Two of my loves make the Blog's new masthead banner

Saturday 28th March - 2020

Lazing around at home this morning in voluntary self-isolation due to the Coronavirus restrictions, I decided that it was about time for a change to the masthead banner photograph of my Blog.

It was 13-years ago when Qantas offered an early redundancy package to us old dinosaur ‘Trolly Dollys' and I thought at the time that it would be the perfect exit strategy for me, so I grabbed that golden opportunity with both hands.

Two of the loves on my life. The Qantas B747-438 Jumbo Jet, VH-OJA
and my 1964 Plymouth/Valiant, 2-door, [three-on-the-tree] sedan.

I was fortunate enough to have 34-years service with Qantas Airways and I had decided, ‘enough was enough’ it was now time to change direction in my life while I was still mentally and physically able.

This particular aircraft in the photos is VH-OJA, a Boeing B747-438 Jumbo (City of Canberra) which was in service with Qantas for just a tad over 25-years, so whenever I look at this aircraft it brings back wonderful memories that I would have flown on this very aircraft as crew to the moon and return many, many times over - without a doubt.

It was subsequently donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at the Illawarra Regional Airport in Wollongong, NSW via a delivery flight on 8 March 2015.

Editor's note: The 29th March, 2020 saw the final Qantas B747-400 revenue flight ever. Like me, the Boeing B747 aircraft type, is now completely retired from Qantas Airways passenger operations.

My 1964 Plymouth/Valiant parked below the tail of 
an ex-Qantas Boeing B747-438 at HARS in Wollongong

My Dad used to tell me that when you retire you need a purpose to get out of bed every morning.

Being a Qualified Motor mechanic (before my Qantas career) I decided that it was now time to go back to the nappies and re-ignite my passion for the motor industry and I have not looked back.

Now, I am heavily involved in activities with membership in five Car Clubs that keeps me out of mischief, plus involvement organising the Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show to raise much needed funds for my pet charity The Sylvanvale Foundation.

You all know my Motto: ‘Adventure before Dementia’.

Cheers for now

Warbo

The Squire from the Shire

Time Out on 'The Gem' with Ken

Friday 20th March - 2020

Due to this wretched Coronavirus, many of us over 70's age group have to make changes and look after ourselves much better.

The change came about this week for me when my son Nathaniel came around to my place for dinner on Tuesday evening for a traditional roast leg of lamb with baked veggies, which is my speciality.

During a chat over a leisurely home-baked dinner with all the trimmings, my son said to me that he was very happy that I cancelled my pending 3-months vacation in the UK (actually it was cancelled for me by the Australian Government) this year.

'The Gem' tied up at the pontoon in Burraneer Bay
on the afternoon of our successful day on the high seas

I also had to deal with the postponement of my pride and joy this week. The powers that be informed me on Monday morning that our Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show could not go ahead as planned on Sunday 5th April, 2020. After many months of planning we were all set to go in just over 3-weeks then bang!!! - unfortunately that's how the cookie crumbles.

So now I find myself with a postponed Vintage Car Show, along with a cancelled vacation in the Northern Hemisphere due to regulations that are completely out of my hands.

What's more my son mentioned over dinner that I was in the most vulnerable age group (over 70) to contract this wretched virus, of which I was not impressed with his comments, however he was speaking the truth.

Besides, I still have my Superannuation to spend and I don't cherish the fact of clocking off from life just yet. I have these terrible thoughts of my son Nathaniel perched up in a 1st Class aircraft seat, eating caviar & lobster on board the latest Qantas jet heading off on holidays to wherever in the world without me.

Here's our Esky with our catch of Bonito. (No fake news here).

Back to the story about our day on the high seas yesterday in our 18' Half Cabin clinker launch called 'The Gem'.

During the conversation over dinner Nathaniel mentioned that he went to Woolworths & Coles Supermarkets on Monday to purchase some supplies and when he went to the meat departments the shelves were empty, he didn't even make it to the 'dunny rolls' section!!!

