mx-press · mx-press sep-oct 2007 2 for someone as enthusiastic about cars as i am, a big motor...

MX-presswww.mx5club.com.au

Founded 1990

Sep-Oct 2007Editing, design and production Simon Corston & Bob Sharpe

Mazda MX-5 Club of WA inc members have reciprocal rights with other Mazda MX-5 clubs in Australia.

Motor ShowPresident’s Report

Motor SportJDM Look

PLUSComing Events

Humour UsMembership Update

For Sale...and much more

The (wood) chips are flying at Jarrahdale Fair.This veteran of log-chopping has been log-chop-ping competitively for 66 years. He’s slowing down now, but I bet he could beat any of us.Read more of this in the event write-up for the 7th October Sunday Cruise.

2MX-press Sep-Oct 2007

For someone as enthusiastic about cars as I am, a big motor show is a really

enjoyable event. New models, concept cars, special show editions, even race cars, are brought along to add to the ap-peal and spice up the stands. In Australia, the Australian International Motor Show is the biggest around.

Previously called the Sydney Motor Show, it is held in October at Darling Harbour, in the Sydney Convention Centre. I’ve never managed to be in Sydney at Motor Show time, so this year, I decided to go there just for the show. It turned out to be a great weekend.

I flew over on the midnight flight on Friday Oc-tober 12th, arriving in Sydney at 7.30 am after an early morn-ing stop in Melbourne. Surprising-ly, I caught a good couple of hours sleep, and felt quite bright by the time I arrived at Darling Harbour. Perfect Perth-style weather awaited me, and it was a pleasure to chat to the organisers of the special 4WD track set up outside, as I waited for the doors to open at 9:00 am.

Over 50 new models were on display this year, some many months in advance of being released in Australia. There were also 20+ concept cars, some of which had been airlifted from the Frank-furt Show last month, and which would be trans-ported straight to the To-kyo Show later in October.

Some of the manufacturers’ stands had mezzanine floors and sweeping staircas-

Australian International Motor Showes, others had special rotating plinths, and most would have cost many thousands of dollars to set up. Mitsubishi and Jeep were two makes with half a dozen cars up on a higher level.

Of the new production cars on show, I was really impressed by the Mitsubishi Evo X – much more stylish than the new WRX, and a much better car too. The new Holden Commodore Sportwagon really impressed me as well. Ford’s new Mondeo also looked good, though the interior looked garish – I think the “Twin under the skin” new

Mazda 6 was better. Mazda had a True Red Road-ster Coupe MX on the stand, and people were happily whizzing the roof up and down.

Of the more exotic production cars, I fell in love with the Audi R8 – very compact, stylish and beautifully built, it is rated as bet-ter dynamically than

a Porsche 911 by many journalists. The new Maserati Gran Turismo looked much better in the metal than pictures indi-cated, though it looks and is a big heavy car. Lotus had the new semi-track car, the 2 Eleven. This is basically a stripped out super-charged Exige with no doors or roof. I tried it for size, and guess what – it fitted me per-fectly! The price tag of

$127,500 is way out of my league though. An-other new model which really impressed me was the BMW M3 V8 – com-plete with unpainted carbon fibre roof.

My pick of the many concept cars was a real

surprise. I am not generally a fan of the new BMW styling, but their CS Concept four-door coupe was just gorgeous. Over

five metres long and nearly two metres wide, it was stunning and made the Ma-serati Quattroporte look quite ordinary!

The Hyundai Veloster sports car was also impressive, and Skoda showed their Yeti small 4WD wagon concept car, which has just been announced for production. This looks as stylish and special as the New Mini, and I think it will sell really well in Australia when it comes in a couple of years.

Honda showed their RA272 formula 1 car from 1965 – the first Japanese car to win a Grand Prix. It had a 1.5 litre V12, and looked very basic compared to race cars of today. Maserati had a 1957 250F, surely the best-looking front-engined Grand Prix car ever? And Porsche showed the ALMS

RS Spyder sports car that Aus-sie Ryan Briscoe has driven this year to a cur-rent third place in the cham-pionship.

I’ve proba-bly missed

out many other cars worth seeing – the show is so comprehensive that you could easily spend a whole day there. With all the Darling Harbour attractions and eating places handy, you can get some fresh air for an hour overlooking the water, then head in again for another stroll around.

I will definitely be planning to make a return visit next year!

