SWTVC Bulletin Volume 2018 Number 3 (MAY)
The SWTVC Website can be found at www.swtvc.org.uk and has up-to-date information about meetings.
Registered address of the SWTVC: 31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
Committee
Ronnie Gordon: (Chair & Acting Secretary) 0141 956 2950 07906 042215 Ronnie@Glasgownet.com
31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
John Stewart (Treasurer)
44 Harbourside, Kip Village, Inverkip PA16 0BF
Harry Sherry : (Webmaster)
Corsebar Avenue, Paisley PA2 9QE
member
John Young: (Membership Secretary)
139 Terregles Avenue, Pollokshields, Glasgow G41 4DG
Ian Stother: (Member)
11 Fern Avenue, Lenzie G66 4LE
Ronnie Johnston: (Editor)
Kevin Began: (Events Co-ordinator)
49 Roman Court, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 2NW
Dave Stewart: (Webmaster)
The opinions expressed in this bulletin are not necessarily those of the committee or any of its members.
EDITORIAL:
Let me begin by correcting an error in the last bulletin.
The Autojumble will take place on Saturday 13th October and not the 6th as previously stated. It will be held in the usual venue St Cyprian’s Church, Beech Ave. Lenzie G66 4HN. It will open at 09.30 and close at 14.00. Admission is free and there is no charge for a table, if you want to reserve one contact either Ian Stother or Kevin Began. This is always an enjoyable event and there are some bargains to be had. The church will offer tea, coffee and hot snacks and we hope to have a tombola as well.
Jacqui Stother tells me the church will be hosting a few concerts over the summer and members have previously enjoyed their offerings. As the church generously hosts our Auto jumble it would be a nice gesture for the Club to support these.
Confirmed dates are set out below; I will report any additions in later bulletins.
Saturday 28th April: “On the Wagon” – a 3-man folk group, warmly received in the past .
Wednesday 4th July: Alistair Savage – Scottish Fiddle player, performing a wide range of music.
Saturday 6th October: A Traditional Jazz Group – another popular event.
All concerts begin at 7.30 pm and drinks are served during the Interval. Ticket prices normally £10; under 18’s free.
Events:
Summer BBQ
This will take place on Sunday 20th May. Meet at Waitrose car park Milngavie at 10.30 for a departure at 11.00.
The venue will be The Maid of the Loch at Balloch but will use a different route from last year. The cars will be parked on the pier for photos and an informal judging.
Catering arrangements still have to be confirmed but the intention is to hold it on the pier with the rear lounge on the Maid available in the event of rain. The event is free to members. For catering purposes, please let me know if you are coming.
We have asked for the steam winch to be available for viewing and this has been agreed, subject to volunteer staff being available to operate it.
The Maid is sometimes referred to as “The ship they built twice”. She was built by A&J Inglis, who also built Waverley, on the Clyde very close to where the Riverside Museum is now. She was then dismantled and taken in sections by rail to Balloch where she was re-assembled on the slipway.
Summer Run and Lunch:
This will take place on Sunday 5th August but the venue has still to be decided. This will be announced in a later bulletin but meantime, why not put a note in your diary?
Bus Run:
We are still trying to confirm a date when a vintage bus will be available; again, details will be announced as soon as we have them.
Mid Winter Dinner:
This will again be at the “1051” in Great Western Road near Gartnaval Hospital.
Owing to the way dates fall this year it will be held on Friday 18th January.
This will give us something to look forward to in January which is always a dreich month.
This is close to our Bard’s birthday so any volunteers for a recital will be welcome!!!
Data Protection:
Please sit up and pay attention. This is important and urgent.
Data protection legislation is changing with effect from 25th May and the Club is required to have your permission to hold your personal data.
This information is held for administration purposes only and is not passed on to any outside organisations with the exception of the SVVF who issue the Year Book.
Please complete the separate sheet accompanying this bulletin. You can complete this and return it to me either on line or by Royal Mail. My contact details are set out above.
Changes in MoT legislation:
I am grateful to John Young for this information about changes to the MoT rules for older vehicles which come into effect from 20th May. There are other changes for modern cars, particularly diesels, but these are too lengthy to include here. Cars, vans, motorcycles and other light passenger vehicles won’t need to have an MOT if they’re over 40 years old and have not been substantially altered. At the moment, only vehicles first built before 1960 are exempt from needing an MOT. When the rules change on 20 May 2018, vehicles won’t need an MOT from the 40th anniversary of when they were registered.
Example:
If a car was first registered on 31 May 1978, it won’t need an MOT from 31 May 2018.
You won’t have to apply to stop getting an MOT for your vehicle.
However, each time you tax your historic vehicle (even if you don’t pay a fee), you’ll have to declare it meets the rules for not needing an MOT.
Drive it Day:
How was it for you? I would appreciate any DiD photos for next month’s Bulletin.
The fine spring weather on Saturday caused me to expect something similar on Sunday but that was not the case.
Nothing daunted, I took the Morris to the Summerlee Museum for its first outing of the season. It is running well with the 4 speed box which transforms the car but the rain prevented me opening the bonnet to display the newly painted engine.
There was a good turnout in spite of the indifferent weather. I bumped into Dave Stewart and Gerry Parker. Dave had his ’29 Austin 7 which proved to be the oldest car there and Gerry had his Triumph Herald.
There were some very attractive cars on display including this unusual Alvis.
Incidentally, if you have not been to Summerlee for some time it is well worth a visit. There is a lot to see of when Scotland was a world leader in heavy engineering.
Another bit of motoring trivia for all you petrolheads out there.
There is a lot in the news right now about President Trump and import tariffs but, as this story shows, these are nothing new.
VW VANS AND THE AMERICAN CHICKEN TAX
In the early ‘60s American intensive farming meant that huge quantities of chicken were being dumped on the European market. This threatened the livelihood of poultry farmers and a tax was imposed on these imports as a protection measure.
America retaliated by imposing a 25% tax on light commercial vehicles that effectively priced foreign built trucks out of the market.
However, this tax did not extend to passenger vehicles and foreign built trucks configured as a mini bus or campers were unaffected.
Type 2 VW campers became very popular with American youth, certainly helped by their association with Rock Bands such as the Grateful Dead who gave them publicity that an ad man could only dream of. They sold like hot cakes although, paradoxically, a basic van or pick-up would be very much more expensive.
For this reason, VW campers are still to be seen everywhere in America although the commercial variants are virtually unknown.
When Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead died Rolling Stone magazine ran a picture of a VW van appearing to cry on their front cover.
AND FINALLY:
A couple of motor related pieces of absurdity to finish up on.
A pair of jump leads want to get into a night club but the bouncer stops them at the door.
After some discussion he says: “OK, I’ll let you in but don’t start anything”.
I hope you don’t mind my surreal sense of humour!
That’s all for now, hope to see you at the Maid of the Loch on the 20th.
Ronnie