So being totally pissed off he said "Dad, we're going fishing" we don't need to put up with these greedy bastards that have purchased bulk of everything at the supermarkets, we will catch our own 'tucker'.

Yours truly checking that the yellow tail is
a legitimate size off the coast of Cronulla.

At 0600 yesterday (it was still pitch dark) when Nathaniel met me down the front of my property, I had prepared 'The Gem' on Thursday afternoon, filled her up with fuel, checked all of the safety equipment so that we could hit the seas running, Nathaniel's job was to have all the bait & fishing gear all organised.

High tide was at 0700 and I had strict instructions that we needed to be at our favourite fishing grounds a couple of miles off the coast of the Royal National Park at the top of the high tide.

As you can see by the photos above, we had a very productive morning's fishing. We caught a decent feed of Bonito and later on in the morning we caught nice plate-sized Flathead. So needless to say we were very proud of ourselves. 

Cheers for now,
Warbo

'Adventure before Dementia'

NEWS: Our Car Show to be postponed

Tuesday 17th March - 2020

Unfortunately I must inform everyone that this year's Premier event in the Sutherland Shire the 6th Annual Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show has been postponed due to the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic.

As Event Founder and Custodian of this wonderful community event I feel absolutely devastated to relay this unfortunate news to everyone.

Already so many months work has gone into organising this unique event not only by myself but also our many volunteers and the Sylvanvale Foundation personnel that would have delivered the 'Biggest & Best' Vintage Car Show in our six short years to raise funds to support people with disabilities to reach their potential.

The decision was taken completely out of my hands by Australian Government advice, Sutherland Shire Council and the NSW Department of Health.

We feel strongly that our primary responsibility is to protect the people we support who are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as the public, our exhibitors and volunteers.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

As parting words, please stay tuned to our Car Show's social media, including our Facebook Page and our Website. As soon as we work out the future of this event we will let you know all the details ASAP.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone down the track.

Yours sincerely

Ken Warburton

Event Founder and Custodian

To Check out our Car Show's website, click this link: Car Show Blog

To Check out our Car Show's Facebook, click this link: Car Show Facebook Page

Friday Promotions in the Cronulla Mall

Friday 13th March - 2020

Today folks, as the Event Founder and Custodian of the Sylvanvale Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show in Cronulla, I took two of my cars to exhibit in the Cronulla Mall for a promotional day for our upcoming Car Show.

The static display outside the old Cronulla Post Office, gave Autumn shoppers in The Mall a rare chance to have a real close look at a couple of classic vintage vehicles. 

In Cronulla Mall, me with my 1929 AA Ford flat bed truck
and behind is my 1930 Model A Ford, Special Delivery Van
Photo: Steve Core

With just three weeks left to run to our Car Show, we will be in the Cronulla Mall every Friday to promote our Show scheduled for Sunday 5th April, 2020.

In Cronulla mall, me with my 1929 AA Ford flat bed truck
and behind is my 1930 Model A Ford, Special Delivery Van
Photo: Steve Core

The rare Ford AA Truck truck is quite an historic vehicle as it helped construct the Hoover Dam in the US, that sits on the Colorado River on the State Line between Arizona and Nevada.

The Dam was built during the Great Depression and was opened by US President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1936.

Both cars, now 90-years old, will on display at our Show on Sunday 5th April, 2020.


To check out the Car Show Blog CLICK HERE

Honouring a childhood hero of mine

Friday 6th March - 2020

Today, I had the pleasure to attend the unveiling of a Memorial Plaque embedded in the footpath outside the residence of Jeff Freeman's inner-Sydney home by the Mayor of Woollahra, Susan Wynn in memory of the charismatic Australian Speedway legend and all round good guy Jeffrey Freeman.

