Chevroletter April 2016

transcript

Chevroletter April 2016 1

April 2016

The Chevroletter Official publication of The Chevrolet Club of WA Inc.

Issue number 363

The April Meeting will be held at Whiteman Park, 2pm on

Sunday April 17. Breakfast will be supplied as usual. IN THIS ISSUE:

Events for 2015. Page 4

GM’s New Electric, the Bolt, pages 5 & 11.

Chevrolets at the Guildford Festival, pages 12 & 13.

VAA Swap Meet. 1st May. Page 9

Free Classified Ads & Information pages, page 17.

The GM Firebird (hah!) Page 7.

Oldsmobiles, Named for a man who didn’t make many, p 15.

Editorial Hello all Club Members,

I’m back in the Editor’s chair after a brief sojourn in hospital having

my shoulder attended to by a very good surgeon, one who fixed my

knee some years ago. Notwithstanding the ravages of time and ener-

getic sports I’ll be swinging a tennis racquet later in the year. Trouble

is, being on the sidelines means I can’t defend my championship dou-

bles award from last year (bit of chest puffing here).

My sincere thanks to Peter Taylor for the last issue of the

Chevroletter, in particular the many interesting articles therein. Being

the regular editor often means searching for something interesting to

include as you tend to run out of ideas, so if anyone has something to

contribute, please do so, even if I have to translate it from the hand

written version.

There are a number of interesting events coming up in the next month

or two and with the cooler weather we should all be out and about,

enjoying the pride of our Chevrolets.

As reported in the minutes, we are looking for volunteers to assist in

organising the GM Owners’ Day in November. This event raises a lot

of funds for brain injured children, so whatever support you can give

will be very much appreciated.

Keep on chevying,

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Hello Chev Enthusiasts

The 3rd of April saw us at Guildford Heritage

Day with a good turn out of vehicles. Some

members who couldn’t make the early

morning start did drop by to say hello during

the day.

As usual there were plenty of stalls to see

and a lot of talking done.

This weekend is the CMC Car Show. We

will hold our meeting during the day so even

if you haven’t got your car displayed, drop in for the meeting and say

hello.

How Sweet the roar of a Chev four!

A middle-aged couple return to a dealership where the sales-

man has just sold the car they were interested in to a beauti-

ful, leggy young blonde.

"I thought you said you would hold that car till we raised the

$75,000 asking price," said the man. "Yet I just heard you

close the deal for $65,000 to the lovely young lady there.

You insisted there could be no discount on this model."

"Well, what can I tell you? She had the ready cash and, just

look at her, how could I resist?" replied the grinning sales-

Just then the young woman approached the middle-aged

couple and gave them the keys. "There you go," she said. "I

told you I would get the dope to reduce it. See you later,

COMING EVENTS

April 17: CMC Classic Car Show, Whiteman Park. Breakfast will be

supplied and we will hold our meeting there at 2pm.

May 1: VAA Swap meet, King’s Meadow, Guildford.

May 15: SW Mega Motoring Extravaganza, Bunbury.

May 21: National Heritage Motoring Day. Club Run to British Car

Day, Gingin.

May27/June 6: Fremantle Heritage Festival.

June 12: President’s Run and AGM.

July 8: CMC Quiz Night, Cannington Exhibition Centre, 7.30pm.

Nov 20: GM Owners’ Day at Bassendean Oval.

March Event

A good number of cars and their owners attended the Guildford

Heritage Festival on Sunday April 3. Reports from members say

there was a lot of interest from the crowds, and it was noted there

were many other makes of cars on display. The weather was warm,

but the day a great success, with the rock band in full swing.

********

A New York attorney representing a wealthy Art collector called and asked to speak to his client, "So listen already, Saul, I have some good news and I have some bad news." The Art collector replied, "I've had an awful day; let's have the good news first." The lawyer said, "Well, I met with your wife today, and she informed me that she invested $5,000 in two pictures that she thinks will bring a mini-mum of $5.5 to 7.5 million. Know what? I think she could be right." Saul replied enthusiastically, "Well done! She's a brilliant business-woman! You've just made my day. Now I know I can handle the bad news. What is it?" The lawyer replied: "The pictures are of you and your secretary."

Bolt Screws Aus.

The GM Bolt, an all electric car designed in Melbourne and built in the US. According to the makers it is unlikely to be made in right hand drive, so will not come to Australia, a great reward for our tech-nology.

With a little thought, why can’t the Holden people, who are closing their factories in SA and VIC, negotiate with their US bosses at GM to start construction here? After all, we could do with a new industry or two and the car would certainly be well received by the motoring public.

There are plenty of export opportunities in places like Southern Af-rica and many South Asian countries who drive on the left as we do, whose emerging economies and greater volumes of cars are contrib-uting to pollution. An electric car would seem to be a very good idea, especially if recharged from solar, natural gas or even nuclear power.

