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WE HAVE OUR WINTER ROAD RUN THIS “”SATURDAY”” HEADING TO JOHNSTOWN CASTLE IN CO.WEXFORD .
WE ARE MEETING IN THOMASTOWN IN THE CAR PARK JUST UP FROM THE OLD GARDA STATION ON THE NEW ROSS ROAD. WE WILL BE HEADING OFF AT 11.30..
WE WILL BE STOPPING FOR LUNCH ON ROUTE
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THERE IS A CLUB MEETING THIS FRIDAY NIGHT IN DANESFORT COMMUNITY HALL . ITS THE LAST ROUND FOR THE TRACTOR RAFFLE TICKETS SO IF YOU CAN PLEASE BRING THEM BACK ON THE NIGHT IF YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED THEM ALREADY..
SEE YE THERE
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Dear Officers and Club Officials,
All you or any member has to do is ring 1800 800 846 reference my name “Jim Dolan” and mention the discount of 15%
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Car of the Month – October 2011
Shughy!
The Person
My name is Hugh Coffey and I live in Co Kilkenny, Ireland. I am a Technology Teacher in an all-boys secondary school. My interests include soccer, hill walking and the mechanical upkeep of my mk1 golf gti sportline cabriolet.
The Purchase
I purchased my mk1 in October 2009 from a guy who lives in Cornwall. I had just completed a mk1 golf clipper refurbishment and was looking for a new project to undertake. The car had 110K on the dials and a full and complete service history. I jumped on a Ryanair flight to Bristol, hoping that I’d like what lay ahead. I wasn’t disappointed. A deal was struck and I returned home with my newly acquired mk1 ten hours later via the Pembroke – Rosslare ferry.
The Project
Having done a lot of research into the sportline model and knowing the numbers produced by VW, it was my intention to keep everything standard and bring it back to near showroom condition. This remains my intention. I have updated the suspension, brakes and anti-roll bars. It was fitted with a Milltek stainless steel exhaust so it has a nice purr. The rear axle was stripped and refurbished last winter, a new petrol tank, filler neck and all auxiliary pipe work have been replaced. It looks almost like new again. With the summer approaching I concentrated on the inside, fitting a new Newton carpet, retrimming my euro sportline steering wheel and gear gaiter.
At the 2010 Annual gathering my mk1 was runner up in the ‘standard’ section, an award which made me very proud. For the last 3 years we have trekked the 570 mile round trip to Coombe Abbey & Uttoxeter. It has never missed a beat! I really enjoy this show – meeting up with old friends and every year making new ones. The car has also picked up a number of prizes at home here too – at Limerick and VAGE shows. With some success at the shows, the car has led me to web design and the start of my second project www.golfgtisportline.com This site is dedicated to the ‘mk1 golf sportline’ and of particular interest is the ‘register of sportlines’ – trying to source how many of the 449 UK registered motors are still about.
Overall I am very happy with the car. It’s quite nippy & fun to drive, gets lots of attention and it’s nice to get the hood down and let the countryside aromas in! I still have a few bits to do. I’d like to get the alloys refurbished and maybe redo the mohair hood seeing as I scooped some spot prizes at this year’s AGM Lol.
Finally, I’d like to thank sincerely all my mk1 friends for their help and support and not least their votes, and in particular a special word of gratitude to my father. It was he who nurtured in me, at an early age, a passion for all things Volkswagen.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers Hugh.
TAKEN FROM MARK 1 GOLF WEB SITE www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk
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DURROW is set to be a traffic blackspot once again next month, although this time around it will be a far more welcome spectacle.
Durrow is the place to be on 16 October as an audacious world record attempt is in the offing. Organisers are looking to get the largest number of High Nelly bikes in one place for an official Guinness World Record attempt. The peleton will travel from Abbeyleix and arrive at the bridge in Durrow.
“We’re now starting the promotion of it. Contacting press, getting adjudicators and the posters are going out today,” said organiser Bobby Campion.