As a young man growing up in the 'Shire' it was imperative that my Saturday nights were spent at Sydney's Empire Speedway Showground Royale hanging over the safety fence above the Bullpens dodging the clods of dolomite & dirt that these Daredevils would throw up at you.

Jeff Freeman’s ‘awesome’ Offenhauser No. 75 Midget Speedcar.

We watched in complete awe of their skills on the cinders as they raced around the 1/3 mile track entertaining 30,000 spectators every Saturday evening during the summer.

Every Saturday afternoon I would catch the 'red rattler' (train) from suburban Miranda to Central Railway station, then board the bus that then took thousands of fans to the nearby Sydney Showground to be entertained like you would not believe by these insane men getting their thrills racing around a small track risking their lives at breakneck speeds.

The great man himself, Jeff Freeman, in the mid-'60s

When I talk about these halcyon days to today's younger generation, they seem to think that the current Parramatta Speedway is the be all to end all, well unfortunately they have absolutely no idea of what Speedway racing was like in the '60s at the mighty Royale.

Every Saturday night, 30,000 plus spectators would cramp into the Sydney Showground to watch Solo Bikes, Sidecars, Midgets, Super modified, and if you were lucky the last event of the evening would be a Demolition Derby where the winner is the last man and car standing.

In a total of 107 career feature race starts at the Sydney Showground, Freeman won 19, placed second 15 times, with 14 thirds. That’s a 45% podium strike rate.

Snippets and highlights from a great racing career
cut short by a fatal accident at Westmead Speedway

My hero was none other than Jeff Freeman, a working class hero, motor mechanic, that also worked for Qantas Airways in their sheet metal shop. Jeff lived at Unit 4, 186 Glenmore Road, Paddington with his mother Mayfree. Jeff was born in Mudgee, NSW.

This man's name will always be embedded at the very top of the list whenever anyone talks about Speedway in Australia. From a very humble beginning this awesome Speedcar driver rose to be Australia's greatest Champion bar none in the few short years that he spent on this planet.

Now this is the sort of man I am talking about, now listen up you may learn something.

A close-up of the flying Freeman No.75 Offenhauser cockpit

In photo [below] you can see a middle aged gentleman with a huge bandage on his mellon, his name is Peter Carrall, I spoke to him today to find out his story about why he was attending the ceremony, and this is what he told me.

At the age of seven Peter was a street kid, his Mum and Dad were hopeless alcoholics, Jeff Freeman befriended him and took him under his wing. Peter told me today that if it was not for Jeff Freeman he probably would be either dead or in jail.

And I bet you didn't know this about Jeff Freeman. He took the time to learn sign language for the deaf children who often attended the Speedway from various Deaf and Dumb schools. Jeff would meet his fans on the grass where the trackside Sinclair Stand is and talk to them in sign language.

Long time Freeman fan, Peter Carrall, made sure he was
in attendance at today's dedication to pay tribute to an old friend
In the photo behind, that's a much younger Peter Carrall standing
in-between Jeff Freeman and NSW Champion, John Harvey

While I am on a roll I must tell you about a couple of Jeff's American competitors that I was fortunate enough to see race against him here in Australia in the '60s.

Sherman 'Shove em' Cleveland. (1937-1966) This guy was truly a Bad Ass in a Midget or a Sprint Car. I watched this guy on a number of occasions when he toured Down-Under in the middle '60s. Unfortunately Sherman was killed at Calistoga Fairgrounds in Napa County in California shortly after he returned home from one of his trips to Australia. He was only 29-years-old.

Bob 'Two Gun' Tattersal. He was the greatest American driver to ever set foot in Australia. 'Two Gun' dominated the Sydney Showground for a decade. The sixties were Tattersal's years not only at the Sydney Showground Royale but other capital city venues. Tattersal died on October 27th 1971 of illness way too young at 47-years-old.

Jeff Freeman’s Golden Fleece Trophy
for winning the 1965 Australian Grand Prix.

