COMING EVENTS

 August 10th                                    Morwell Hillclimb Club Day
                                                        John d’Asques 9766-1013 AH
                                                        Ray DaCosta  5940-1647

August 12th                                    J,K,Pre War Regularity & Group L
                                                        Meeting @ Clubrooms.  

August 26th                                    Annual General Meeting and Elections

Sept 6th-7th                                  Eastern Creek HSRCA 
                                                        PH 02 9907-0136 FAX (02) 9948-3205

Oct 4th-5th                                   Australian Historic Motor Festival
                                                        Winton 03 5766-4235

Oct 26th                                       Morwell Hillclimb 
                                                        Ray DaCosta  5940-1647

October 28th                                 General Meeting

Nov 8th-9th                                  Sandown Historic Meeting
                                                        David Floyd 9509-1392           

Nov 29th-30th                               Wakefield Park HSRCA     
                                                        PH 02 9907-0136 FAX (02) 9948-3205

Dec 13th                                      Christmas Function & Patrons Night
                                                        Dorothy Tate 9802-4739
                                                        Helen McDonald 9589-1217         

VHRR Clubrooms are situated at 30-32 Lexton Rd. Box Hill

     LUNCH MEETINGS WEDNESDAYS (NOT CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS)

     RED PLATES SCHEME    Our club Volunteer doing this task  

     is Lloyd Shaw. Contact him on ………0415.351.164

ALL THE ABOVE CLUB ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE WEDNESDAY LUNCH ARE DESIGNATED RED PLATE ACTIVITIES.

Visit our website: www.vhrr.com

Notice of Annual General Meeting.

26th August 8 PM……..Please attend and put your hand up for a job. All positions are vacant. We need you as without assistance no club can function.

Nomination Forms attached for both the Executive and General Committees.

Reminder: J,K,Prewar Regularity & Group L Meeting 7.30PM 12th August

The club being very pleased with the support of these groups and wanting to ensure their appearance into the future a meeting has been organised. An open forum will be conducted along with Eligibility officers to answer any queries.

Any owner or interested party is invited. A light supper will be provided.

Sandra Caffin 9744-1807 PH or Fax: 9740-5769 or caffin@alphalink.com.au

Early Notice December 13th

The Manningham will again be the venue of the Christmas Breakup and Club Championship presentations. It will also be the  Official Welcoming and Inauguration of our Patron Sir Jack Brabham .

Bookings ………Helen McDonald 9589-1217 or Dorothy Tate 9802-4739.

Vale- Briggs S. Cunningham 1907-2003

News comes from Las Vegas of the death of Briggs Cunningham at the age of 96 following a long life in sports car racing. He came to notice in 1950 when he competed at Les Mans, being the first American to cross the cultural barrier between European road events and auto racing in the USA. Equipped with two Cadillacs, one a stock coupe and the other his special bodied open car, he made a name for himself finishing 11th. Briggs and his team were regular competitors at the French circuit for the next 5 years always with Cadillac V8 powered cars of his own design. The highest placing for a Cunningham was third in 1954 although he did better at home achieving victory in the Sebring 12 hour race in 1953.

Over the next 30 years, he maintained hie enthusiasm for motor racing and the people involved, being a founding member of the Sports Car Club of America which grew to be the largest motor sport club in that country. His vast collection of cars was made available for public inspection as the “Cunningham Automotive Museum “ in California.

However, his technical innovation was not only applied to engines and sports car development for he won the America’s Cup in his own 12 metre yacht “Columbia” in 1958 and he passed away as the oldest member of the New York Yacht Club. Racing was in his blood and it just happened that his middle name was Swift.                                                                                  Roger James

Morwell Hillclimb 10th August 2003  Club Championship
After considerable shuffling of event dates, August 10th 2003 was identified as being the only date available in the busy motor racing calendar for the VHRR annual hill climb. This popular event usually takes on the persona of picnic with noise. Historically a fairly unhurried affair, drivers get 3-4 competition runs, and there is often time at the end of the meeting, for unofficial-official runs.
This year a class for Regularity has been included in the format. This gives drivers, who do not wish to push their cars too hard, a chance to run at this terrific venue. Other classes envisaged to run are: J, K, Lb, Sa, Sb, Sc, M, O, P, Q, R, Formula Libre, N, Marque Sports and Road Registered.
Austin 7's can run as a separate class, if sufficient numbers enter. A7 competitors naturally have the option of competing in another applicable class should they desire to do so. However, they would not be eligible to compete in both classes. So please support the hill climb - come along and have a great family day out at Morwell. The noise is very pleasant by the way!
For those who are Internet active, Entry forms and Supplementary Regulations are available on the club site: www.vhrr.com. Otherwise an entry form is attached to this newsletter, and on return on the entry form the Supplementary Regulation will sent to the entrant.                            John-David d'Asques (03) 8605 1319

