Brian Gibson - 1946 Triumph Roadster

Brian purchased this rare Triumph from the curators of the Bert Scheepers collection. Although in

excellent restored condition, it is suffering from minor mechanical problems including the brakes for

which parts are not readily available. Brian is hoping to have it back on the road soon. The 1946-

1949 Roadsters were never made in large numbers but they are keenly sought after in the UK , with

the result that most that were in South Africa have been exported, making them very rare here.

The 1800 cc engine was a version of Standard’s four-cylinder built by Standard exclusively for SS-

Jaguar before World War II.

The car is wide enough to take 3 on the front bench seat and additional room for two was provided

at the rear in a dickey seat with its own folding windscreen. The Roadster was the last production

car with a dickey seat.

July 2021

TORQUE

Convenors: Garden Route Motor Club:

Peter Pretorius - peterp@afrihost.co.za 082 321 4724

MG CLUB:

Peter & Jill Morse – petermorse101@hotmail.co.uk 074 474 8368

FOR YOUR INFO…..

Regular Breakfast Runs are held on the last Sunday of each month

Meeting places – KNYSNA – The Quays at the Waterfront at the end of Grey Street

SEDGEFIELD – Engen 1 Stop

GRMC Events – 2021

Your Club is back on the road again

All events will be subject to Covid -19 Restrictions

Date / Day Event

Quays

Start

Host -

Invited

August

28 Sat Tsitsikamma Memorial Run, lunch at Tsitsikamma Inn. GRMC -All

September

24-26 Frid-Sun Heritage day tour with Crankhandle Club GRMC - ALL (Stay over in Swellendam)

October

17 Sun AGM GRMC only

November

7 Sun Century Charity Run GRMC - ALL

14-20 CapeMog (Morgan) annual tour (for info)

December

5 Sun GRMC Christmas lunch 12h00 GRMC only

10 Fri Gasoline Alley Braai tbc 16h30 MG/GRMC

Note: Events labelled GRMC-All or MG-All are open to members of both clubs

Chairman’s Chirp – July 2021

The month has flown by and yet again it has been a very quiet month for the

GRMC members, but unruly for the country. Firstly fighting the Covid

pandemic on the one front and then having to deal with the incredible

unsettling week with the outbreak of violence and looting in KZN & Gauteng. I

know that you do not want to read about the pandemic, but the current

situation continues to curtail the clubs activities. However with the country

moving down to level 3, infections decreasing and the vaccination roll-out

gaining momentum, we soon could commence with activities on a limited

basis. I have now had my second vaccination and hope that all members have

decided to have the vaccination as well. When we do commence with limited

activities, your participation will depend on if you have been vaccinated

against Covid. To safeguard our health this will be a requirement as well as

sticking to all the Covid protocols. In line with this we have updated the events

calendar included in this month’s Torque. The first event is planned for late

August in anticipation that the bulk of the GRMC members will have had their

vaccinations.

It is with immense sadness that we announce that Roger Fisher passed away in the UK last night from a heart attack. We hold Alva in our thoughts and prayers as we share in her grief. Roger will be missed.

A further change in the calendar is the date for the AGM. As we would very

much like to have a face to face AGM the date has now moved to October 17.

This will still be in line with the constitution in terms of the AGM to be held

within 4 months of the financial year end. Please diarise this date as we would

like to have as many members as possible present. We are currently updating

the GRMC constitution and it will be tabled at the AGM for the approval of

members. Further subjects to be covered at the AGM will follow closer to the

October 17 date.

The Simola Hillclimb is on track and will be held over the weekend of

September 3-5. Included in this Torque you will find a write-up of “Classic

Friday” and some of the cars that will be taking part. This will be followed by

“King of the Hill” cars on Sept 4-5. Unfortunately the event will be run without

spectators and strictly in terms of the Covid protocols. The good news is that

the event will be live streamed on You-Tube. The MG Club, as in prior years,

will again be in control of managing the pit activities. A team has been

assembled to manage this important aspect.

With the resignation of Jill Morse from the GRMC committee, a vacancy for an

Administrator has been created. We are delighted to advise that Wendy van

Zyl (Jon Lewis’s partner) has agreed to join the committee, to fill the

Administration roll. We say a big thanks to her and look forward to working

with her.

We would like to welcome the following new members and wish them an

enjoyable stay with the GRMC:

- Andries Trahms and his 17 year old son, Aiden, residing in Plettenberg Bay.

Aiden is a car enthusiast and has inherited a 1935 Chevrolet from his family.

