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GSM CAR CLUB OF SOUTH
AFRICA
28 February 2002
Newsletter No: 7
Hi GSM fans
Almost at the end of the second month of the New Year and only the
first newsletter? Guilty as charged!
Towards the end of last year we as a club, attended what was a huge
"Expo" at Killarney. We occupied six pits and had five cars on
display. Peanuts had all his albums with photos and newspaper
cuttings on display, we sold a fair amount of GSM T-shirts and had a
large amount of interest shown by members of the public browsing
through the material on display.
Thanks to Hein van der Watt and Zim Geldenhuys who had their
beautiful Flamingos on show, Louis Buys who went to the trouble of
bringing his partly restored Flamingo all the way from Robertson, to
show us how much elbow grease goes into the careful restoration of
such a car, complete with photos and all! Clarry Taylor's handsome
Dart was admired by many, as was the partly restored car of Denis
Joubert, obviously very thoroughly done, 'cause this job was
actually started in 1982! Not too long to go now? The other pit
space was occupied by a very neat Flamingo chassis, and the club can
now take orders for both Dart and Flamingo chassis which are really
very professionally built. These chassis however can only be used to
restore cars which need new chassis and can under no circumstances
be used to build new 'kit cars". This rule is in the interest of
current owners of genuine cars, as it will diminish the value of
such cars if "new kit cars" are constructed.
Thanks again to the above mentioned members who entrusted their
precious machines to us for the duration of the expo and to all the
other members that visited us at our stand.
Your club finances are still healthy, and we have around R3000,00 in
the bank, after making a small profit on the sale of T-shirts. We
will be re-ordering again, this time in Yellow, with the same logo
in black. Price should be the same, or almost the same, and can be
ordered from Rose at Peanut's office. GSM Dart bonnet badges, the
oval ones, will be available at R150,00 each by the time you get
this letter, exactly like the original ones. Tremendous!
The expo also resulted in our club being invited to form part of the
display at the new, under construction, Thundercity at Cape Town
International Airport. Negotiations are underway and we will soon
report on progress made.
Together with the Cape Street Rod Club, a hastily organised braai
was held at the Thundercity on Sunday 17th Feb., and again, thank to
the members that brought their cars. (Clarry Taylor, Zim Geldenhuys,
Gert and Nadia Le Roux, John and Pat Engelbrecht, and Peanuts with
Sydney Ehrenreichs Dart, and Rose our faithful typist and chairman's
assistant with a neat Birkin 7. We only phoned members with cars to
attend, because time was short, but all members, even those who
don't yet have GSM cars are welcome at all our get togethers.
Membership has grown to over fifty, with the latest member being Dr
Ted Carden from Los Angeles in California. He has a Dart and a
Delta, Alfa and Ford engined respectively and he races both. I would
like to give Andrew Sickler and John Walters his e-mail address, I
am sure they can compare very interesting notes and ideas. Ted has
heard of the Golden lightweight Flamingo, that won the Three Hour
race at Killarney and was burnt out while being driven by Dave
Coleman in a race. Ted is very keen to rebuild this car. Please if
anybody can find just a piece of the burnt out chassis or any other
part of this car, it can be rebuilt, with its Lotus twin-cam motor.
As we are approaching the time to renew our subscriptions, I would
like to remind all members that annual subs are due at the end of
April. Please regard this Newsletter as your account, and on receipt
of your subs, a new club membership card will be issued and posted
to you for the 2002 year. We promise to spend your R75.00 in a
responsible way. Double membership R100.00.
The club owes a tremendous vote of thanks to John Engelbrecht for
getting us on the Internet. This is John's job, and he has saved us
a huge amount of money by getting us a web site at a fraction of the
normal cost. John has spent many, many hours getting this site up
and running. I also, on behalf of the executive of the club, wish to
stress that this web site belongs to you the members, and it is
actually a living thing that can't exist without contributions from
all of you! Pictures of your cars, stories about your cars, anything
and everything of interest, recent and old will be gladly accepted.
Your web site address is www.gsmclub.co.za.
Do yourselves a favour and log onto this site. You will be
surprised. Guaranteed. Not only will you find interesting stories
and pictures, but all previous newsletters, even from the GSM club
branch in Gauteng, technical tips, a photo album and more, and that
is only the beginning!
At present the club knows of two Flamingos for sale in KZN. There is
a very clean concourse yellow car in Pinetown for R50,000.00 and a
red one in Richards Bay for R25,000.00. Both cars can be driven to
Cape Town if bought.
Marie de Langes Dart is not in the market anymore, she has decided
to keep it, but she has a Dart with a Ford engine, no carbs, but
complete with hardtop, side screens etc., and a Flamingo plus Alfa
motor (not fitted) without gearbox, both these cars need to be
resprayed, but otherwise fine. R35,000.00 for both not each. These
cars have been parked in a "carport" for some time, and must make
room for a flatlet that will be built on the site. This sounds like
a real bargain for anyone looking for original cars. The Dart comes
from George area, it had a CAW registration number and three dials
next to each other on the dash, thus a fairly early car, with sharp
fins and intact windscreen. The Flamingo is No: 63012 and also has
all front and back windows in good shape.
Marie also has timeshare for sale, at N'gwenya, on the Crocodile
River, Gauteng between 15th and 22nd February. Enquiries at 011
6094744 or 082 709 3335.
The next run we plan will be to Franchhoek on 10 March 2002. It is a
breakfast run, to a restaurant. The run will not be too long, and
the roads will be good,. also making it easier for members living in
the Somerset West area. We plan to meet at the Stellenbosch Fire
Station at about 8.30hrs on Sunday morning, then go to our breakfast
venue at about 09.00. Directions to follow is :
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Take the N1 in
the direction of Paarl. Take the R44 Klapmuts off- ramp, turn
right and pass under the N1 travelling on the R44 in the
direction of Stellenbosch.
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The first robot
you will encounter is on the outskirts of Stellenbosch. Proceed
past the Nietvoorbij research farm on your left, down the hill
to the robot at the bottom.
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Turn left into
Helshoogte Road (R310). The first major Road leading off the
R310 is Hammanshand Road - keep going to the next road leading
off right which has a robot - Cluver Road. You will see the fire
station on your right at the R310/Cluver Road intersection.
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The Street Rod
Club are inviting us to join them at a Multi-Car Club show at
their clubhouse in Parow on the 24th March 2002. On this day we
will have a "bring & braai" at their comfortable facilities,
while the public look at our cars, after paying to get in at the
gate.
Kind regards until
next time, and please lets get those cars that can't run going, you
don't know what you are missing with the cars standing in the
garage!
See you all on the 10th March 2002.
The Secretary |