Now, why am I telling you all this information?

These Americans were at the top of their game when our man from down under 'kicked their arse'. As a matter of fact when Jeff Freeman won the Golden Fleece Australian Grand Prix in 1965 Bob Tattersal had organised for our local hero to go to America to compete in 18 fixtures throughout the US.

The former Freeman home as it stands today with the red 
arrow indicating the placement of today's new plaque
on the footpath [see the photo below for full details]

Unfortunately we will really never know how good Jeff Freeman would have been, because less that 2-months later after winning the Australian Grand Prix Jeff Freeman was killed instantly during a 15-lap Main Event race on a rain soaked track at Westmead, NSW on Mother's Day, May 9th 1965 - at just 27-years-old.

That day was one of the saddest days of my young life, because I was track-side on that fateful day to witness my hero killed.

I was only 18 years of age at that time, I can remember it just like it was yesterday. At the time, Jeff Freeman's funeral was the biggest sporting funeral in Sydney.

The newly installed plaque embedded in concrete in the footpath
outside Jeff Freeman's former home located at 
Unit 4, 186 Glenmore Road, Paddington, NSW

Jeff was laid to rest in his town of birth, Mudgee, NSW, at the Mudgee Lawn Cemetery. When his mother, Mayfree, passed in 1995, she requested to be buried with her very special boy.

And that my friends is another tale from my Highway of life.

I hope that you enjoyed the memories of a very special human being that went way to soon. RIP Jeff, because you gave us so many wonderful memories and you were always a true gentleman.

Stay safe my friends.

Ken

Greetings from Hedley & Sandy in Seaford, England

Wednesday 4th March - 2020

One of the redeeming features about writing this Blog is all the nice comments I get from everyone. This week I received this unsolicited email from a couple I don't even know in the UK. How lovely, here it is...

Hi Ken,

We live in England, at Seaford on the South Coast. We get the NSW Model A Club news letters along with many others, via email, and much enjoyed reading your blog!

Our son lives in Dee Why on Sydney's northern beaches and we have been for extended holidays to Australia a number of times. 

This blue Model A Ford, a 1930 two-door coupe
was the one that was subsequently written off

We have had two Model A Fords, a coupe and cabriolet. While at a rally over here we met a couple from Victoria who had a Phaeton, a long story short, we did a couple of National rallies with them, Adelaide and Bathurst also the Bay to Birdwood run.

When we get tired of Dee Why, we would head off into proper Oz! Where we enjoyed rural NSW Queensland and Victoria, and travelled the Bells Line of Road lots of times so it is sad to see the fruit farms and bush burnt, also the Zig Zag railway and we feel so sorry for the people and wildlife lost. 

This red one was the replacement, a 1930 Cabriolet, with
a model B engine, when we had finished getting it right!
Turned out being lovely, and much admired and missed!

We found Junee and the roundhouse on our trips to Echuca to see our pals with the Phaeton! and really enjoyed the outback, loved Australia, sadly ill health precludes any more visits, so we enjoy catching up with all the newsletters, and Outback Truckers!, but it's the first time I have found your blog, which took us back!

We had to part with the Model A Fords, first one, the Coupe written off by a drunk driver when coming home from a rally, fortunately I was on my own, but still suffered broken bones etc, we then got a Cabriolet from USA which turned out to need a lot of work, which kept me out of trouble for a few months and I could have done with out all the exxtra work!

Our current 1966 Mustang, 289 Coupe, imported from California in 1968,
 we have had it since 2010 and got it re-registered a couple of 
years later in order to have the correct year number plate

I wonder why do these people so misrepresent their cars when selling them? We had that for about four years and it was lovely when finished, but access for Sandy was eventually impossible.

So we now have '66 Mustang which I can get her in and out of and we enjoy that. Well I won't bore you anymore. I do look forward to the next one.

All the best, 
Hedley & Sandy Revett

Seaford, England