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A profusely illustrated book, 'Speed Monarch' with a life of Brooklands speed record hero Eric Fernihough is getting gre...
28/10/2024

A profusely illustrated book, 'Speed Monarch' with a life of Brooklands speed record hero Eric Fernihough is getting great publicity in the UK, not to mention the Netherlands, Germany, the United States and Australia. Illustrated feature articles can be seen in the current or recent VSCC Bulletin, The Automobile, Antique Motorcycle (USA), MotorRijwiel, MotoPlus, Vintage and Classic Motorcycle, Motor Klassic and coming any day are the Brooklands Bulletin, Motorrad Markt and Octane magazines with a review in Motor Sport.

The book draws to a large extent on the Fernihough papers in BROOKLANDS MUSEUM. A copy will be raffled at the Brooklands Members dinner on Friday 29 Novermber.

Below are some spreads from one article just to give you an idea of the coverage. If you want a book for Christmas best go to our webpage at www.loosefillings.com and click on ORDER NOW which will take you to a sales portal to pay for delivery direct from the printer in the UK. Price is £85 plus packing and postage, and that's for over 500 pages and nearly as many photographs, most of which have never been published before.

You can also buy direct from the following specialist online bookshops which may suit you better
www.chaters.co.uk
www.hortonsbooks.co.uk
www.vintagemotorcyclebooks.com
www.automotobookshop.com.au
www.gilena.it
www.autobooks-aerobooks.com

Graham Branch of Port Macquarie reports on his first visit to the Goodwood Revival in September. Thirty air-cooled cars ...
15/10/2024

Graham Branch of Port Macquarie reports on his first visit to the Goodwood Revival in September. Thirty air-cooled cars were entered for the Earl of March Trophy race, marking the first attendance of these cars since 2019. Cars were presented to a high standard and included an array of Cooper J**s, Cooper Nortons, a JBS Norton, Erskine Starides, Iota J*P, Mackson Norton, Martin Norton, Petty Norton, Cousy Triumph, Comet J*P, Smith Buckler J*P , Arnott J*P , Flash Norton, JP Vincent and the Australian made Trenberth Vincent. Some pit views are attached.

Sad to say, the race itself was a washout in torrential rain as you may have seen in an online video. Attempts to post more photos have failed but we are working on it. This one will give an idea of the extent of the paddock facilities, the nearest car being the Flash Norton Special.

Peter Fagan reports on the Barossa Vintage Hillclimb 2024Three 1100cc Cooper-J**s and four drivers attended the 2024 run...
09/10/2024

Peter Fagan reports on the Barossa Vintage Hillclimb 2024

Three 1100cc Cooper-J**s and four drivers attended the 2024 running of the Barossa Vintage Hillclimb at Collingrove, near Angaston in the South Australian wine region west of Adelaide.

The social side of this hillclimb in the Barosa Valley is always a highlight of the year, and this one was no exception with the SA Sporting Car Club putting on a Friday night welcome dinner, a Saturday morning tea at the track before a low-key sighting run up the hill, pizzas for lunch at a local winery, an evening dinner and a Sunday farewell dinner, both at local pubs with copious amounts of local red wine to share.

On Saturday morning we arose to damp conditions, so one run on a slippery track was enough to confirm everything was in order for Sunday’s serious stuff when we arrived at the track in light rain. First honours on run 1 went to Derek Foster who was sharing the Mk 6 with Peter Fagan. Brian Simpson in the Mk 9 was not far behind and Stephen Denner was making the most of his factory option differential in the Mk 5.

The track slowly dried as the sun came out and times decreased accordingly, but somehow gremlins crept in. The Mk 5 was suffering from an electrical fault, the Mk 9 had a recurring misfire in the higher rev range and the Mk 6 had a slipping clutch, so all 3 cars missed runs in the middle of the day.
Both the Mk5and Mk6 issues were resolved in time for some fast runs in the afternoon. On his 4th run Peter Fagan in the Mk 6 went gardening off track. He redeemed himself in the Top 5 Shoot Out to finish with a pb time of 35.44s, but was unable to better the class record of 35.07s set by our mentor Chas McGurk, aka Derry Greeneklee, in 1991.

Derek Foster was second fastest of the Cooper drivers in the same Mk 6, followed by Brian in the Mk 9 with a respectable time given the ongoing misfire. Stephen had lost the advantage of the differential on the now dry and fast track in the Mk 5, but still managed to set a PB and was extremely close to his target time.

Once again a fantastic weekend. The pic attached shows the Mk 9 of Brian Simpson and the Mk 5 of Stephen Denner waiting their turn, while the second is Peter Fagan looking for grip to get back on the track.

08/10/2024

The editor wonders why both the British and French pages have been named after ''F3". Where do people with big-twins go for their daily doses of social media?

