernie Miles for his work keeping track of our finances over the last 5 or so years. Also, my thanks for the help and support of the other members of our Executive Committee: Alan Inglis, Steve Hutchens, John Chap- man, Lorna Hoare, Alan Miles, Bart & Audrey Shaw and John McDonald. As mentioned above, Alan Inglis moves up to Chairman, Tom Popovich joins the Executive as Vice-Chair and Mal- colm Tait also joins the Executive as Treasurer. The balance of the Executive remains as this year. At the Branch Executive level, we have “tickled” the topic of how we can attract more members, especially younger people, keeping in mind that the average age of the current membership is, at a guess, around 60, so the term ‘younger’ doesn’t have to signify people in their 20s, but then it could! More work will be done in the future. AT THE WHEEL At our annual Christmas Dinner and Social last night we welcomed brand-new members Chris and Alayne Chairperson : Walter Reynolds [email protected] | 604-463-6305 Brutt-Tompsett, owners of the ex-Chapman Morgan Plus 4. They saw how the Branch operates at least at the Vice-Chairperson : Alan Inglis [email protected] | 604-737-0044 Christmas function and witnessed the ‘changing of the guard’ so to speak. Past-Chairperson : John McDonald [email protected] | 604-942-8223 Talking about the Dinner, Lorna once again demon- Treasurer : Bernie Miles (membership renewals) strated her skill at taking an instruction, “Organize us a [email protected] | 604-943-0535 Christmas Dinner & Social event” and turning it into 207-4753 River Road West, Delta, BC V4K 1R9 something glorious for us to enjoy and remember. Secretary : Steve Hutchens Since the last Roundabout, we’ve celebrated the 2018 [email protected] | 360-483-6873 “London to Brighton Commemorative Run” which was Event & Meeting Coordinator : Lorna Hoare the 23rd annual running of the event. You can read more [email protected] | 604-584-2564 about it later in the Roundabout. Robert Follows gra- Membership Coordinator : John Chapman ciously allowed us to use his 1933 Talbot as the centre- (new memberships and correspondence) [email protected] | 604-590-3749 piece for the group photo. 7923 144A St., Surrey, BC V3S 8C1 To get something on paper, here are three significant Communication Coordinator : Alan Miles future dates for us to be thinking about that require re- [email protected] | 604-272-2145 cording: Roundabout Editor : Steve Hutchens 1) 2020: Circa June-July: The OECC Annual General [email protected] | 360-483-6873 Meeting is scheduled to be hosted by our Branch; Webmaster : Alan Miles [email protected] | 604-272-2145 2) November 1, 2020 (the 1st Sunday in November): the Good & Welfare : Bart & Audrey Shaw 25th annual running of the London to Brighton Com- [email protected] | 604-946-4700 memorative Run (previously known as the Ladner to Bel- Regalia : Position Open lingham Run). NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 2 3) 2022: 30th Anniversary of the creation of the than may meet the eye. We need volunteers to look Vancouver Coast Branch of the OECC (as far as after the Branch records, do the finances, organize can be gleaned from OECC records). events, maintain membership records and keep the This year, 2018, has been a special year in some Branch on a level road with the Club H.O. regards. We held our 5th annual car show which was Our members have every right to be proud of the the first running of the “British Invasion Motor Show” volunteers who keep the Branch ‘ticking along’. Noth- that we’ve fully sponsored ourselves (previously co- ing would happen without the volunteers. The volun- sponsored with the Two Lions Pub in North Vancou- teer’s time is the lifeblood of our Branch and the over- ver). In addition our “London to Brighton Commemora- all operation of the OECC. The opportunity to volun- tive Run” was one of the best attended, especially in teer, and the opportunity to show your appreciation to recent years with 64 cars and 89 registered for lunch. the volunteers, occurs every day of the year. Don’t From these two events, we were able to donate $1,300 miss the opportunity. At a minimum, the more people to local charities – not too much in the big picture who volunteer take some of the load from those who sense, but a great step forward for our Branch. Well are already volunteering. done! And that’s it from me. Merry Christmas and Happy To the members who have never been involved as New Year from Linda and me. As usual, drive just fast a VCB volunteer, there is more to running our Branch enough to stay ahead of the rust. See you around! The Old Editor’s Rambles Steve Hutchens, Editor OUR B ACKGROUNDS AND I NTERESTS P ROVIDE F OCUS Each of us bring unique interests and backgrounds to our enthusiasm for old English cars. Perhaps because of my background in marketing and busi- ness and my interest in history, I seem to have a special interest in the busi- ness history side of the automotive world. In my files are over half a dozen articles about the history of the British auto industry. Few of these are written by car enthusiasts. Most are based on research by business academics and look in depth at the competitors in the industry dur- ing the demise of British-owned manufacturers. They focus on the managers and the decisions they made in light of the competitive environments they faced. It was unavoidable that international competition and world events impacted these decisions as they struggled to survive. Businesses were operating in an increasingly complex and competitive world which is a long way to say that it was all quite challenging. Which brings me to the central article of this issue, Walter Reynolds’ article “The Commercial Vehicles of Jen- sen Motors” (see pages 10-17). Walter’s background gives him an ideal base for writing articles like this and in this article he gives us a glimpse inside the commercial division of Jensen Motors, something I wasn’t even aware of. While little has been written about the commercial products side of the British auto industry, almost nothing has appeared in print about Jensen’s role. Historically, Jensen’s commercial side began just before World War II and Walter traces their product line as it evolved to meet the changing needs of post-war Britain. Ultimately, one by one offerings became obsolete in the changing business environment and they were no longer able to compete. DENNIS N ELSON R EMEMBERED In closing, I’ll reminisce a bit about the cover photo - Dennis Nelson’s 1960 Triumph TR3 parked in front of the East Delta Hall at the Celebration of Dennis’ Life on Nov. 3. Dennis was a class guy, a Triumph TR3 enthusi- ast first class, and a serious photographer. He enjoyed driving his TR3 on mountain roads and for many years organized a spirited run to Artist Point on Mount Baker. I was fortunate to be on his last run on Sept. 7 when Scott, his son, lovingly drove the TR3. Dennis’ smile and enthusiasm will be long remembered! NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 3 2019 Vancouver Coast Branch Calendar of Events OECC Regalia Walter Reynolds We have a limited quantity of screw-on OECC Grill Badges! We ordered 15 for VCB members and now have no more than 9 avail- able at $20 each. If you want to purchase a grill badge, you can pick it up at our January 8, 2018, event. To reserve a badge, please send me a cheque for $20 made payable to “OECC-Vancouver Coast Branch” (120 - 22514 116th Ave, Maple Ridge, B.C. V2X 0N8), call 604- 312-9015, or email ([email protected]). NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 THE ROUNDABOUT PAGE 4 Sunday, November 4, 2018 London - Brighton Commemorative Run - The 23rd! By Alan Inglis The sun rose on a beautiful day in Delta….. And a strong turnout of 64 British cars cele- brated the running of the London to Brighton run in England. The new gathering point at the Delta Heritage Air Park was a successful change following the closure of the Delta Town and Country Inn. Maureen and Alan Inglis staffed the registration desk, Pat and Bernie Miles staffed the member- ship renewals and regalia desk and, new for this year, Barbara and Malcolm Tait staffed a lunch pre-order desk .This innovation was introduced to speed-up delivery of meals later at the Fox and Fiddle in Langley.