Ash Price

Lotus 2 Eleven plus Ashley

Skoda Yeti

Audi R8 - 4 litre V8 and 4WD

BMW Concept CS show car


All state clubs are listed at www.mx-5club.com.auPresident’s ReportContents...................................................................MX-press Sep-Oct 2007

Features2 Australian International Motor Show

8 Mazda Performance Drive Day

9 JDM Look

10 World Domination

13 Members’ Articles

19 Through the Lens

20 The Ups and Downs of the Retract-able Hardtop - Part One

Regulars3 President’s Report

4 Editor’s Desk

4 Membership Update

5 Past/Coming Events

6 Event Write-Ups

11 Humour Us

12 Bits ‘n’ BobS

14 Computer Corner

15 Around The Club

16 Motor Sport Report

18 For Sale

Cover Photograph: Veteran (78) log chop-per at Jarrahdale Fair October Cruise by Simon Corston.-------------------------------------------------------The Mazda MX-5 Club of WA does not provide valuations for cars, it does not endorse or recommend any insurance company, serv-ice agent or parts/accessories vendor. The opinions of individual club members do not represent official club policy.-------------------------------------------------------MX-press is the newsletter of the Mazda MX-5Club of WA Inc....................................................................All contributions are welcome. Articles and photographs should be emailed to [email protected]

For those of you who didn’t attend the club AGM or notice the name changes

on the committee list in the last MX-press (page 18), I am now the President of our illustrious club.

As mentioned at the AGM I feel honoured to be elected to this role and I will en-deavour, along with a strong committee, to fulfil the obligations of the office and do my best for the club and its members. I particularly admire the excellent job David Turk did as my predecessor as he has handed over the club in a very healthy condition.

We already face a small challenge and that is the loss of the Wheelspin venue for our monthly technical gatherings after work. In the short term we have been offered the Yacht Doctor’s workshop as a venue, thanks to Peter Coleman. Ideas for alternate venues are being considered by Aart ter Kuile. If you have a possible venue please let Aart or someone on the committee know about it.

Aart ter Kuile has kicked off the new club year with an interesting line up. Our first Sunday cruise took us through the hills and ended at the Grand Prix 50th anni-versary at Caversham. How many of you even knew there were Grand Prix held in WA back then? The next Sunday cruise was another hilly run ending in Jarrahdale at their annual fair. You will note the cover page picture that was taken at the event. It makes a change from another car shot. See if you can spot the flying woodchip.

Alan Wallace (now driving his Porche after selling his SP to Wayne O’Brien) contin-ues to do a great job as Treasurer with the club accounts at an all time high. So there is no truth about the holiday in Bali or the Porche payments then, Alan?

Importantly, our club membership num-

bers have exceeded 100 thanks to the tireless efforts of Ashley Price. The feeling is positive about the rate of renewals given that we have only just reached the end of October.

A new initiative is the professional printing of our membership cards. Enclosed in the envelope with this edition is your member-ship card with your name and the expiry date on the reverse side. Mazda dealers have been informed of the change in style of the membership card, so when you present it to claim your 15% discount for service or parts from a Mazda dealer it will be recognised. We have David Turk to thank for the graphic design and organis-ing the printing. Well done, David.

An up and coming event is Natmeet 2008, to be held at Beechworth Victoria. The club will have several members represent-ing the club at Natmeet 2008. This will be a record turnout from W.A. If you want to know more about Natmeet talk to someone on the committee or visit the club website (www.mx5club.com.au) and follow the Natmeet link by clicking the Natmeet logo shown here.

The last thing I will mention is that we are trying to move out some old merchan-dise to make way for some new stock. I would suggest that you approach Janice Fairhurst, our new Merchandise officer, to see if there is a bargain you cannot live without.

Happy motoring and here’s to another great year as members of the Mazda MX-5 Club of W.A.

Simon Corston

DON’T MESS WITH GRANDMA An elderly Florida lady did her shop-

ping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top her voice,” I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car..!!” The four men didn’t wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then pro-ceeded to load her bags into the back of the car and got into driver’s seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried,

and then it dawned on her why. A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station. The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop laughing.He pointed to the other end of the coun-ter, where four pale men were reporting a car-jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, with glasses, curly white hair, and carry-ing a large handgun.

No charges were filed.


