The President's Page

Hello Members and Friends of the ASCC,
I was about to wax lyrical about it being Spring, however it's a bit wet here currently at Ballarat Airport so I'll save my enthusiasm for when the sun comes out again. At least if the rain keeps up I can avoid mowing grass and perhaps get into the shed for some proper project work.

Unfortunately the closest I've gotten to any project work recently are some minor jobs on the family Toyota RAV4. This is to be expected after 370,000 Km at 17 years old, and although I shouldn't be giving a nod to anything other than our Armstrong Siddeleys I think it's earned it . Besides, at times it has been called upon to haul about various parts for said favoured marque, and always reliable.

It also reminds me how vital it is to have parts availability for older cars, and how much the old common practice of manufacturers guaranteeing parts supply for 10 years has been eroded.

I'm finding it a dangerous practice to explore some of the vehicle auction sites, amazed at the growing number of available vehicles having been written off due to parts cost/ availability and economics. I haven't yet succumbed to buying anything at auction yet, and typically leave the website in disbelief at the state of vehicle insurance repairs. It still amazes me that we have access to so many spares for 'our' cars 70 years or more after production ended, which is 10 times what some manufacturers now consider a reasonable time.

I know that I repeat it regularly, following of course from the members and the vehicles, that we have some very important assets in both our spare parts and also our historical records. At work , in general aviation, we pride ourselves on our ability to retain good records, and so were a bit embarrassed recently when we had to admit to the department, CASA, that we couldn't find the Certificate of Airworthiness (a bit like a roadworthy certificate) for our 1967 Beechcraft Bonanza. The department used to be able to replace such things, having held hard copies on file for many years, but the demands of cut backs and implementing electronic files meant that much historical data has been lost. I think they were just as embarrassed to say they didn't have a copy either, but at least will help with what will be a more protracted process than if someone had looked after the files. I didn't mention that our club could produce records for vehicles much older than the Beechcraft, would have just been rubbing salt in.

The Board will soon be meeting again for the month, and again the main subject will be the movement of the Club Spares. There has been a great deal of discussion and planning being done, particularly between the local ACT branch and more local Board members, with the aim to secure and rent an accessible site which permits our spares to function. There is the question about having to rent premises, but it will be for a short time until we are able to make more permanent arrangements. Of course the whole move will mean the ability to stocktake and condense our holdings, which will help to improve the organisation. Ultimately the spares needs to be accessible to provide the service, packing it all up and moving it too far away risks that service.

My earlier reference to the importance of historical records is just a bit of a reminder, that wherever able we assist the National Historian to update and maintain vehicle records. (Please sue the vehicle transfer document if you sell/buy a Siddeley or just contact Selwyn. Filling in the details of your car on your membership renewal form also helps with these records-ED)

Thankfully its still raining here, so I'm off to the shed for some Armstrong Siddeley time. I'll look forward to seeing some of you at various upcoming events, and others perhaps within the photos and articles of this terrific magazine.
All the Best in Motoring !

 

Cameron Wright, President ASCC