I’ll get off the soapbox and you can read more about it on page 11.

WE HANDLE EVERYTHING INVOLVED WITH IMPORTING VEHICLES TO AUSTRALIA

Transporting across the USA All body chrome Loading and unloading containers Sheet metal for all models Customs and Quarantine All interior pieces Insurance Specialising in Scott Drake parts.

BF GOODRICH RAISED WHITE LETTER TYRES IN STOCK

Shipping freight Distributors For: Nothing to big or small Scott Drake Nothing is a problem Dynacorn Give us a call Classic Industries Shipping bikes Danchuk Shipping boats and caravans National Parts

What Were They Thinking?

You may have read in an earlier Chevroletter that Ford were thinking, if

that’s the right word, of putting a nuclear powered car on the road, well, mak-

ing one to see what the reaction (no pun intended) would be. I would suggest

laughter and derision, followed by frightened looks. “The Freeway will be

closed for the next 100,000 years due to a road accident.”

Not to be outdone in the loony stakes, GM invested a lot of shareholders’

funds in actually producing the Firebird in the 1950’s, a gas turbine powered,

err, car, which looked like a fighter plane sans wings, as you can see, al-

though those protrusions sticking out at all angles could have confused a lot

of people.

Unfortunately, or should that be luckily, the car proved to be completely use-

less as a people mover, with shocking handling and engine overheating. They

ended up putting in a stock standard petrol engine to make it go, but it didn’t

fool the public, except that fins of greater or lesser proportions sprouted from

all Yankee vehicles for many years after. Strangely, it had air conditioning

(I wonder why?) and cruise control, way ahead of the pack.

Karen’s birthday book The entries for this month are:- 1 Marion Gathercole 1943 3 Jayden Wood 2008 4 Patricia Saliba 1947 4 Dorothy Ryle 1943 14 Wes Gartrell 1981 14 Neil Fullwood 15 Ron Thompson 1960 18 Lyn Glaskin 18 CHEV CLUB 1981 23 Chevaun Hedley 1982 30 Anne Holland 1939 To have your name in the Birthday list please advise Paul Fullwood, so we can recognise all milestones.

Electrifying News

In the earliest days of the auto industry, electric cars were about as popular as their combustion powered counterparts. Just like today, they were cleaner and quieter but more limited in range than the competition. Plus, they didn’t require a hand crank to start, an annoying feature of early combustion vehicles that occasionally resulted in broken wrists. But in 1912, Cadillac, GM’s luxury arm, came out with the first elec-tric starter for petrol powered vehicles. Electric cars died out shortly thereafter, and in a cloud of exhaust GM surged to become the world’s largest carmaker. Fast forward 84 years, and for a brief interlude it looked like GM was about to take the lead in bringing electrics back. In 1996, in response to a California mandate that required automakers to have zero emissions vehicles ready for market by 1998, GM rolled out the EV1, the first mass produced electric vehicle of the modern era. The funny looking two-seater had a range of about 50 miles and was offered for lease to consumers in California and Arizona. It was impractical, dinky, and entirely doomed. Meanwhile, Toyota was riding to victory on a reputation for economical, fuel-efficient cars, especially the Prius, an egg-shaped hybrid that delivered 50 miles per gallon and sold in the hundreds of thousands. GM’s Product Development man Bob Lutz hated how the Prius had put a saintly halo on Toyota, which sold plenty of SUVs and pickups, while hapless GM was mocked for making the Hummer. He also took notice when Silicon Valley upstart Tesla made a major splash with its public debut, announcing it planned to make a lithium-ion battery powered luxury sports car. Enter the GM Volt, which combined a plug-in battery strong enough to serve as the car’s main power train, plus a motor with a small gas engine that would work as a generator, creating electricity to keep the vehicle going when the battery was de-pleted. After a lot of research into battery technology General Motors first unveiled the all electric Chevy Bolt as a concept car in January 2015, billing it as a vehicle that would offer 200 miles of range for just US$30,000 (after a $7,500 federal tax credit). Barring any unforeseen delays, the first Bolts will roll off the production line at GM’s Orion Assembly facility in Michigan by the end of 2016. It will be interesting to see if the Bolt is adopted by the Americans, but we won’t see them in Australia, which would maybe give Holden a new lease of life.

At the Guildford Festival, a good showing by the Chev Club. Many other makes were there, Triumph, Vauxhall, Austin, Ford and a Whippet. The band kept everyone rocking, with a guest ‘appearance’, or should that be apparition, Elvis. Dress was quite informal, but hey, it was a hot day.

Elvis wows the crowd. Hey! How did these odd ones at left get into print? Like them or not, they looked pretty good to me.