Editor’s DeskI was sitting around the other day doing

not much, which is what I do best, when I had an epiphany. I liked it so much, I had another. The first was only a small idea so I got a drink and changed the chan-nel on the TV. The second was slightly larger and involved the decision to move from Chateau Sharpe, our home for 20 something years. Now, moving house is difficult enough for mere mortals but with enough collectibles to fill a local version of the British Museum, the task for us is one degree short of horrendous. Anyway the first thing we did was look around the manor and fix all the stuff that we had put up with, but others certainly wouldn’t. The place needed painting and I am past the ceiling whitewashing age so I employed a couple of dudes at a rate which would have bought the whole house a few years ago to do the job. Fair enough, but now I need to shift all the furniture. Easy-peasy break-your-back-easy stuff….except that first you have to take each collectible “treasure” out of a cabinet or off a shelf before you can move them. A huge display cabinet twelve feet long by seven feet high was emptied of over three thousand items individually. (The cabinet and a bunch of kitchenalia, coke collectibles, port jugs, tins and other priceless objects d’ art are for sale at club members’ discounts by the way.) Then after moving collections of model cars, model trains, porcelain plates, figurines, pictures and other artefacts that Indiana Jones would mount another crusade for, the rest of the furniture was

moved except for the bookcases. Now my collection of esoteric reference tomes runs into hundreds and includes a collection of model railway catalogues, a two hundred plus collection of Biggles books, some car books and hundreds of writings about the weirdest stuff to ever have occurred on this planet. It’s a bit like a modern day Dead Sea Scrolls collection without a cave to put it all in. (The Biggles collection is also for sale at club members’ discounts too.) The silverfish got a bit annoyed at this disturbance and the mother of all garage sales is waiting in my garage but the place got painted and now a bathroom man is coming to make a new bathroom out of a twenty-year-old one so someone else can enjoy it. (Did I mention that a house in Willetton is for sale at club mem-ber discount?) Then a builder is coming to reline a storage room, a tiler is fixing some tiles and an estate agent is saying forget the whole deal and pay our house tidy-up team a smaller fortune and move out. It’s a bit like deciding to sell a car and get-ting the dents, oil leaks, water leaks, up-holstery tears, odd noises and stuff fixed before selling it. Not that this happens to MX-5s of course. With the rumoured new MX-5 appearing in the US next year, club members will be thinking about trading their current cars and looking at address-ing any minor imperfections in their current transport. It’s not as bad as moving house but parting from a much-loved car can be traumatic for some people.Also in the news recently was the usual

suggestion to lower the speed limits in the name of road safety. Until we ban vehicles altogether there will be crashes so let’s get real and dissect the statistics to find some answers. To my knowledge no data is kept on the drivers of vehicles in accidents except their age and sometimes whether alcohol is involved. What about their medi-cal history, emotional state, drug status, fatigue level, reason for being on the road at that time and distractions present eg ra-dio, ipod, phone, passengers? Other data which I suspect is not analysed enough relates to road conditions, weather condi-tions, whether commercial or private vehi-cles were involved and make and model of vehicles involved. Until this is done the authorities will continue to target speed limits until we abandon vehicles, lose any enjoyment derived from driving and be restricted by public transport sched-ules as to when and where we can go. For my money we need to abandon the 50 km/h metro limit and return to 60 km/h and increase country limits by 20 km/h to 130 km/h and then closely monitor and analyse the results.In the meantime keep having fun on wheels, while you can, and remember Edi-son tried to invent a gunpowder-powered helicopter but gave up after he blew up his lab and ‘Mummies’ are so called because of the wax or ‘mum’ used to waterproof the bandages.

Bob Sharpe

Membership UpdateThe membership list keeps on growing every month. Of late, it has been mainly last year’s members rejoining that has swelled the numbers, but we have still seen six NEW new members since the last report two months ago.

I have also started the process of calling lapsed 06/07 members, and jogging their memory regarding this year. Some have promptly sent in their renewal, others have sold their car, still others have been away /overseas, and were grateful for the reminder. It is easy to put the renewal to one side then forget it.

New faces and names in the Club include:

Steve Hooton 2007 NC Roadster Coupe ZOOMSTER Black

Steve came along to a committee meet-ing, to suss out the club. He must have

liked what he saw, as he joined up before the night was out!

Ian McCully 2007 NC softtop? MX5RDSTER Galaxy Grey

Ian was previously a member of the club about five to six years ago, and has rejoined the fold with his new NC – wel-come back, Ian!

