The official magazine of the Classic & Historic Automobile Club of Australia May 2010 Volume 45Number 1 Channel Seven’s Rebecca Madden poses for the cameras in Barry Smith’s 1936 Packard at the Launch of “The Pa- cific”, a 10 part series to be shown on TV starting on April 14th. To bring together persons with a common interest, to encourage the use, maintenance and preservation of automobiles built from the 1st January, 1931 up to 25 years old, without prejudice to make, model, method of manufacture or country of origin. Committee Meetings Secretary 1st Friday of the month (except Good Friday & January) at Deep- Peter Galley & Janet Galley (O.A.M.) dene Park Hall, Whitehorse Road, Deepdene. Tea, coffee and snacks PO Box 193 Kerrimuir Vic 3129 are served at the conclusion of each meeting. Visitors and prospective new Members are welcomed. Ph 03 9890 8364 President Club Newsletter David & Margaret Landells The Journal is published monthly. Items for inclusion in the Journal 63 Billanook Way, Chirnside Park 3116 must be mailed, emailed or passed on to the Editor at Club Meetings. Ph: 03 9726 4884 The Committee reserves the right to edit or decline any article Vice President deemed unsuitable. Photographs submitted for possible publication should preferably be glossy 5”x 7” or 6” x 4” prints or high resolu- James & Colleen Allan tion jpg/bmp images to ensure best reproduction in the Journal. Opin- 48 Danielle Crescent, Heathmont 3135 ions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Ph: 03 9729 5097 Club. Treasurer Mick Whiting & Tina Brown Journal Closing Dates 170 Dendy Street, East Brighton 3187 Nominally 2nd. Wednesday each month. Contact the Editor if wor- Ph: 03 9592 8713 ried. Membership Secretary Journal Nights Max Austin Nominally Thursday before the last Friday of each month 82 Price Avenue, Mt. Waverley 3149 CHACA Life Members Ph/fax: 03 9802 6824 Max Austin, Ray Griffin, Margaret Griffin, Editor [email protected] Barry Smith, Jim Kerr, Dale Allen, Bill Kerr, John Hunt, Eddie Reynolds 03 9770 1231 Tom Lambert, Roy Pepprell, Eddie Reynolds, Bob Mantle, [email protected] Patricia Wightman, Peter Galley, John Schuurman. Publicity Officer Deceased: Fred McGeary, Norm Watt, Don Main, Ian Davey Eddy Dobbs Snr, Col Patience, Gordon Wightman. James & Colleen Allan 48 Danielle Crescent, Heathmont Vic. 3135 Website Ph: 9729 5097 The Club’s website www.chaca.com.au is updated regularly and fea- Technical Officer tures Club History, Club Promotions, an Events Calendar, a full Jour- nal for downloading and many photographs of Club Events. Neville Kunnel 1 Val Court, Dandenong Vic. 3175 Archivist and Historian - Ph. 03 8707 4101 Margaret Griffin - 5977 6649 Property Officer Eddie Reynolds Webmaster Mary Anne Irvine & Gordon Talbot 36 Culcairn Drive, Frankston 3199 Ph: 03 9770 1231 [email protected] Special Activities PO Box 2004 Bayswater 3153 PH: 9720 6239 Barry & Rosslyn Smith Journal Layout Editor 33 William Street, Mount Waverley 3149 Janelle Thomas Ph: 9807 6813 76 Monique Drive Langwarrin 3910 PH: 9776 5370 Activities Officer [email protected] Vacant All Makes Swap Meet Director Ian Hanks 4 Mussert Avenue Dingley Village 3172 PH:9551 3447 [email protected] Library Custodian Eric & Pam Chaplin 105 Manestar Road, Upper Beaconsfield 3808 Ph/fax: 03 5944 3312 CHACA Journal Page 2 Next Meeting Club Permit Scheme 8.00 pm-4th June 2010 FOR Special Use Vouchers: Neville Kunnel (03) 8707 4101; Max Austin 03 9802 6824; Deepdene Park Hall Vin Forbes 03 9363 5228 Whitehorse Road, Deepdene FOR RENEWAL of your Vic Roads Permit: Send to Neville Kunnel with a self-addressed stamped en- velope. Neville will return it to you for you to pay at your Next Months Entertainment nearest Vic Roads Office. You can also see Neville at meet- ings and on runs. "Tonight our entertainment FOR New Applications: Contact Neville Kunnel is a dvd story on the his- 1 Val Court, Dandenong, Vic, 3175 Ph: 03 8707-4101 tory of Jack Brabham and Please note that under the new system to be imposed by Vic his racing. As shown on the Roads Neville cannot sign your application for new regis- ABC "Australia Story" tration until he has sighted your current membership card. The DVD has been kindly lent by Albert Blashki. Neville Kunnell will be away from Easter to 30th. June. Please Contact Max or Vin for permits See page four and five for some Gentlemen please bring a plate of food of Jack’s history. for the general meetings. Upcoming Club Events 16th. May Sunday 44th. Birthday. Rhododendron Gardens Olinda* Events & Swap Meets of Interest to Club members, from the March meeting: May 8 Geelong Bay City Swap Meet. 7am start. Geelong Showgrounds. Melway ref 452 