The venture has been born out of the proliferation of High Nelly clubs in south Laois in recent years. Clough, Abbeyleix and Durrow all boast High Nelly clubs. The Durrow group has riders from the ages of seven to 82 years and meets every Wednesday for a cycle.
Promotion of the event has already started with the organiser collaborating with www.highnelly.ie to promote the event.
“We are going to be contacting vintage clubs throughout the country. Austin Ryan, who organises our own rally in Durrow, is doing that. If you have a High Nelly, you’re more than welcome to come down,” Mr Campion said,
The High Nelly Festival is organised in conjunction with the Bluegrass festival and Bob’s Bar.
Mr Campion explained that a demo by the Durrow riders at the recent Howya Festival sowed the seed of the idea for the record attempt.
“We met up in Abbeyleix and cycled into Durrow and the Clough boys came to the demo. We had 65 High Nelly bikes with little effort so, hopefully, we’ll be able to add to that,” he said.
Mr Campion explained the popularity of the event.
“The attraction is you can kill three birds with one stone. You are getting exercise and fresh air, you meet new people of a different clientele and, more importantly, you are doing something that is cheap and cheerful,” he said.
Mr Campion’s own interest in High Nelly bikes stretches back to his By-Gone Museum, which is located in Bob’s Bar.
“People would give me their parents’ old bikes and I would go away and document the bikes and their history. It’s a nice tourist attraction,” he said.
All High Nelly bikes must be usable and people are invited to dress in ’40s and ’50s garb for a period feel.
For more information, contact Bobby on 087 6165454.
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Classic Cars and the Risk of Toxic Exposure
Classic cars are admired the world over. This is mainly because they represent an age in the motor industry when everything was exciting and full of potential. Owners of classic cars treasure them and most take meticulous care of them. What they do not know is that classic cars in general are filled with a number of hazardous toxins that can lead to many health complications. This article serves to show the toxic substances found in classic cars as well as some examples.
Lead
Early in the automobile industry, lead was used in large quantities in paint. Back then car makers did not know that excessive exposure to this metal caused brain damage, learning disabilities, and problems with the kidneys, blood, nerves, and reproductive system. Now, lead paint becomes an issue when collectors are redoing their classic cars. Many seem unaware that the body of their car is filled with lead paint and remove the paint with little to no precautions. When redoing the body of a classic car one should always take careful precautions to ensure they are not exposed to the toxic chemicals once used in paint.
Bromine
Bromine is a raw material that was used in the making of various parts in the car’s interior like the seats, plastic parts in the dashboard, and seat belts. Over exposure to bromine can lead to a host of diseases like learning and memory impairment, decreased fertility behavioral changes, and thyroid complications like hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Bromine is especially prevalent in second and third generation complications.
Asbestos
Asbestos was the main component of older brake pads and is still a common material used in the manufacturing of foreign brake pads. Many assume that their car doesn’t contain asbestos because of modern manufacturing regulations in the United States but this is a naïve assumption. When working on classic cars, asbestos is a major issue. Asbestos exposure has proven to cause health problems such as asbestosis and an aggressive form of lung cancer, mesothelioma. Asbestos is a huge problem with older cars and do it yourself mechanics should heed caution.
Precautions should also be taken when working under the hood. It is especially important to take extra care when working on classic cars because the risk of hazardous chemicals is much higher.
Brian Turner
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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Today, there are about 2,200 Eddie Stobart trucks on the road and the firm’s official fan club boasts no fewer than 25,000 members.
Its lucrative merchandise spin-off covers everything from model trucks to teddy bears, clothes to chocolate bars, watches to wrapping paper.
So how did the Eddie Stobart brand become such a big thing – and how much of it was down to Edward Stobart?
Freight transport expert Geoff Dossetter says Edward Stobart – who built the local agricultural contracting business started by his father, Eddie, into one of the UK’s largest haulage companies – was undeniably an impressive entrepreneur who operated an efficient business operation.