- Stephen Large who lives in the Wilderness. He has a collection of cars which

include a Lotus Elise, Morris Minor, Mazda Astina and an Austin Mini (Project).

Nico Sinden , one of our members , is currently in hospital being treated for

Covid. He is making progress, but please keep him in your prayers.

In last month’s Torque we advised that we would like to feature a member’s

car every month with a short write-up. This is a further reminder to please

action and forward a pic of your car and short description to Sylvia --

sylvia.vintagerose@gmail.com or Dennis – gardenroutemc@gmail.com

Just a final reminder on the payment of your subs. If you have not yet paid

your R100 (drastically reduced) for the year 2021/22, please oblige soonest.

As you are aware, SAVVA recently finalized negotiations with Cross Country

Insurance Consultants/Puma Insurance Brokers – Renasa, for an extremely

affordable new “SAVVA Car Collector’s Insurance Scheme”, which is now

available to all SAVVA Affiliated Club Members

This new scheme’s premiums are extremely competitive at favourable rates,

with vastly improved terms of use, such as 8,300 kilometres per annum, as well

as cover for:

• • Occasional use

• • Weddings & Matric Dances

• • Displays

• • Historical Re-enactments & Film Shoots

• • Discounts for larger Collections

• • Waiver of Policy Excesses on Claims for Member / Spouse over 65 x

years of age

The former FNB Insurance offering – is no longer linked to SAVVA – nor is it

described as or known as “The SAVVA Car Collector’s Scheme”.

However, the FNB Scheme currently available and being offered to SAVVA

Affiliated Club’s and their Members - in no way whatsoever detracts from any

current policy you may hold, in your personal capacities with FNB Insurance

Brokers. Such Policies will remain in full force and effect for the duration of the

period of Insurance - until renewal date.

Thereafter, you may wish to exercise your personal preference, of remaining

with FNB – or switching to the “New SAVVA Collector’s Insurance Scheme” via

CCIC/Puma.

For ease of reference, we have included on the last page in this Torque an

Advert for the “New SAVVA Scheme” .

Please click on the following link and enjoy the motoring inventions:

https://www.facebook.com/345467125540259/posts/4152675801486020/?sfnsn=scwspwa&d=w&v

h=e

In the meantime spend time in the garage tinkering on your car and keep it in

good shape.

Stay Safe.

Peter

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – August 2021 4th Tim Jones 8th Anne Parker 9th Josephine Cook

9th Viv Vadas 15th Jill Morse 17th Jon Lewis

19th Peter Pretorius 20th Alistair Gibb 21st Ray Mackey

22nd Duncan Miller 29th Allan Hamilton 29th Jeannette Esterhuizen 30th Arthur Field

REAL AUSTINS BOTH LARGE AND SMALL By Trevor Holland The full size pick up , in Austin Service department colours , is in fact an Austin A 40. This model of vehicle was produced , based on the A40 Dorset / Devon of 1947 to 1952. The pickup version had a longer life - being produced until 1956. Over the production life approximately 62000 were built ( mostly RHD ) with the 1951 / 52 model year being the most productive at approx.13500 units . The UK built vehicles had an Aluminium rear body manufactured by Jensen s of West Bromwich . For overseas markets a chassis / cab version was produced so that the local market could manufacture its own rear body . The 1200 cc OHV engine produced around 40 Hp .

The small car in front of the A40 is in fact also an Austin J40 ( J for Junior ) pedal car manufactured between 1950 and 1971 by the Austin Motor Co. In the late 1940 s a joint company was set up between the British government and Austin Motor Co to utilise South Wales ex miners who, due to health problems, could not work down the pits anymore. The factory was situated near Bargoed .

The first prototype ( JOY 1 ) was revealed to the public in 1946

The first production model was launched in 1949 ( Joy 3 ) which was based on the Austin Pathfinder racer of the 1930 s

In about 1950 the second production model was released ( Joy 4 ) which was based on the A 40 Devon / dorset . ( 1955 photograph shown below )

These were good quality ( best available at the time ?? ) well equipped pedal cars with working headlights and horn , detachable wheels with Dunlop pneumatic tyres , false engine with spark plugs . The Pathfinder model was dropped with the Joy 4 being the mainstream product . Between 1949 to 1971 approx. 33600 ( J 40 ) s and 3100 Pathfinder s were manufactured . In the early 1950s the J 40 sold for 27 UK pounds plus 6 UK pounds purchase tax. The J 40 had export markets such as Denmark and Canada but these toy ?? cars turned up all around the world .