VINTAGE AND MODERN TYRE SPECIALISTS

PROTECT AND ENHANCE YOUR

INVESTMENT!

VINTAGE AND MODERN

PASSENGER VEHICLES

DUNLOP MOTORSPORTS

VEHICLE SERVICING

TYRE REPAIRS

LOCAL RACE

SHAVING AND GROOMING

RIMS/MAG WHEELS

TYRE HEALTH CARE TIPS

PERFORMANCE AND RACE

TYRE SPECIALISTS

WE CAN SOURCE

ORIGINAL TYRES!

TALK TO US FIRST.

For all your tyre and wheel requirements including alignments and tyre buffing, from vintage to modern, we have access to all brands of tyres. We are your sponsor and partner, therefore show us your club membership card for our best prices.

GIVING YOU SERVICE ACROSS THE BOARD.

We can supply all your automotive maintenance and repair needs.

WE ALSO KNOW TYRES.

We’ve been forging relationships with suppliers since 1995, and we’ve become the supplier that other tyre suppliers come to when sourcing something special.

7 MEAD STREET KALAMUNDA, WA 6076

Ask to speak to Stuart Jnr or Snr.

PH 9293 3500 FAX 9293 1355

KOSTERA’S TYRE SERVICE

Oldsmobile, the Forgotten Marque.

The earliest record of Oldsmobiles being sold in Australia was in 1901. The Curved Dash Runabout was a motorised buggy that sold here in substantial numbers for £195. In these early years the models available were the Curved Dash runabout, Light Delivery van, and Light Tonneau. Regrettably a difference of opinion between Ransom Olds and the board of directors developed in 1904 over the company direction toward higher priced luxury cars for the wealthy over inexpensive cars for the general population. This led to Ransom's departure from the Olds Motor Works and his subsequent creation of the REO Motor Company, a company that would later fiercely contest Olds in the market place. In November of 1908 after some lengthy financial difficulties, Olds joined the newly formed General Motors Corporation. By this time Olds was swiftly moving into the luxury car market with models like the Limited with its 42 inch wheels, twin running boards and 707 cubic inch 6 cylinder en-gine. It was this move away from inexpensive vehicles along with war production that saw the marque disappear from Australia between approximately 1906 & 1918. It was also during the move by General Motors to gain control of the Olds Motor Works, that the decision was made to trade under the name Oldsmobile. With its re-launch here in Australia around 1918, Oldsmobile progressively won back market share with a number of models that covered the low to medium price range. By 1921 overhead valve 4 & 6 engines along with side valve V8 models were on offer here together with the 4 cylinder Economy Truck for the commercial market. It's interesting to note that Olds exported all of the 43A 4 cylinder models sold here from their plant in Oshawa, Canada. The agreement of December 1923 between the General Motors Corp and Adelaide's Holden Motor Body Builders for the manufacture of bodies for fully imported pre-assembled chassis for GM vehicles allowed GM to avoid significant import duties. As a result, Oldsmobiles could be landed and sold here at relatively low cost. The 30 series built between 1923 & 1927 were immensely popular here in Australia. Whilst Holden built the vast ma-jority of bodies for Olds in the 20's, low volume models such as roadsters & some sedans were still imported up to the end of 1929. With Australia feeling the depression as harshly as the rest of the world, GM ceased exports of Oldsmobiles to Australia at the end of 1929. More about Oldsmobiles next month.

CARS & PARTS FOR SALE 68 Impala Coupe parts; LH Rear quarter panel NOS $2,200, Call Peter (Adelaide)0407 601 820. (11/15)

1957 Bel Air. No details, but email seanec36@hotmail.com (11/15)

‘67-’72 El Camino or other A bodies: set of new rear coil springs. They are 3/4" drop and were made by Global West in the U.S. $150 ono. Call Simon in Albany on 0405335404 (12/15).

1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible. New deluxe interior, door panels, seat covers, rear panels, carpets, new convertible top & cover new panels, cowl bonnet, fenders, rear panels, rocker panels, inner front fender panels, radiator support panel, new floors, new boot floor fitted. Low mileage crate motor Turbo 400 trans, new drive shaft to suit turbo 400, aluminium radiator, rebuilt front end, new dash pad, new grill & headlight surrounds, rebuilt carb, rally wheels &trims New tyres plus more parts Import papers $22,000 Call Max Fraser 0418 916 069 max409@bigpond.com 1954 Belair four door blue flame six cylinder Chevy. Has 12 volt conversion, red and white interior, has club rego, asking $20,000. Call Wayne on 9397 9616 or email to: wayne.higham@riotinto.com (01/16).

REDUCED TO SELL!!