All three together at Pheasant Wood recently46 - Mk 5 Cooper Irving (Vincent S/C) - Rod North26 - Mk9 Cooper J*P - Brian...
30/09/2024

All three together at Pheasant Wood recently
46 - Mk 5 Cooper Irving (Vincent S/C) - Rod North
26 - Mk9 Cooper J*P - Brian Simpson
126 Mk6 Cooper J*P - Peter Fagan

Some great pics from Pheasant Wood last weekend. #126 is Peter Fagan and his Mk6 Cooper-J*P, #26 is Brian Simpson and ...
12/09/2024

Some great pics from Pheasant Wood last weekend. #126 is Peter Fagan and his Mk6 Cooper-J*P, #26 is Brian Simpson and #46 is Rob North's Cooper Vincent with supercharger. Thanks to love our cars photography Terry Wright

With a few of our regulars unable to attend the recent Pheasant Wood pre 1960 Historic race meeting, we had no less than...
10/09/2024

With a few of our regulars unable to attend the recent Pheasant Wood pre 1960 Historic race meeting, we had no less than three big twin Coopers to fly the air-cooled flag on the weekend of 7 and 8 August, writes Peter Fagan. Entered were Rod North in the very desirable Irving Vincent supercharged Mk5 Cooper, Peter Fagan in the J*P 1100 Mk6 Cooper and Brian Simpson in the identically powered Mk9 Cooper.

The Saturday combined practice & qualifying got underway on a damp track, with Peter in the Mk6 taking pole, Rod in the Mk5 in P6 and unfortunately Brian suffering from a misfire in the Mk9 taking P8. Race 1 was won comfortably by Peter, but Brian had somewhat solved his misfire and enjoyed a nice drive through the field to take P2 at the finish. Rod was coming to grips with the power delivery of the blown Vincent climbing to 3rd.

Progressive grids now meant we had 3 twin Coopers at the front of the field for race 2, and what a sensory overload it was to watch and listening to sound these 3 mighty V twin engines on song into turn one. Unfortunately, Rod spun exiting turn 2 leaving the Mk6 and Mk9 to battle it out at the front. The lead swapped two or three times on EVERY lap of the 5 laps to the delight of the crowd and it was no doubt the race of the meeting. Peter got the better of Brian on the last lap to take the win by less than a second, but Brian had bragging rights with the fastest lap of the race.

Three races were held on Sunday. Unfortunately Brian lost drive bringing his meeting to an end. Rod steadily improved his times in between another couple of spins and managed a very deserving 2nd in the last race of the day. Peter’s Mk5 J*P behaved itself all weekend and he was rewarded with first place in each of the three scratch races as well as a second and first in the two handicap races.

This annual meeting in New South Wales is one not to be missed by air-cooled enthusiasts. The track & paddock layout, racing format and relaxed atmosphere is ideally suited to our little cars. Save the date for next year (first weekend in September) and start now getting your cars ready.

The trophy presentation saw the prestigious Ashley Cowan trophy for air-cooled cars awarded by Nick Mansell and Robert Rowe (left and centre) to Rod North (right) in the Cooper Irving. Rod has the blown Vincent running reliably and is improving with every outing. Once he understands that a Phil Irving engineered S/C Vincent needs a gentle throttle application he will be hard to beat.

We will post some action pics as they become available.

After many years in California, the Ivan Tighe built Tighe Vincent has returned to Australia. First winner of the Ashley...
30/08/2024

After many years in California, the Ivan Tighe built Tighe Vincent has returned to Australia. First winner of the Ashley Cowan Encouragement Award Peter Johnson had sold it to John Streets in San Francisco and recently Peter brought it back to Australia.

Winner of the Australian Hillclimb Championship at Silverdale, NSW in 1964, in 1500cc form, it was later advertised for sale in AMS in July 1965 for £A600 by Ivan. Little is currently know about subsequent owners, though it is believed to have had an east-west mini set up in place of the potent Vincent twin.

It is thought to have been owned by the late Dr Rob Kirkby at some stage, with work to restore it to Vincent form possibly undertaken by David Rapley. Anyone with information on the car's life story is welcome to contact Loose Fillings and or post here with more details.

Interestingly, 68 years later Ivan's son Dean also won the Australian Hillclimb Championship. We must say that the car looks to have been in exceptionally good hands during its time in California.

Welcome back to Oz!

Cooper twin configuration late '49, to early 1950 before the alloy head Mk1 engine came out. Let me try to explain. The ...
30/08/2024

Cooper twin configuration late '49, to early 1950 before the alloy head Mk1 engine came out. Let me try to explain. The first '8/80 O.H.V. TWIN J.A.P. O.H.V. ENGINE' general arrangement drawing number 1362 undated but probably 1936 does not have a sump or a recirculating oil pump.

In 1949 a sump and a circulating oil pump were added - presumably for use in the new Cooper cars - and this was on general arrangement drawing 1505 with a date that seems to be May or June 1949. The engine title was '8/80 O.H.V. TWIN - DRY SUMP'. At some point, as in the August 1949 Blandford example here, the alloy barrel was substituted for the iron type. I would think that the cars that came to Australia late in 1949 would be like that - was that so?