After production of Pedal cars ceased, the factory produced small pressings for the Austin / Leyland / Rover group until the factory closed in April 1999. Today a fully restored J 40 would cost 3500 to 4000 UK pounds, while a restored Pathfinder even more . HOW MANY OF THE ABOVE STILL EXIST IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY ??????? BR Trevor

For Sale:

1984 280E

Gearbox slipping between 1st and 2nd gear Needs new left headlight

Rust on body

All glass windows and trimmings are perfect.

R18000.00 Seller will deliver locally at his expense.

Call Dallas Fell – 084 629 5737

THE AUSTIN MAN BASED IN AUSTRIA REQUESTS HELP AND ASSISTANCE. Trevor Holland has been contributing articles regularly and has asked that we publish his request for help. During our various holidays in South Africa I have followed my hobby which is collecting AUSTIN / BMC / LEYLAND related items -- Everything is out there; it’s just a matter of finding it . A couple of examples of items I collected are attached ---- The Port Elizabeth LR badge dates before 1967 and the Leykor badge around 1970 .

My first interest centres around the Classic Mini which was built in SA between late 1959 to approx 1983. However in all of my trips to various SA locations I have failed to obtain any Classic SA Mini advertising material. As Minis were built in 3 different SA locations over the production time frame some material must be out there The 3 build locations ---

1). BMC BLACKHEATH FACTORY -- late 1959 to 1979/80 ( approx 95,000 built ) 2). MOTOR ASSEMBLIES DURBAN --- Feb. 1960 to Mar 1963 ( approx 2,600 built ) 3). LEYLAND ELSIES RIVER PLANT --- 1981 -- 1983 ( approx 10,000 built )

Examples of some material --- (I only have electronic copies and look for original hard copies ) Front cover of a 1980 sales brochure and a press photograph

A request for help --- material must be out there it’s just a matter of contacting the right person . Many thanks in advance . Trevor Holland

(if you have any material to sell or donate to an enthusiast please contact Trevor at :

trevor.e.holland@gmail.com

Toyota Warns (Again) About Electrifying All Autos- Is Anyone Listening? (Article submitted by Bunny Mentz. Electric cars are certainly hot right now with European and UK manufacturers announcing plans to phase out gasoline powered cars, but this thought provoking article makes one wonder about a so called “green solution”) BY BRYAN PRESTON MAR 19, 2021 12:50 PM ET Depending on how and when you count, Japan’s Toyota is the world’s largest automaker. According to “Wheels”, Toyota and Volkswagen vie for the title of the world’s largest, with each taking the crown from the other as the market moves. That’s including Volkswagen’s inherent advantage of sporting 12 brands versus Toyota’s four. Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti, and Bentley are included in the Volkswagen brand family. GM, America’s largest automaker, is about half Toyota’s size thanks to its 2009

bankruptcy and restructuring. Toyota is actually a major car manufacturer in the United States; in 2016 it made about 81% of the cars it sold in the U.S. right here in its nearly half a dozen American plants. If you’re driving a Tundra, RAV4, Camry, or Corolla it was probably American-made in a red state. Toyota was among the first to introduce gas-electric hybrid cars into the market, with the Prius twenty years ago. It hasn’t been afraid to change the car game. All of this is to point out that Toyota understands both the car market and the infrastructure that supports it perhaps better than any other manufacturer on the planet. It hasn’t grown its footprint through acquisitions, as Volkswagen has, and it hasn’t undergone bankruptcy and bailout as GM has. Toyota has grown by building reliable cars for decades. When Toyota offers an opinion on the car market, it’s probably worth listening to. This week, Toyota reiterated an opinion it

has offered before. That opinion is straightforward: The world is not yet ready to support a fully electric auto fleet. Toyota’s head of energy and environmental research Robert Wimmer testified before the Senate this week, and said: “If we are to make dramatic progress in electrification, it will require overcoming tremendous challenges, including refueling infrastructure, battery availability, consumer acceptance, and affordability.”Wimmer’s remarks come on the heels of GM’s announcement that it will phase out all gas internal combustion engines (ICE) by 2035. Other manufacturers, including Mini, have followed suit with similar announcements. Tellingly, both Toyota and Honda have so far declined to make any such promises. Honda is the world’s largest engine manufacturer when you take its boat, motorcycle, lawnmower, and other engines it makes outside the auto market into account. Honda competes in those markets with Briggs & Stratton and the increased electrification of lawnmowers, weed trimmers, and the like. Wimmer noted that while manufacturers have announced ambitious goals, just 2% of the world’s cars are electric at this point. For price, range, infrastructure, affordability, and other reasons, buyers continue to choose ICE over electric, and that’s even when electric engines are often subsidized with tax breaks to bring price tags down. The scale of the switch hasn’t even been introduced into the conversation in any systematic way yet. According to FinancesOnline, there are 289.5 million cars just on U.S. roads as of 2021. About 98 % of them are gas-powered. Toyota’s RAV4 took the top spot for purchases in the U.S. market in 2019, with Honda’s CR-V in second. GM’s top seller, the Chevy Equinox, comes in at #4 behind the Nissan Rogue. This is in the U.S. market, mind. GM only has one entry in the top 15 in the U.S. Toyota and Honda dominate, with a handful each in the top 15.

