My memoirs........ so far
I was born Dec 10th 1942. As I left my mother’s womb I said “Mum, there is a war going on, the Japanese are invading New Guinea and Dad is in the Airforce. Can I go back inside?”. Mum answered “But Son, we are in Bundaberg, this is where the best Rum is made”.
At the age of about 3 the family moved to Salisbury, Brisbane. In 1948 a younger sister joined the family, together with our parents and my two older brothers. I attended the Salisbury State School when I became old enough, and stayed at that school until finishing partway through Scholarship (Grade 8). I took on a five year apprenticeship as an Electroplater with Nickel, Chrome, Zinc, Cadmium and Tin plating. Half way through the apprenticeship I decided that I did not want to spend the rest of my life working with Cyanide, Acid, and Caustic soda all the time. I decided that I would finish the apprenticeship then give the trade up. So, I worked one day as a Tradesman, then quit.
As a child and during the time that I was learning my trade I would have to pass the assembly plant of UK and Dominion Motors at what was then called ‘Rocklea East’, it is now ‘Salisbury North’. Here, Austin cars were being assembled and road tested around the local roads. I would always stop and look in the doorways and watch the activities. This building was on what is now called Engineering Street. The north/west of this building was destroyed by fire in later years.
My first car was a 1955 Morris Minor sedan and I was interested in motor sport, so with a group of friends we formed the Salisbury Motor Sports Club and held Gymkhanas in a paddock in the area where Riawena Road now is. At one time I was about to compete in an event when the person who was about to give the start signal looked down and saw that my front wheel was cracked between the wheel nuts. This was possibly because I had had the Morris up on two wheels in a previous event.
I also took up TQ racing. These were built mostly using steering and suspension from what are now Vintage Austin Sevens, and mostly powered by Vincent or Douglas motor bike engines. All of these vehicles are rare today.
The TQ racing was done at Southport on the Gold Coast
After quitting my job as an Electroplater, I moved to Mt Hagen in New Guinea. Here I was employed as an Assistant Manager on a Coffee Plantation. I was responsible for about 150 native employees and when it was ‘picking season’ about 300 employees, as the Coffee beans had to be picked, before going through the pulping, fermenting, drying and husking process before being shipped to other countries. I had some wild experiences while there aged in my late teens. One of those experiences concerned a native coming at me to chop me with a bush knife (Machete). To this day I still doesn’t know how I disarmed the man and got him to the ground, my mind is still a blank about this.
There was also the time the brakes failed on the car I was driving. I was coming down a steep road with a cliff above me on one side and a cliff dropping down on the other side. I stopped the car by turning the ignition off and gently using the hand brake. Another time the owner of the Plantation and his family was away, when lightning hit one of the bamboo buildings with a grass roof that the natives lived in, so I had to put the badly burnt natives into the long wheelbase Land Rover and rush them into town to the hospital.
In later years I moved into the township of Mt Hagen and took on the job refuelling Aircraft, such as Cessna’s, Otter’s, Piaggio’s, DC3’s, and Bristol Freighters. The plus side of this job was free fuel for my Series One Land Rover, as 3 samples of fuel had to be taken for each aircraft refuelled and kept in storage for 24 hours, the Avgas was then used in a few vehicles in town. Yep, free high octane fuel. I would also have to charter DC3 or Bristol Freighter aircraft to bring the Avgas into Mt Hagen from Madang in 44 gallon drums.
My best flying experience was lying on the floor of a Bristol Freighter looking through the Perspex panels in the nose as it came in to land. I had my 21st birthday while working as a refueler. Also my brother and I were the first to take a two wheel drive vehicle from Mt Hagen to Wabag, previously that was only travelled in 4WD vehicles. We used a Toyopet Stout. (The Toyopet is now known as Toyota).
When I finished my time in New Guinea, I flew to Cairns and bought a 2nd hand FJ Holden and drove it down to Brisbane as this gave me more of a chance to see Queensland, rather than just flying over it. I applied for a job as a 2nd class sheet metal worker with Carrier Air Conditioning, and was successful in getting the job. While here I purchased a two and a half litre Riley from a workmate, this was unregistered, so whenever I drove it, I took the ‘Q’ plate off the back of the FJ Holden and put it onto the Riley. I later sold these and purchased a new Toyota Tiara, one of the very early Toyotas sold in Australia.