THE HEWLAND STORY-Continuing Development        Roger James

The story continues in 1961, a year that saw the introduction of the 1500cc capacity for formula 1 and the rapidly growing popularity of 1100cc Formula Junior. With the resulting reduction in top speeds designed as a safety measure, the engineers were concerned in managing the vast torque of the high revving small engines. Consideration was also given to lowering the centre of gravity of the cars as a way of increasing cornering speeds which is where the races would be won.

Mike Hewland was in a most advantageous position because the inverted VW gearbox had the output shafts above the input shaft from the clutch thus already providing the lowest center of gravity.  He captured the torque of the engines with his Mk 2 (1961) and the Mk 3 (1962) boxes with 5 gears and enhancements which included a design clear-up and a reduction in weight of 10lbs.

Under pressure from chassis designers who found the rear selector rod increasingly difficult to accommodate in future slim-line cars, the Hewland team formulated the Mk 4(1963) with 5 forward speeds, a Ford Consul differential and a forward facing selector rod on the right hand side. As a result, drivers found gear changes more positive and mechanics found ratio changes much easier. This model found universal acceptance and established the brand.

Two additional models followed in 1964 with the release of the Mk 5 for the high torque Cosworth Ford engine and the Mk 6  (4 Speed) for Formula 3 (1000cc) and used later on Formula Ford cars. By this time, nearly 900 units were racing on circuits world wide. 

Coming back a little, in 1958 Cooper cars were showing their potential to challenge Vanwall, BRM and the Continental marques with their increased reliability. Jack Brabham had visited the ERSA factory in Paris

where Citroen housings were made and advocated strengthening measures to the casting. Jack was also concerned with lowering the centre of gravity of Coopers as his experience was telling him that cornering speed would be critical to lap times. The Citroen box could not be used upside down and the input shaft sat  well above the output drive shafts making a negative issue. To solve this complexity, he cabled Ron Taurenac in Sydney and the reply was prompt, “Jack, you have forgotten your speedway days, use a spur gear.” So, working with Jack Knight (hence the name Ersa Knight) Jack extended the bell-housing to contain a shaft from the clutch with a spur- gear linkage  to the input shaft thus lifting the gearbox against the engine and allowing the whole engine-transmission assembly to sit lower in the car. The 1959 World Championship followed.

Next Month : Completion of the Hewland Story

VHRR SMALL ADS

1. Wanted a Drive: In any historic race car at any Victorian Circuit. I require this drive before the end of 2003 to ensure I keep my C4H Licence. (Easy on cars, never had an accident) Please contact Don Ballingal 9459-7002 or 0412-533-889

2. WANTED- Right Angle Tacho Gear Drive (Smiths type) as used on the engine end of tacho and speedo cable drives. Must be 1:1 ratio reverse direction.  Any leads?? Ian McDonald 9682-4644 W 9589-1217 AH or ihmcdonald@bigpond.com

3.Appeal for the Club Library.Any books or videos and old race programs, Copies of AMS, Badges and any other racing memorabilia would be appreciated.  See George any Wednesday or club nights or phone Lloyd Shaw on 0415-351-164 

4. Security Storage/Parking: Fully enclosed lock up facility, 24 HR access, Full lighting & Electrical power points. Less than 1Km from Sandown. For your solution to Car/Trailer needs. Chris Giambertone 0410-547-347 or 9540-3999 BH

or vplino@netspace.net.au

                                       STILL AVAILABLE

Tapes of Sandown 2002

Patrick Ryan on 9335-4666 BH email ryansbus@ozonline.com.au

GroundSky Photography are selling a Cd of over 1200 photos from the Shannon’s Phillip Island Classic. www.groundsky.co.nz

ENTRIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR SANDOWN

HANDICAP EVENTS WILL BE HELD ….Visit our website for entries.

VHRR Greatfully acknowledge the continuing support of our major sponsors.