Toyota warns that the grid and infrastructure simply aren’t there to support the electrification of the private car fleet. A 2017 U.S. government study found that we would need about 8,500 strategically-placed charge stations to support a fleet of just 7 million electric cars. That’s about six times the current number of electric cars but no one is talking about supporting just 7 million cars. We should be talking about powering about 300 million within the next 20 years, if all manufacturers follow GM and stop making ICE cars. Simply put, we’re gonna need a bigger energy boat to deal with connecting all those cars to the power grids. A LOT bigger. But instead of building a bigger boat, we may be shrinking the boat we have now. The power outages in California and Texas — the largest U.S. states by population and by car ownership — exposed issues with powering needs even at current usage levels. Increasing usage of wind and solar, neither of which can be throttled to meet demand, and both of which prove unreliable in crisis, has driven some coal and natural gas generators offline. Wind simply runs counter to needs — it generates too much power when we tend not to need it, and generates too little when we need more. The storage capacity to account for this doesn’t exist yet. We will need much more generation capacity to power about 300 million cars if we’re all going to be forced to drive electric cars. Whether we’re charging them at home or charging them on the road, we will be charging them frequently. Every gas station you see on the roadside today will have to be wired to charge electric cars, and charge speeds will have to be greatly increased. Current technology enables charges in “as little as 30 minutes,” according to Kelly Blue Book. That best-case-scenario fast charging cannot be done on home power. It uses direct current and specialized systems. Charging at home on alternating current can take a few hours to overnight to fill the battery, and will increase the home power bill. That power, like all electricity in the United States, comes from generators using natural gas, petroleum, coal,

nuclear, wind, solar, or hydroelectric power according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. I left out biomass because, despite Austin, Texas’ experiment with purchasing a biomass plant to help power the city, biomass is proving to be irrelevant in the grand energy scheme thus far. Austin didn’t even turn on its biomass plant during the recent freeze. Half an hour is an unacceptably long time to spend at an electron pump. It’s about 5 to 10 times longer than a current trip to the gas pump tends to take when pumps can push 4 to 5 gallons into your tank per minute. That’s for consumer cars, not big rigs that have much larger tanks. Imagine the lines that would form at the pump, every day, all the time, if a single charge time isn’t reduced by 70 to 80 percent. We can expect improvements, but those won’t come without cost. Nothing does. There is no free lunch. Electrifying the auto

fleet will require a massive overhaul of the power grid and an enormous increase in power generation. Elon Musk recently said we might need double the amount of power we’re currently generating if we go electric. He’s not saying this from a position of opposing electric cars. His Tesla dominates that market and he presumably wants to sell even more of them. Toyota has publicly warned about this twice, while its smaller rival GM is pushing to go electric. GM may be virtue signaling to win favour with those in power in California and Washington and in the media. Toyota’s addressing reality and its record is evidence that it deserves to be heard. Toyota isn’t saying none of this can be done, by the way. It’s just saying that so far, the conversation isn’t anywhere near serious enough to get things done.

FIA confirms Formula E 2022 race for Cape Town Recently Jaguar and its bid partner e-Movement announced that Cape Town has been included as

a host city for a round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in February 2022. This follows

the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) official announcement following a meeting to

approve the season eight calendar by Formula E Operations. As the founding partner to e-

Movement, Jaguar South Africa has made it noteworthy that it has supported the bid to host the

first Formula E event in Cape Town.

Iain Banner, Chairman of e-Movement (the promoters of the Cape Town leg of the World

Championship), adds: “We are delighted and honoured to be included on the calendar after two

years of bidding to make this dream a reality.”

The Cape Town round will be the first FIA World Championship single-seater race in South Africa

since the 1993 South African Grand Prix.

