even more Milano GT1s

I'm just about to go down the street to put my time in at the local art gallery so have limited time at the moment. Therefore I thought I'd just quickly throw in some pictures of a couple more Holden powered Milano GTs that compete in historic events in Australia just to lend weight to the argument that there are enough of them around to give CAMS a basis to authenticate the application for the European one to race over there.

Thanks Stacey in WA for the loan of the photos.

Milano for sale

Just found this ad today:-
Address: Doncaster East, Vic.
1960 AUSTRALIAN SPECIAL. Rare body project on rolling chassis, few made. disc brake front end on purpose built chassis, comes with Datsun motor, g/box,diff. Make great historic race car/club car. beautiful shape. Historically fitted with Holden grey motors,MG, TRIUMPH, HEALEY. call Chris 0409 141046.
Price: $6,000.00

New paint job

Doesn't John Harrland's car look smart in Vermillion Fire. This is the most recent episode in the Mark 7's refurbishment following the new chassis. The bodywork was completed just prior to Easter but unfortunately mechanical gremlins prevented it from making an appearance. He wasn't the Lone Ranger though (or should I say the Lone O'Ranger, remember that colour?) Last minute problems beset Peter Kordic, Chris Westren, Graham Nichols and Ross Lowe to name but a few.

Another Aussie sports car in Switzerland

Stop Press. Just heard about a Bolwell coming into Switzerland. More details when they're to hand. Meanwhile, keep guessing which one.

Just a bit more on Easter Collingrove

There's a lot of things to talk about, like the wonderful Bolwells that appeared at the Easter National get-together, Mt.Alma hillclimb, Bruno's logbook difficulties with the Milano GT etc., etc. but I just wanted to share a couple more pics from Collingrove before moving on. I was amazed at the small number of entries. I've never seen it like that. Easter has always been a big item in South Australia for the historic movement, with a race meeting at Mallala on the Saturday and the hillclimb on the Monday but this year the empty paddock was more than just noticeable. Maybe it had something to do with the economic downturn although I don't think so. In an email a couple of weeks ago Dick Willis was looking forward to learning more about Bolwells over Easter because he was going to an Historic race meeting at Bathurst and spending some time with "Bolwell people", Kluver and Mahoney, who were also competing there. On top of that, I'm sure there were a lot of people preparing for Mt. Alma the following weekend which had quickly become oversubscribed as soon as entries came out. Anyway, it gave the regularity entrants, that were there to make up the numbers, the opportunity for more runs. People like Kym Ninnes, with his Clemente, seen here scientifically letting some air out of his tyres with the end of a match. Behind the clubman you can see the matching fibreglass trailer (identical to fellow Clemente builder, Tony's) which is handy for bringing your extra equipment along with you without the need to unpack your car to compete.

Finally, I just wanted to share this photo of a very smart looking Triumph Dolomite which was in the car park.

1959 Ascort

This car was at Collingrove too. It's a real rocketship. It belongs to Barry Lord and it's number 19 of a total build of 19. Are you familiar with Ascorts? They were built in Sydney in 1958 and 1959 by a company called Hermex Corporation who specialised in fibreglass production equipment. They were extremely well built, double skinned throughout with a steel tube frame between the inner and outer panels. The Ascort wasn't a kit car but was marketed as a complete new car. Volkswagen, Porsche and Okrasa, the VW engine component company supplied new components for the construction. The first batch of 12 were produced and sold well due to their high quality and performance. At this point, VW pulled the pin on supplying new chassis because the car had the potential to interfere with the sales of the Karmann-Ghia. Mirek Craney, the man who concieved the Ascort, managed to purchase new VW components from Europe to make a few more cars but it made it a fairly expensive exercise to build complete cars in this way. Craney didn't want to build kit cars and sadly, called off production, returning the deposits to the 57 people still waiting for their cars. Barry is very much a died-in-the-wool Ascort enthusiast, owning two others apart from this one. A new paint job is planned, perhaps after the odd mould is taken.

Below are a couple of shots of another South Australian Ascort, a restored example belonging to another owner.

The Zephyr Milano again

We were only talking about the supercharged Zephyr GT being in the Barossa last week and lo and behold here it is at the hillclimb on Monday. It belongs to yet another Peter G. I can't get over how tiny they are.

Hot off the press

The following appeared in today's "Herald". Sorry to cut your nose off Doug. My scanner's not wide enough. Roger, I'll save you a copy. And John, I haven't forgotten about a copy of the photo of your car in last week's "Herald".

Some new club merchandise

On behalf of the Bolwell club, here are a couple of new items:-
First up is a new cloth badge which is $7.00 plus postage. The new stubby holder is a really bright orange - can't be missed. They are $8.00 each.

And how many of you were aware of the 2009 calendar?

I'll talk to Beven and see if we can't create a merchandise catalogue and I'll include it in the links.

Easter 2009

This little snippet appeared in today's Herald, our local Newspaper.

Phillip Island

Just a few quick pictures while I concentrate on Easter for the next few days but also to prove that I haven't gone completely Milano. (Although I will be delving further into Milano GT history next week as I help Bruno in Switzerland prove his eligibility for FIA historic sportscar racing). Anyway, it looks like there was another dose of Melbourne weather for the recent Historic meeting at the world's greatest racetrack. These 3 pics are courtesy of Chris Gascoigne's cousin, Drew P. The first one is of a couple of former South Australian Nagaris and a couple of familiar faces obviously getting the champagne cooler out of the boot. And the other two are just for my Skyline GT loving friends who amount to more than just a few.

Milano GT hottie

I think you'll like this one. This photo was taken at the old Shakespeare Fibreglass premises. Anyway it's Zephyr powered, is supercharged and runs on methanol. It also lives in Tanunda. Isn't that where we'll all be this weekend?