Steve Harris 2007 NC Roadster Coupe 1CNP 752 Copper Red

Steve first came along to a Committee meeting two months ago, and was also persuaded to sign up.

Jeff Hankins 2006 NC soft top 1CPA 033 Copper Red

There’s an NC trend starting here….

Jonathan Wood 2002 Mk 3 1CPI 188 Midnight Blue

Now that’s a refreshing change of colour.

Joe Lubout 2002 Mk 3 1BCF 388 Silver

Joe came along to a recent Sunday drive and enjoyed the drive.

Thank you all for joining our club.

Please make the most of all the various events that the club run, and come along as often as you can. Also don’t hesitate to pass on any ideas for events to any of the committee members – we always welcome fresh input. And if you have any issues or questions about your car, just ask – there is a wealth of knowledge on MX-5s in the club, and we’re only too happy to help out.

Ash Price


Past Events

Coming Events

Don’t forget to check out our website (www.mx5club.com.au) for the latest pictures

Sunday Cruise - 2/9Jason Doyle organised a memorable

run, which showed because of the large number of members that turned out. Apart from the great weather and the turnout the run ended at the 50th anniversary of the Caversham Grand Prix. On show were some really great cars and motorcycles. There was also plenty of (dusty) action on the old track. See page 6 for more.

Targa West 2007 - 6/9Our very own Ashley Price participated

as navigator to Bob Chaplin in a Lotus Elise in Targa West 2007. Just surviving is an achievement and I understand from Ashley they had a bit of trouble during the event. Getting 32nd overall is an excellent result. Well done, Ashley and Bob.

After Work Get-together - 12/9The new-look after-work technical dis-

cussions are now held at new premises. We are now meeting at The Yacht Doctor (34 Stockdale Road, O’Connor), courtesy of Peter Coleman. There was some free-form discussions and Robyn and Janice kindly kept things lubricated with nibbles and tea/coffee.

Club Meeting - 25/9The committee met at Mazda’s head-

quarters (170 Campbell Street, Belmont) at 6:30 pm. All who attended enjoyed the pizza before discussing club business.

Sunday Cruise - 7/10Joe Cameron was the organiser of an-

other good cruise held on a day of brilliant weather. The turnout was up to the usual high numbers. Hooking into an event at the finishing point (Jarrahdale) seemed to do the trick. Jarrahdale Fair had plenty of things to offer, and big on the list was the professional log chopping competitions. I found it staggeriing that people start this sport in their low teens and are still doing it at 78! Check the front page. See page 6 for more details on the run.

After Work Get-together - 10/10Our second Yacht Doctor-based after-

work technical discussion. This involved a demonstration of the Toughseal range of car care products. Brian Oswald did a pretty convincing job in demonstrating the effectiveness of his products and made it even more attractive by offering mem-bers a generous discount. See page 6 for more.

Observation Rally - 20/10Gary Wotzko and David Turk organ-

ised a Super Special Observation Rally,

an event designed to cater for all club members. Navigating was as easy as driving a Club Cruise so that the effort could be channelled into keen observation skills and some fun challenges along the way. To finish off the day the event wound up with a tasty BBQ at the Bullsbrook Maze.Despite all the planning the weather gods were not kind, but that didn’t dampen the participants’ enthusiasm.Winners on the day were Graeme and Rose Martin with runners-up being Keith English and Bob Sharpe. See page 7 for more details and www.mx5club.com.au for more event pictures.

Club Meeting - 30/10The committee met at Mazda’s head-

quarters (170 Campbell Street, Belmont) at 6:30 pm. All who attended enjoyed the pizza before discussing club business.It is good to see new and existing mem-bers at these meetings. After all, we are making decisions regarding the running and well-being of the club.As you will see in the Membership Update (page 4) there is a continual influx of new members. Ashley is also contacting past members who haven’t rejoined, mainly, it seems, because they have been rather busy and just forgot to renew.

Sunday Cruise - 4/11Alan Wallace is arranging the November

cruise, which will take a little under two hours. We meet at the Burswood start location at 9.30 for 10 am start for a cruise in the Perth Hills. After re-grouping in Kalamunda, the drive will be in the Hills around Perth finishing at The Elizabethan Village about 25 km South West of the CBD. The Elizabethan has a variety of meals available to suit all appetites (from dips, wedges, fish and chips, salads, to steaks and chicken). Alan promised that the route will involve lots of twisty MX-5 friendly roads.

