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GSM CAR CLUB OF SOUTH AFRICA 30 September 2002 If someone had told me that we have not had a newsletter for six months, I would have called him/her a liar! Unfortunately, with a red face, I have to apologise and beg forgiveness, because that is so! I promise not to let it happen again. Ja, Ja, I can hear a few people saying! Once again, a lot has happened since the last one and as one gets older, time just seems to pass faster! Wait till you get to Peanuts age and you will see. Sadly during the interim we have lost two great members. The "Gentle Giant", big Ernie Magson died a few weeks age. I knew Ernie since the early fifties, even before GSM, because I matriculated at Hottentots Holland High, in Somerset West, where Ernie grew up and it was not possible for anybody to live in the Strand or Somerset West and not know who Ernie Magson was. Since he was a youngster, CEY 6 (or was it 7), would be the most desirable car in the Strand and it would belong to Ernie! I will always remember the dices we had, Ernie in his Singer 1500 Sports and me in my TC MG. The Singer was always faster but I would insist on a re-run, and once again, we would "send it" from the Nibbling Squirrel to the traffic circle at the De Beers turnoff on the N1, only to be beaten again! (What apity that most of you are to young to even know the places I am writing about). Ernie raced various makes of cars, Fiats, Alfas and also a very fast Dart-Alfa. He was a popular and spectacular competitor at Eerste River, Killarney and East London to mention just a few of the circuits I saw him drive on. Spectators loved to see that very tall man. fold himself into a Dart or Fiat 1100. Ernie was truly larger than life! As a club, our most sincere sympathy to all his loved ones! June Fouché, Peanuts mother, also passed away, after what was fortunately for her, a short illness a week or so before her 74th birthday. Koos and Elise Swanepoel, Jack Holloway, Bob van Niekerk and I, will never forget her from the days of Bottelary where she was often the "mother" to all those bachelors who used the Dart facory, (before Flamingo's) next to the Fouché homestead, as a base for their racing cars and a place of work. Peanuts, you and your family may remember her with pride. We are also thinking of you and your family. The good news is
that due to the sale of T-shirs, Dart bonnet badges, Valvoline I.D.
plates and renewals of subs, our finances are looking better than
ever. We had just over R6000.00 in the bank, which again is now
under R6,000.00 after having "conference" type name platers made for
our members, which we used at Bob's party at Killarney last week.
The Killarney "bash" was once again a roaring success! We counted
over 100 people at one contribution, inspite of the weather. Getting back to finances, we would like to place an order for ten Dart windscreens, but this can't be done until we have R10,000.00 in the bank. (About R4,000.00 to go) Before I forget, I want to stress that our club is open to all enthusiasts, not only GSM owners. Of the just over fifty members we had in the first year, about 38 have renewed their membership and we know of a few more cheques in the post. Peanuts is compiling a register of cars, Darts and Flamingos running or not, and we have a few new members, Koos Kellerman, two Darts and a Flamingo and John Bam, ex Mini and Alfa station wagon driver at Killarney has also bought a Flamingo which he is going to restore. He bought one of Joe Booysen's Flamingos, and I know the type of work John does, this car will be something special once he has completed it. Louis Buys, although not a new member, brought both his cars, Dart and Flamingo all the way from Robertson, over the mountain, through snow and hail. Thank you Louis! Next week, Louis will be representing us at the Robertson Internationl Show with his cars. This show lasts a week, anyone keen to join Louis? Should be great fun! Cars at the Castle was a tremendous success again. Our little stand with six cars and a Flamingo chassis was a real draw card. The albums that Peanuts has made so meticulously were read with great enthusiasm by many. At one stage the people were queing to look at photos and books. One chap, from Godons Bay looked at Bob's V8, and said "This was my car. I owned it in 19?? and bought it from Dr ????". Another fellow looked at a photo of a Flamingo being loaded onto a boat, and said "I owned this car in England for about ? years". His name was Dennis Warren. One fellow said "I built these cars:. It was so, his name is Mias Engelbrecht, and he appears on one of the photos in the album. Zim Geldenhuys was offered R72,000.00 for his V6 Flamingo at the Castle. We have an e-mail from a fellow in England who sold his racing Dart there for R8,900.00 pounds, that is about R143,000.00. Our little cars are rapidly becoming collectors items! Please look after them and get them running. Keep them as original as possible and I guarentee you will reap rich rewards in time to come!. Welcome also to new member Johan Rosseau, with his beautiful new red Dart. Upcoming motoring events are as follows:
Not all these events will be of interest to all of us, but I would like to stress Hermanus Whale Festival, that should be fun. The Multicar Club and No Wet car polish are organising a run from their Parow Clubhouse on the morning of the 5th, starting from 06.00am to leave at about 06.45 and get to Hermanus at 10.00. I don't see this possible with the traffic to Hermanus on that day. I suggest that we go on the Friday afternoon, and meet at the Hermanus station at 10.00am on Saturday and join in the static display. Accomodation will be a problem so I think we must all make our own plans. A block booking will not be possible at this late stage. We can then all get together for a braai or go to a restaurant of something later that day and come back on the Sunday. The other event I would like us to support is the Panorama Wiele Skou, 1-2 November. Hein van der Watt has been there alone with his Flamingo for the past two years. That's not fair, please phone Hein and assist him with your cars and lets have a display of good clean cars, not just one. The club will also assist with our banner and albums. Then the main aim. The MG Hill Climb at Red Hill. The Brits must still build a MG that can beat a Dart! Johan Walters must be there with his Yellow Dart and run the pants of all MGs on that day, Twin Cams and all! Hoe lyk dit Johan. Johan, has five Darts and he is lending us one to make a mould off. This is a very original car that he bought in the Transvaal, before it became Gauteng. The only problem is this car is parked on top of another one, in a garage that has no longer got a door! Or, its got a door but another building has been cleverly constructed infront of and so close to the old one, that the door cannot work! So, no problem he will remove the roof, get a crane, and lift the Dart out. Whether he will put the roof back on, well, I don't know! Once we have this mould, we can use it to get a few old cars ship shape again. The mould will belong to the club. The chassis jig for the Dart is also complete now, as is the Flamingo one and we can take orders for replacement chassis for both cars. This is not an after thought, but we would like to assure our upcountry members that although they are far away and can't always join in the fun, we will always think of you. Thanks for your loyalty. We think of Jannie van Aswegen, Dr Con Joubert and Neil Woodrige and anyone leftout accidentally. Peanuts has asked me to remind all members of our website. As I have mentioned before, this is a living thing and it can't survive without contributions from you. Please phone John Engelbrecht with any stories you may have about your cars or anything to do with GSM. Funny ones, embarrassing ones, and also tips on how to maintain and make our cars go better, or where we can find old cars, parked under trees or in chicken runs. Finally we come to our Christmas party! Do you have any suggestions? Please phone and speak to Peanuts or Rose. I know of the Gordons Bay Angling Club Hall. This is a small hall between Strand and Gordons Bay and can comfortably accommodate about 200 people. Should I go ahead and book that for us? It cant cost too much, as it is often used by private people for parties. For Sale. Urgent.
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