1982 El Camino. LHD. First twin headlight model. 3.8 litre Buick V6. En-gine replaced with a 1984 model prior to my purchase in 2001. Speedo at that time was 23658miles, now clocked over to 00055. Full service history since 2001. I am the only owner in Australia. Base model with Conquista trims; wire wheel trims, 60/40 front velour seats, instrument panel with tacho and clock, cruise control, Digital Radio and air conditioned. Four new tyres. Licensed to May 2016. Personalised plate ELCAM. Authority to display will be included in the price. A lovely car to drive and a real eye catcher with the external paint scheme. Asking $10,500 or best offer. Contact Peter on 0417 456 548, all hours(02/16).

WANTED: 235 motor (full pressure crank complete with carby etc and transmission for about $1,200.00 to $1,300.00. Call Ron on 0439 979 417 (11/15). 1960 Bel Air 4 door parts. Interior armrests, interior centre post boards, door sill plates, horn ring, exterior mouldings. Call Tim on 9881 4504 (04/16)

CHEVROLET CLUB OF WA INC

GENERAL MEETING HELD AT RIDLEY’S GM MUSEUM

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14 2016.

Meeting Opened: 4.15pm by President Neil Fullwood

Present: As per the attendance book.

Apologies: Rosina Beazley, Lyn Glaskin Visitors: Tim Tapping (Holden Club), Dot and Murray Stokes, ‘89 Cor-vette. Previous Minutes of General Meeting held on 14th February 2016

Printed in Chevroletter. Moved: Peter Taylor 2nd: Roly Richardson that they are taken as read. Carried.

Matters Arising: Nil. Correspondence:

IN: Advertising: No further action.

National Pen x 2 Club Magazines:

55/56/57 Car Club of Australia Small Torque TAS Chevolution SA x 2 Chevroletter QLD Royal Mail NSW American Car Club WA OUT : NIL

Moved Peter Taylor, seconded Roly that the inward correspondence be accepted.

Treasurer’s Report

Opening Balance: $8,326.24 Income: $ 118.03 Expenditure: $ 659.69 Closing Balance: $7,789.58 GMOD Balance: $1,752.96 Moved Paul Fullwood, seconded Peter Taylor, the Treasurer’s report be re-ceived. Carried. Events:

Mandurah Crabfest 19/20 March. Not much interest from members in at-tending. Guildford Folk Festival 3 April. Paul Fullwood to organise, some interest from members to attend with their cars. Classic Car Show 17 April. Peter asked for those attending so bookings can be made and tickets issued. British Car Day Gingin May 22. Also National Heritage Motoring Day so this will be a Club run.

General Business:

GM Owners’ Day. We have a dilemma in that not enough people are stand-ing for the Committee to organise this event to be held on November 20. Some from the Chevrolet Club but little support from the Holden Club as yet. Roly Richardson moved that we get quotes to service the Ridley’s meeting hall air conditioners. Seconed by Phillip surtees and carried. Meeting closed at 2.28pm. The next meeting will be held at The Chevrolet marquee, Whiteman Park on April 17 at 2pm.

The Chevrolet Club of WA Inc. P.O. BOX 351 ARMADALE WA 6992

Website Address: www.chevclubwa.com.au

Committee

PRESIDENT

Neil Fullwood ph: 9498 3829

0407 424 950

VICE PRESIDENT

Ken Fullwood: ph 9397 0760

0468 478 369

SECRETARY

Rick Beazley ph: 9419 3149

TREASURER/MEMBERSHIP

Paul Fullwood: ph9526 2724

0401 145 319

EVENTS DIRECTORS

Ian Fitzgerald: 0409 460 097

Hugh Morison, Dennis O’Keefe.

EDITOR and CLUB HISTORIAN

Hugh Morison ph: 9345 3674

0427 381 491.

hugh.morison@bigpond.com

LIFE MEMBERS

Glen Dale

Tony Hoffman (d)

Roly Richardson

Rick Beazley

Heather and Peter Taylor.

WEBMASTER: Paul Fullwood.

paul@fullwoods.com

C.M.C. DELEGATE

Neil Fullwood. Ph 9498 3829

PROPERTY OFFICERS

Peter Taylor, Roly Richardson and

Neville Cullenane

VEHICLE SCRUTINEER

Rick Beazley (AIS Exam.) ph: 9419 3149

PLATE REGISTRAR

Neil Fullwood ph: 9498 3829

0406 278 205

CLUB LIBRARIAN

Roly Richardson

0414 350 334

TEA PERSON

Heather Taylor ph: 9343 4605

MERCHANDISE

Beth Ridley ph: 9419 2980

The next Club meeting will be held at the

Chevrolet marquee at Whiteman Park on Sunday

April 17 2016 at 2pm.

Chevroletter April 2016

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