ProMax - 11/11An Autokhana event at Belmont Raceway

designed to test acceleration, braking and gen-eral manoeuvrability of the vehicle together with skill and judgment of the driver. It is designed to be low in risk, but high in excitement. Cars are required to follow a set course around the mark-ers set out on a bitumen surface. The Special Twist is that two courses with the same layout are set out on two parallel, but divided competi-tion areas and cars are started simultaneously. Drivers are competing against the clock but also against the car on the parallel course. Almost like Drag Racing around corners.

After Work Get-together - 14/11The club’s monthly after-work sundowner,

technical talk, social gathering, modification mambo, problem-solving session, general car chat and movies. Members arrive from 5:30 pm onwards and it’s also a good opportunity for potential members to come and have a chat in an informal setting and find out more about the club. The venue is The Yacht Doctor, 34 Stock-dale Road, O’Connor and this time we will have the guys from Bridgestone over to tell us more about tyres and tyre-related matters.

David’s Big Budget Burger Run - 20/11Organised by immediate past club

president David Turk, these events are great for those light in the hip pocket. No ritzy high classed restaurant, just grouse tucker. We meet at Burswood at 6.30 for 7.00 pm start.

Club Meeting - 27/11The last committee meeting for 2007 at

the usual venue of Mazda’s headquarters (150 Campbell St, Belmont) commencing at 6:30 pm. All members are welcome to join us for pizza before discussing club business. Come along and have your say!

Sunday Cruise - 2/12Gary Wotzko is taking us on a scenic cruise

to the York Motor Museum which has one of the finest private collections of veteran, vintage, classic and racing cars in Australia. There are

many other things to go and see in York, W.A.’s most historic inland town itself. The Cruise starts at the Burswood at 9.30 am for 10 am start.

After Work Get-together - 12/12The club’s monthly after-work sundowner,

tech talk, social gathering, modification mambo, problem-solving session, general car chat and movies. Members arrive from 5:30 pm onwards and it’s also a good opportunity for potential members to come and have a chat in an informal setting and find out more about the club. The venue is The Yacht Doctor, 34 Stockdale Road, O’Connor.

Christmas Picnic - 15/12Meet at Point Walter Reserve, Bicton,

from noon onwards. So polish up the MX-5, bring a rug or chair and the bacon, sausages, steak, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, toast, muffins, croissants, baguettes, fruit, coffee, orange juice, champers, etc. There will be a prize for the best dressed Santa! See flier included in this copy of MX-press.

WASCC Hill Climb - 16/12 Well, it’s still 2007 but that doesn’t mean

that the W.A. Sporting Car Club can’t hold Round 1 of the 2008 series of Hill Climbs at Jack’s Hill in Wanneroo.


Event Write-upsSuNDAY CRuISE - 2/9

Father’s Day 2007 for many of our members was a day to remember. 40 cars left the Burswood car park including

Andrew’s CLK350 Mercedes, Barry and Hillery’s Porsche Boxster, Neil’s WRX and most of the clan Currell in all sorts of cars beginning with M. There was an MX-5, an MG, and a Mini Minor. It is always great to see a family come to play together on our monthly drive. I did notice how often they changed cars and drivers. FANTASTIC!!!We wound our way up to the lookout at Gooseberry Hill where we reassembled. What a view of the city and surrounds on such a beautiful, clear day. Once everyone had arrived it was back behind the wheel and down the Zig-Zag. It really is fun, that road! At the bottom we engaged in a little cross country, through the rural, bush land and back to the Great Eastern Highway. From there we made our way North-west to West Swan Road and Caversham to take our place in the long line of traffic waiting to enter the car park for the historic car racing.The organisers of the Caversham Grand Prix were obviously overwhelmed by the huge number of people who attended. There must have been in excess of 4,000 people. What a crowd, lines for food, lines for drink, lines for loos, but a lot of fun anyhow. The racing was hilarious to watch old men driving old cars flat chat. Dust, screaming engines and cheering from the onlookers covered in dust.Something I didn’t expect to see were the old planes parked at the end of what ap-peared to be a landing strip. They were in magnificent condition, a joy to behold.All in all it was yet another happy day to file in my memory. Thank you, Jason and thank you every one who came and made it fun to be there.