Then, in the first half of 1950, but having been designed, tested and reported earlier, the alloy head was introduced. The engine was renamed the '1100cc O.H.V. TWIN Mk1 DRY SUMP' on drawing 1506 which seems to have been done at the same time as 1505 above. It is easy to see how people may have thought that the second engine above was the Mk1 and the third engine was the Mk2 as it is widely known but that is not so.

Some day I will do a drawing that might help explain this.

11/08/2024

Here's a bit more information on the KY Special featured earlier here and elsewhere. Garry Simkin writes that the KY Vincent was the work of Hobart, Tasmania, man Keith Young, with work starting in May 1960 and concluding in September 1962. In its supercharged form he managed 13.7 seconds for the quarter mile but we find little later mention of a competition history. The car is understood to have been sold to multiple championship winning road and speedway side-car racer Sandy McRae of Queensland, (probably just for the engine,) thence to Joe Wilson who on-sold it to Tim Hocking. Tim then moved it to Tony Skinner of Sydney who started work on it before selling to an enthusiast in Japan, where it resides to this day.

After a 12 year hiatus the Ashley Cowan Encouragement Award for Air Cooled Enthusiasts is again up for grabs. Previous w...
10/08/2024

After a 12 year hiatus the Ashley Cowan Encouragement Award for Air Cooled Enthusiasts is again up for grabs. Previous winners,have been Peter Johnson, Garry Simkin, John Caffin, Derry Greeneklee, John Coffin, Terry and Rae Perkins, Brian Simpson and John Gale.

Polished up, and now with a new base for more names, it is to be awarded at the Pre 1960s meeting at Pheasant Wood in September. Get that air-cooled car out of moth balls and enter up for this event on a circuit ideally suited to our cars.

Thanks to Garry Simkin for the trophy make-over after which it is looking splendid.

04/08/2024

The Loose Fillings page has been a bit quiet simply because the editor has been busy publishing his book on Eric Fernihough and the world motorcycle speed record up to WW2. The website www.loosefillings is a bit clogged up with the business of promoting and selling the Loose Fillings Publishing (yes, seriously) book but that is no reason for the page to be idle. Feel free to post anything relevant - as far as I know anyone can post but if not just email me and I will do it.

Coming up is an event that is perfectly suited to air-cooled cars. It's the All Historic Race Meeting at Pheasant Wood,...
04/08/2024

Coming up is an event that is perfectly suited to air-cooled cars. It's the All Historic Race Meeting at Pheasant Wood, NSW on the weekend of September 7 & 8. It is a car and bike meeting, for pre 1961 cars (J, K & L plus vintage sports cars) and pre 1963 (P1, P2 & P3) motorcycles.

For those that don't know, Pheasant Wood circuit is just out of Goulburn, NSW. It is a tight little track that is ideal for our type of car. The event has been run for the last 2 years and is a very relaxed, informal and enjoyable weekend.

So far we have 4 or 5 committed but it would be great to get some more and make this one of the largest air cooled fields we have seen.

Here is the link to the entry page. If you need any more information please do not hesitate to email the organisers at Pheasant Wood: [email protected] .

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Turn the sound on! Four air-cooled big-twin Coopers took part in the Collingrove historic hillclimb in South Australia on 1 October last weekend. Rod North ran his 1957 Australian Hillclimb Championship winning Cooper Irving and found that a reduced compression and slower blower made for good reliable running. Stephen Denner ran his JAP 1100 engined Mk5 Cooper and enjoyed having a functioning on- board starter. Brian Simpson was in his Mk9 JAP 1100 Cooper and engaged in a spot of off-road activity to make things interesting, while Peter Fagan alternated between his Mk 6 Cooper (JAP 1100) and his AJS motorcycle. However he found changing between leathers and driving suit between runs became something of a chore. In attendance, and keeping an eye on three of his former cars was the evergreen Derek Greeneklee. The editor has heard that time of 36 or so seconds was done by one of the cars which would be sensationally good - is there any confirmation of that to hand? Photos and more information to follow as it emerges. Meanwhile here is some video from Peter Fagan. More follows on the Loose Fillings webpage.

Just working up a story for Loose Fillings about starter motors and trying to work out how to embed this video in the webpage ... giving up for the moment but here is the video of Garry Simkin's Cooper Norton starting up. Tip - turn the sound on or up.

Bill Tuer and Hamish Bibby at Anglesey 22 June 2018
Bill Tuer and Hamish Bibby at Anglesey 22 June 2018

Loose Fillings is on tour and spent the weekend at the fablulous Anglesey circuit watching Morgans race. Lovely spot, a bit like Phillip Island. But never mind the view - what about the sound? (You may have to turn it on below)

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For the full story go to www.loosefillings.com where we post longer stories and you can find all 49 printed issues of Loose Fillings as downloadable pdfs.