E10Tele- phone enquiries 0417 546 089 June 6th Mornington Peninsula Historical Vehicles Club Inc. Annual Winter Swap Meet at Centro Karin- gal Shopping Centre, Corner Cranbourne Rd and Karingal Dr, Frankston Contact Maurie Hay- don 9878 7662 October 1-4 CARnival, CAMS NATIONAL MOTORING FESTIVAL Echuca—Moama October 3rd Euroa Show and Shine, Phone: 03 5795 1347 VALE PETER CECIL 19/11/1946 – 5/4/2010. Peter passed away peacefully at the Valley Hospital after a “short and impossible battle”. Peter is survived by his wife Violet; was Dad and father-in-law to Mark and Heather, Chris and Raelene, Colleen and Jed, Angela and Shaun. Grandpa to Sam, Emma and Laura, Luke and Rebecca, Molly, Ben and Tom and the Healy grandie (on the way). Peter has been a long standing member of CHACA and he and Violet were familiar figures on many CHACA runs and events in earlier times. Our sincere sympathy and condolences go to his wife Violet and family. CHACA Journal Page 3 Congratulations, Sir Jack Born the 2nd of April 1926 in Hurstville near Sydney, Australia, triple Formula 1 Drivers World Champion, Jack Brabham started in motor sport as a midget race car builder and only took up race car driving by accident. Sir Jack commemorates his 82nd birthday today. John Arthur Brabham’s very own project as a mechanical engineering graduate was a midget racer for racer Johnny Schonberg. It was only when the Australia-based American decided to quit racing that “Jack” decided to have a go himself in those sandy ovals. It didn’t take long to win races and soon Jack rose to prominence in the local midget scene. It was in those days that he met Ron Tauranac, a young engineer keen to move on to road racing. Competing in New Zealand the duo entered an imported Cooper-Bristol for Jack and successfully competing against foreign drivers in 1955, they decided it was worth the try to move to England. Jack ended up working for the Cooper Car Company in Surbiton, Surrey, without pay. Instead John Cooper allowed the young Aussie to build up a car for himself to race in Formula 2. Showing his competence, the team would also enter him in sports car events. For the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix Brabham entered his Cooper F2 car, equipped with an engine augmented to 2.2 liter size for the occasion. Following a practice crash he had to borrow a chassis from Rob Walker – using his own engine – and was run- ning third with three laps to go when he suffered an engine failure. He salvaged a sixth place by pushing the car over the fin- ish line. With Brabham and Cooper jointly developing the car and the bigger engine further, the Aussie scored his first F1 wins in non-championship races in 1959, followed by wins in the British and Monaco Grands Prix and subsequently leading to the World Championship. He repeated the feat in 1960 but the domination of those little and agile Cooper cars ended with new tech rules being intro- duced in F1 for 1961. Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac thought they might as well do it all by themselves and joined forces to establish Motor Racing Developments Ltd. Jack began the 1962 season with a Lotus and in July finally the Brabham BT3 Formula 1 car was ready to debut at the German GP. While MRD was busy building Brabham cars for all sorts of champion- ships, it wasn’t until 1964 that the race car builder scored a Formula 1 victory. CHACA Journal Page 4 Dan Gurney won the marques’s first Grand Prix at the French Grand Prix in Rouen that year. Jack Brabham himself had to wait up until 1966 to win a Grand Prix at the wheel of his own car, by then using the Australian built Repco engine based on an aluminum Oldsmobile V8 block. The combination was so successful that Jack went on to win his third Drivers’ World Championship and the team’s first Constructors’ title. In 1967 the marque scored a second Constructor’s title and Denny Hulme won the Driver’s title but the arrival of the Cos- worth DFV engine in 1968 meant a tougher opposition they could possibly beat with the stock block Repco V8. So Brabham joined the ranks of Cosworth customer teams from 1969 and continued to win races. After having a contender for the title during best part of 1970 Jack announced his retirement aged 44. It was a full time retirement as he also sold of his company shares to Tauranac and went back to Australia. He retained his shareholding in John Judd’s Engine Developments Ltd, which was originally known as Jack Brabham Conversions. Later on Tauronac would sell the team off to Bernie Ecclestone and a further two driver titles were won by Nelson Piquet driving Brabham cars before the team was sold and went out of business in 1992.