We start looking now towards the Federal Rally on the South Coast of New South Wales hosted by the ACT Branch. The Canberra Crew report they have worked hard to make this a memorable rally and it is certainly being held in a very pretty part of the State in the Shoalhaven.

Recently I mentioned how our own Armstrong Siddeley had performed so well on our three state tour over 2500 miles last October. Athol Duncan in commenting to me about the trip wrote, “The unfortunate thing has so often been that our Club members have not used their cars much over a year. Then a Federal Rally takes place and old Sid is expected to be in fine fettle to get them there. The result is lots of trouble.”

There is a real message in Athol’s wise observation. Often we drive our modern vehicles because they are convenient and fully registered. We leave our hobby car in the garage and in many cases; the car is carrying restricted registration in the form of club plates. The more cars we own the more the problem increases. Please plan your overhaul and maintenance now, don’t think about it just at the beginning of May. Just in Time is a great idea in merchandising management, it is not appropriate for planning the preparation of your apparent treasure car to drive some distance to the Federal Rally. There can be real pain, upset and anguish behind the face of the good humoured person who wins the trophy for the “Hard Luck Story”.

As a student, one of the prescribed books I read was “Future Shock” by Alvin Toffler, some academics of the time pooh poohed Toffler’s work citing poor referencing, lightweight research and a host of other criticisms. The book dealt with change; as we get older, it is a fact change becomes more challenging. The computer as a sophisticated tool has accelerated change. We should never forget the computer is a tool. It is the combination of technology as a whole that is altering the way we do business, how we live and how we socialize. The car club website and the “Southern Sphinx” presentation are great examples of the level of sophistication and technology that assist our interest in Armstrong Siddeley Cars.

The Armstrong Siddeley Car Club provides a range of services to members in sourcing spare parts and technical information. These services are the result of many hours of willing voluntary service to the ASCC. Members use their vast array of talents to the benefit of the whole organisation. Over the lifetime of this club the great pool of information and technical resources has grown without fanfare. The manner of service delivery will continue to evolve because of the technology altering the way we do business, how we live and how we socialize in our everyday lives. Individually we need to adjust so that we can take advantage of change to enjoy our club.

Over Christmas I had the opportunity to read about the Armstrong Siddeley teams entered in the Monte Carlo Rallies of the early 1950’s. The document titled "The Jewel of the Monte Carlo Rally" - is a lively account showing our marque involved in exciting rallies. Certainly the world has changed and we have a marque that ceased production in 1960. However, our cars represent a wonderful period of British car manufacture. We would do well to increase our own profile by identifying with other car makers who used common components through the era to re-enforce the size of our related "footprint" in the enthusiast's mind. This strategy could provide further inspiration to keen Armstrong Siddeley restorers in getting their special vehicles on the road again.

Happy Motoring,
Tony Carter
ASCC President