Motormarques.com | Classic car revival

RACV - Great Australian Rally  18 Jan 2011

From Bill Hunter

   Mornington Racecourse has class. The annual RACV Great Australian Rally is a carnival, a museum, a magnificent event that
attracts thousands of patrons from all parts of the country. They don't all just turn up in  their everyday cars, either, but polish up their grand
old treasures such as pre-World War Model Ts and Raymond Lowey-designed  Studebakers, to take to the M3 Freeway (tollway) out of
town, for the long drive down ro the great event.

Motormarques arrived slightly ahead of the crowd,  with enough time to meet up with old acquaintances and find a good parking spot under
the pine trees.

It was good to have a chat with Thys Stryker (below) putting the final touches to his 1930 Singer Junior - the car that won the Best
Vintage Car award at this same rally last year. .

“When I acquired the car," he said, " it was not much more than a chassis, a motor, and part
of a scuttle," 

  .

 The three images below give readers an idea of the quality of Thys' restoration.

On the right  his car is shown in company with the magnificent Singer 4A belonging to Rey Oaks (Left) and the equally magnificent Le Mans (Centre)
belonging to its restorer, Club President, Peter Lester. The rest of the august company comprises, Dale Hunter, Graham Martin, and Andy Bull. .

Above: Thys Striker's 1930 Singer Junior	Above: Thys gained experience as a mechanic with the Singer Sewing Machine Company	Above: The swallow that deflects bugs from the windscreen.	Above: Preparation of the Singer display.

I had to hurry to catch John Duke, who  is the owner of the green 1923 Lancia  Lambda second series, four seater.

So saying, he was off again in a flash.

Above: Post-war Citroën and 1936 Riley Lynx	Above: The Morvaux Australian Special	Above: John Duke and his 1923 Lancia Lambda	Above: Rod Hokin's 1925 Chrysler

Like many a fan of the trumpet player Bix Biederbeck (1903 - 1931) and the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 – 1940), I have long been attracted to
the great old automobiles of the time.

I was in for a treat when I met Hugh Guthrie.

Above: Hugh Guthrie's 1916 Stutz. Note 2 spark plugs per cylinder	Above: Hugh Guthrie - frequently asked about his amazing car

The big red car is a Stutz Bearcat of 1916. Bearcats were built in Indianapolis from 1911 till 1935. The present owner, Hugh Guthrie, has had
it since 1952.

Hugh Guthrie: "It was my first car. I found it in what was then Dandy Park Motors. It was a wreck on three wheels. I put a body on it and
used it for two years, then put it away in a garage until about 1988 when I fully restored it to the way is now."

Motormarques: "Something else happened in your life in 1988?"

Hugh Guthrie:  "I retired in 1988. I had been a communications engineer for the PMG - mainly electronics."

Motormarques: "I'm guessing that you retired more than once."

Hugh Guthrie: "I retired probably three times, and now that I am not tied down I amable to do a lot more work on the car. I am just nudging 80".

Motormarques: "So am I."

Hugh Guthrie "That's a young age."

Motormarques: "Tell me about it."

.

Hugh Guthrie: "You have to be careful when you take a big beast out like this to drive that you realise you're not quite as agile as you were 50 years ago."

Motormarques: "You also attract a certain amount of attention ?"

Hugh Guthrie: "Yes, and people tend to pull out in front of you to see what sort of a car you've got.. Then you have got to put the brakes on."

Motormarques: "Oh great!, very good manners."

Hugh Guthrie: "Front wheel brakes did not come in until 1923. It was Chenard et Walcker, I think, who introduced them. The front suspension - as soon
as you put the brakes on wrapped the springs up and then of course they had to unwrap and you got terrible front end shudder. It took them a long time
to work out front suspensions and brakes."

Motormarques: "I notice, as I look in the engine, that there are eight cotton bound plug leads."

Hugh Guthrie: "There are two spark plugs per cylinder. You start on the inner plugs, and get going, and then when that motor is going you turn over to
both plugs to make it run a lot smoother. The magneto is such that it provides a much stronger spark to just the four plugs, to get going - you have a better
chance of getting it started with a stronger spark on those four initial plugs."

Motormarques: "What sort of revs has the engine got?"

Hugh Guthrie: "It idles about 128, and I have never revved it past 3000 rpm."

Motormarques: "What speed would that be ?"

Hugh Guthrie: "At those revs you would be doing about 75 mph. In the period after the First World War, that was really something. These cars and the
later models were the thing to be seen in. Red blooded young American boys liked to be seen in them."

Motormarques wouldn't mind being seen in one doing 75 mph either.

	Above: Lotus Mk VI	Above: MG SA Peking to Paris