Having started with eight trucks and 12 employees in 1976, by the turn of the century the fleet had expanded to about 1,000 trucks and 2,000 employees, with depots all over the country.
By the time Eddie sold the firm to his brother William and business partner Andrew Tinkler in 2004, it was a multi-million-pound haulage empire.
But Mr Dossetter says the firm was “not the biggest player by a long, long way – nothing like as big as the image”, and what Edward Stobart did so effectively was to “capture the public’s imagination”.
Source: Official Stobart fan club
“The problem we have with the industry is people like what is on trucks, but they don’t like trucks. By using colours and naming his vehicles, it humanised the trucks. Perhaps people saw them less as ugly and gigantesque, and more like a kid’s toy, or a bit of fun.”
Under Edward Stobart’s stewardship, drivers of Stobart trucks also wore collars and ties and were instructed to wave back and honk their horn when signalled by a passer-by.
“He wanted to smarten up the image of truck drivers and the industry – and to his credit, he did,” says Mr Dossetter.
He says Edward Stobart was also savvy in the the way that he recognised there was substance to be made out of promoting the Eddie Stobart brand.
“The company created badges, kids’ spotting kits, it became a big thing. Jools Holland even said he loved Eddie Stobart and spent his time travelling up and down the country spotting trucks!”
If cleaning up the industry’s image was Edward Stobart’s triumph, then giving lorries female names was his masterstroke.
The first was named Twiggy, after the model, and later there was a Tammy and a Dolly, after singers Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.
Today, the fleet includes a Laura Abbey, an Angela Rachel and an Elizabeth Jane – with the privilege of naming new lorries being that of official Stobart fan club members, albeit after a three-year wait.
The spotting craze undoubtedly boosted the Stobart brand.
Fan club member Ben Lord has spotted about 1,000 StobartsActive fan club member Ben Lord, 24, who has been a Stobart spotter since he was about 12, says his family used to while away long motorway journeys trying to spot lorries, and his sister, mother and grandmother have all had trucks with their names on them.
“My nan’s was Beryl Patricia in the late 90s, my mother’s was Glenda Ann and my sister’s truck, Emma Victoria, is still on the roads today.”
He says his family even spent weekends travelling to depots, and he has seen about 1,000 different Stobarts in total. Spotters vary in style, from those that gather fleet numbers or photographs to document the sighting, to those that simply shout “Stobart” when they see a vehicle, he explains.
“Some people might say we are anoraks. Most kids my age were into football, sport and going out, but I was into lorryspotting.com.
“I think it started with the whole collectability thing, the competition. We used to have magazine spot lists. Now there are league tables.”
Mr Lord says Edward Stobart was also a huge inspiration – “an unsung hero in the trucking world” – and one that inspired his career.
“Edward Stobart had created a craze. He made his trucks a household name. It’s down to his idea that I am in business doing what I do today, making models for Stobart and other UK truck companies.”
“Steady Eddie” merchandise has become a very profitable part of the businessSo how did such a simple marketing tool – female names and fleet numbers – become such a big phenomenon?
Steve Hayes, editor of Trucking magazine, says an off-the-cuff remark by a BBC Radio 2 broadcaster about 10-15 years ago was one of the catalysts.
“It was just a remark on a breakfast show, but it seemed to fire imaginations,” he says.
Glenn Patterson, marketing manager of the fan club, says Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers, on Channel 5, also boosted the fan base.
But branding expert Jonathan Gabay says sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.
“Stobart is not just names, it is the people behind the names. It’s a brand for the people, being driven by the people.”
But he says Edward Stobart was really “quite exceptional” in what he achieved.
“Very few brands become legend in their own brand lifetime. And this wasn’t the Apple iPad, a cool, technology brand. The idea of a haulage company capturing the imagination is quite remarkable.”
www.clubstobart.co .uk
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24rd / 25th Sept 2011 Million Rally in the Cotswolds.
10 million owners show off their assets !
FOR MORE PHOTOS AND DETAILS HAVE A LOOK AT WWW.MINORMILLION.CO.UK
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