Cape Town, South Africa scheduled for 26/02/2022

Stellar line-up for Classic Car Friday at 2021 Simola Hillclimb

The 2021 Simola Hillclimb takes place from 3 to 5 September 2021, starting with Classic Car Friday, followed by King of the Hill on the Saturday and Sunday. Due to COVID-19 regulations, no spectators are allowed, but the entire event will be livestreamed. • Five-time Classic Conqueror Franco Scribante returns to defend title with mighty 1972 Chevron B26 • Ian Schofield set to raise the bar with 1989 Minardi M189 – only the second Formula 1 race car to compete at the Simola Hillclimb • Biggest field yet with 74 entries across eight classes – 30 manufacturers represented covering six decades of road and race cars, ranging from 1928 Austin Seven to legendary Le Mans, sports car and single-seater racers Classic car enthusiasts, along with automotive and motorsport fans, are in for a treat when

this year’s Simola Hillclimb action kicks off on 3 September 2021, as the Classic Car Friday

line-up will feature a stunning array of legendary road and race cars spanning more than six

decades. A total of 30 manufacturers will be represented on the 74-strong entry list – the

largest yet for Classic Car Friday. Among the marques that will be present, Ford is the most

prolific with 14 entrants, while Porsche is a close-run second with 13 entries. Jaguar, MG

and Austin have four entries each, and the line-up includes a long list of other illustrious

names such as Morgan, Lotus, AC, Ferrari, Austin Healey, McLaren, Chevron, Alfa Romeo,

BMW, Shelby, Chevrolet, Ginetta and Lola – so there truly is something for everyone at this

year’s event.

“Classic Car Friday is a unique opportunity to see some of the most significant road and race

cars of all types dating back as far back as 1928, gathered together for a fantastic

celebration of automotive history,” says Simola Hillclimb sporting director, Geoff Goddard.

“There simply isn’t any other event on the local calendar that assembles such a fascinating

and diverse range of cars that are not just put on display, but are driven with enthusiasm up

the short but challenging 1.9 km Simola Hill.”

The driver line-up is equally impressive, with many of South Africa’s top racing drivers of

past and present relishing the opportunity to be part of the Simola Hillclimb, which is widely

regarded as South Africa’s premier motoring and motorsport lifestyle event.

The action can be viewed via television and live stream only. The organisers will announce

their television package shortly. The live stream feed will be via their YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/KnysnaSpeedFestival/videos

As always, the event will include the “Ladies Hillclimb Team”. The ladies race to raise funds

and their annual campaign has supported Knysna Sedgefield Hospice to enable them to

continue their valuable work in the local communities. Look out for well-known stalwart Di

Dugmore who has raced in every hillclimb since its inception; swapping her Healey Sprite

this year for a single seater.

For full information on the event, the cars and drivers visit: www.simolahillclimb.com.

Our Website address is www.grmc.co.za

Facebook page : https://web.facebook.com/gardenroutemc

CONTACTS

Peter Pretorius

Chairman/Knysna Motor Show Organiser/Events

082 321 4724

peterp@afrihost.co.za

Peter Turner

Treasurer

082 586 4827

treasurer@grmc.co.za

Brian Gibson

Club Regalia

082 467 2145

gibbo@mweb.co.za

Sheridan Renfield

Dating Officer

044 343 2047

sedgecars@gmail.com

Ann Griffiths Membership database /SAVVA membership

079 716 3132

membership@grmc.co.za

Jon Lewis

Secretary/SAVVA membership

079 659 6317

lewisjon@mweb.co.za

Wendy v Zyl

Administration

079 659 6317

lewisjon@mweb.co.za

Sylvia Marshall

Newsletter

082 958 2498

sylvia.vintagerose@gmail.com

Dennis Cook

Social Media, Webmaster Membership communication

060 700 0192

gardenroutemc@gmail.com

SAVVA technical Tip 168

Windscreen wipers blades So often one sees a well-prepared car spoiled because it is fitted with black replacement wiper blades? It’s understandable, because the original stainless-steel ones are very difficult to find. They are available from the UK – at a ridiculous price, but with the Rand to Pound exchange as it is, and the non-existent postal service it’s not a proposition to try and import them. The question is – what is the alternative? Last week I was faced with this problem and had to find an alternative. The black wiper blades fitted to chrome arms looked terrible. The only alternative was to paint them with Silver Chrome paint and a comparison of the black and a newly painted one can be seen in the photo - the result was successful and very pleasing.

FOR ALL YOUR

REQUIREMENTS PLEASE CALL SYLVIA ON 082 958 2498

Also Available at Bodge Engineering, opposite Frost Motors FREE DELIVERY KNYSNA/PLETT/GEORGE

Sylvia’s Flowers –

081 824 7353

We cater to weddings, Birthdays, funerals….

If it’s flowers you need,

we deliver!