After a year at Carrier Air Conditioning they put me up to a First Class Sheet Metal Worker, which is the same as someone who had served a five year apprenticeship. So, I took advantage of this and moved up to Port Moresby to manage a Sheet metal and Plumbing business there. I only looked after the Sheet Metal side where they built rain water tanks and all other sheet metal products, one of these being the first Solar powered Hot Water Systems. I purchased a FJ Holden which I used with The South Pacific Motor Sport Club in Gymkhanas, Hill Climbs, and Drag Racing on the runway of the old WW2 Wards Strip airfield.
The FJ had a copper exhaust pipe from the manifold and out under the back door with no muffler. This was also my everyday vehicle, the Police said that “Allan, you are the most consistent traffic offender in town”, for which I thanked them for the compliment.
After returning from Port Moresby I still had my Toyota Tiara, which had been up on blocks under my parent’s house for the 2 years I was away. I stayed working in the Sheet Metal industry and spent time with a friend Drag Racing a FB Holden at the drag strip then inland from Surfers Paradise. I also changed from the Toyota Tiara to a Mazda 1500 sedan.
I met Margaret, who also worked for the same company as I did and we got married in August 1970.
We spent a year driving around Australia in the Mazda 1500, working for a while in Melbourne and Perth. Now think about it, driving around Australia in a two wheel drive car, no Mobile Phones, no GPS, and most of the roads unsealed, pot holes, corrugated and dusty. It was a real experience then in 1970 and 1971. On returning to Brisbane after our trip, we decided to build a house on the block of land at Sunnybank that I purchased in 1968, and sell the Ferny Grove block that I had purchased after returning from Mt Hagen. We still live in the Sunnybank house today. It was September 1972 that we moved in. We were then heavily involved with the Sunnybank Horticultural Society, which held various shows and always put a 6 metre by 6 metre display at the RNA show (Ekka) each year.
At one stage I had been a member for 8 years, but had served 12 years on Committee as I often filled two positions at the same time.
After a few years I thought about all the Austin Sevens and Vincent and Douglas motor bikes I had destroyed in my days racing TQs and other vehicles that I had thrashed in other competitive motor sports in my younger days. So, I decided to get an old car and restore it. The first car I had owned was a Morris Minor, so I decided to do one up. I then saw an Austin GS3 A40 Devon for sale and decided that it would be better, as it is on a Chassis and not monocoque construction like the Morris, and a more powerful motor than to 750cc Morris. I purchased the A40, but discovered it had a twisted chassis and a cracked cylinder head. In looking for parts I discovered a GS2 A40 at Carina Wrecking Yard, so with some petrol in the tank, a battery, and some money in the owners hand it was started up and driven up onto a trailer and brought home. This car was called “Lurch” and registered AAA40 being “Allan’s Austin A40”. (I sold this car in April 2015).
In the late 1970s Margaret and I did a trip to Melbourne and one of the places we visited was a Car Show at the Exhibition Building. Later when I purchased the A40 Devon I remembered seeing the Austin A40 Club at this exhibition, so I contacted them and became a member (I am still a member today). I later joined the AMVC NSW. In July 1981 a member of the AMVC NSW had moved to Brisbane and contacted the three Brisbane based members of that Club, They met up and decided to form a Queensland Chapter of the AMVC NSW. Interest grew so quickly that it was decided to become the Austin Motor Vehicle Club of Queensland. The only other Qld clubs for Austin’s was the Austin Seven and the Healey Clubs, whereas the AMVCQ covered all Austin vehicles of all types and ages. I was member number two. I have also been a member of the Counties Car Club in UK, The Austin Flying A Club New Zealand, and the AMVC WA. In fact after I designed the badge for the AMVCQ the AMVC West Australia adopted it for their badge as well, with the change to WA instead of Qld.
I have had an assortment of Austin’s over the years, some of these being a Rhodesian built A60 sedan, A40 Farina, Kimberley, A40 Somerset, and many A40 Devon based tourers, utes, vans and sedans. I also had a Morris Commercial truck as I am a Member of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Association (Member number one). All I have now is a A40 Countryman Van, which had been in the same family from the time it was purchased new, to when I bought it in 1992.
I retired from my Sheet Metal work aged 58 in 2000 and has since been involved in various Charity groups, and also a Local History Group, and the Historic Commercial Vehicle Assn.
Happy (Austin) motoring!