Robyn Thompsett

SuNDAY CRuISE TO JARRAHDALE FAIR & LOG CHOP- 7/10

Does everyone’s Sunday morning begin like ours? We left Melros late (dinner out

Saturday!) and had to queue for fuel while some lady did her weekly shop-ping at the service station, resulting in a sprint up the freeway. Colleen (the ‘ever loving’ and navigator) drove and did well to get us to Burswood at 9:50 am without being booked. She then asked for large print cruise notes (which we had already) and consequently won us the honour of this write-up.After a briefing from cruise organiser Joe Cameron we proceeded in very

law-abiding fashion along Orrong Road, Crystal Brook Road to the first re-group at the Lions’ Lookout on Welshpool Road. A total of 22 MX-5s made the run accom-panied by a Lotus, a WRX and an MGB,

which took pride of place in the middle of the circle. (Trying to drum up more members for the MGB Club??) After enjoying the view and the social chit chat we prepared to tackle the 27 km second stage.As no one seemed anxious to lead off I grasped the nettle, full of confidence in my navigator. After crawling up Welsh-pool Road behind a near-dead 4x4 (amazing how some road users spoil a good cruise) we set off down Pomeroy Road and then the fun began. “At 3.8 km turn right into Lawnbrook” said my navigator. At 4.1 km I still hadn’t found it and pulled over. Confusion reigned. Some went on, some of us back tracked, some turned left, others right.Most drivers (the ones following Joe) got it right while some of us consulted the street directory and joined the hunt somewhere along Canning Road. “The wild flowers are lovely” commented Colleen. All good fun and we still had 25 participants when we got to Churchman’s Brook Dam, although some came in from the wrong direction.

After much discussion and good-natured blame shifting we proceeded to Byford via South West Highway and headed left up the hill. The run along Nettleton Road is always great value and we enjoyed the 110 kp/h section until we caught up to a 70 kp/h Commodore close to the log chop. (Amazing how some motorists bugger up a good cruise!)There was a lot to see at the Jarrahdale Oval and the bacon and egg burgers were delicious. From there everyone made their way home by various routes. We went via the Serpentine Dam and enjoyed the run down through Karnet (didn’t pick up any suspicious hitchhikers) to the South West Highway and home in time to see the last 10 laps of Bathurst and a great Ford victory.Thanks to Joe for organizing an interesting event and a great run on a perfect Spring day.

Pat Gannon

AFTER WORk TECHNICAL GATHER-ING - 10/10

I was contacted through the website by Toughseal to ask if they could present their products to our members. My first reaction was oh no, not another paint fin-ish product.However, I sought the opinion of the committee and there was agreement from them to let Toughseal present their wares at the next after-work technical gathering to be held at the Yacht Doctor’s premises.The date was set and there was a reason-able turnout, so clearly there is some inter-est in such products. Brian Oswald turned up and set up his demonstration.Brian spent many years as a panel repair and paint expert and is very clear about his belief in the products and the value they add to a

car when applied properly.In fact the product range is quite wide, but the central item is the two-part acrylic

(Continued on page 7)


(non-wax) Toughseal product that first cleans and prepares the paint surface and then bonds (after 24 hours) a hard, clear acrylic finish that protects your paint from UV and other damage.As an adjunct to the paint protection prod-uct, Toughseal have a dry-wash cleaning solution. This is simply sprayed on to the painted surface and wiped off with a micro cloth. It works extremely well (yes, I have bought the products and tried them).Another product (Bodyshop Pro 3000) Brian presented was a polish that prom-ises to remove those swirl marks in the clear gloss surface of the paint. I decided that this was a great sounding product and bought that as well. After trying it I can confirm it does reduce the swirls when applied by hand polishing, but it will prob-ably do a much better job if applied with a buffer.Brian had a number of other Toughseal products on show and I have only men-tioned the ones I purchased on the night. If you want to find out more then go to http://www.nowax.com.au and visit http://www.toughseal.com.au.

Simon Corston

OBSERVATION RALLY - 20/10It was many months ago Gary and

I began discussing some ideas for a treasure hunt-style observation rally. Paramount was including a few challenges where drivers had to get out of their car to answer clues and complete tasks. As part of this concept I wanted to make competi-tors collect items along the way to create the contents for their own BBQ lunch. The final element I wanted was to have members complete a challenge using the wooden maze at Bullsbrook.Our initial run went very well but was cut short in Wanneroo as a bush fire blocked the road to the maze. It was only on our second run through that we managed to visit The Maze and discovered it would be a great location to complete the run and utilize the BBQs. After budgeting for additional food, soft drink and salads we asked for an expres-sion of interest to insure we had enough support to guarantee a group rate. We had a fantastic response. Gary was headed overseas so I enlisted one of my mates to help me do a final check of the question sheets a week before the event.Unfortunately the weather report was for morning showers and perhaps it was the catalyst for a number of cancellations I re-

ceived a few days before the event. Much more disappointing were the people whom I was expecting to attend who just didn’t both-

er to show up. This left me with a stack of unused question sheets and extra food and drink. Luckily we still had enough participants to get a group discount at the venue. Thank you to everyone who attended. It bucketed down while we were waiting for the event to get under way but the weath-er managed to hold off for the remainder of the day.Some of the challenges during the event were, climbing Bold Park Lookout, buy-ing an item to cook on the barbecue, a dessert item, an unused fast food wrap-per and a dessert item that would make everyone else jealous. The challenge for Gary and me was to design an event that any member could participate in and have a lot of fun but have some questions that were challeng-ing enough that we had a clear winner. Tony Robinson and his fiancé Prithy Sira-raman finished third. Scores for first and second were tied and the winner was decided with a tie-breaker question. Second place was Keith English and Bob Sharpe with Rose and Graeme Martin win-ning the $50 voucher for first place.

David Turk

SECOND OPINIONObservation rallies are always fun.

Having said that, I have witnessed and experienced a number of “pointed” verbal discussions between husbands and wives, partners and friends during and after Observation Rallies. Strangely it has also always been between male and female occupants of the same vehicle involving map reading and the distinction between ‘left’ and ‘right’. As far as I know the only divorces that resulted were probably going to happen anyway, so perhaps we have

discovered a new way to shorten rocky marriages. Anyway I digress. Saturday October the twentieth dawned fairly miser-

ably with intermittent showers and a turnout of about 20 cars. This would have been a great effort a few years ago but recently 30 or more cars have been turning out for normal Sunday runs so it was initially not a great reward for David Turk and Gary Wotzko who put so much effort into organising this event. Maybe it was the weather or the Saturday instead of Sunday date. Nevertheless the day progressed with Dave having the satisfaction of

seeing all participants enjoy themselves immensely, including at least one crew who participated in one of the aforemen-tioned ‘discussions’. Cars were sent off at one minute intervals and it wasn’t long before cars were approaching each other from opposite directions! This would have pleased Dave and Gary no end. On top of that we had to endure clues such as ‘If the shops on the left were burned down what supermarket would survive?’ Answer; Coles. (Coals get it?) And I thought no one was as bad as me. We also had to find the number of the Lands Department. While we all looked for a telephone number to no avail, a numbered survey marker lurked surreptitiously under our feet. Thanks again Dave. Never mind, to add to our tor-ture we finished at the Maze in Bullsbrook. This truly is an ‘amazing’ (Dave again) place and well worth a visit to see the various mazes, animals, mini golf courses, garden chess and indulge in café or bar-becue eating. The torture came when the answer to the final clue was in the middle of one of the mazes. The sight of some unfit clubbies zoom-zooming through a maze in search of glory was obviously amusing to many. All that done the event was judged and won by Graeme and Rose Martin after a tiebreaker ‘guess a number’ question. Congratulations, guys. Then we got down to some serious eating and drinking, demolishing the drinks, buns and salads that Dave had organised. All in all it was a genuinely fun day in the best traditions of the club and we thank David and Gary for all of their efforts and we hope that at least one observa-tion rally can be included on our events calendar each year. For those who missed it, do your best not to miss the next one because you can bet an umbrella to your undies that it will be fun.

Bob Sharpe

(Continued from page 6)


We’ve all seen the recent TV ads from Mazda, selling the four

performance models from Mazda, and the concept of the Mazda Performance Zone. Well, I’m here to tell you that it really exists!

A few months ago, I received an email asking if I wanted the opportunity to drive these cars at a Performance Drive Day. I emailed back Yes, then forgot all about it, until I received a pack with all the details, personalized swing tag etc., and a date – 11th October. Be at the AHG Driving Centre on the 11th or……???

I squeezed in a couple of hours at work, then headed down Reid & Tonkin High-ways mid-morning, looking forward to a full-on driving session. The beautiful blue sky put me in just the right mood for a fun day at the track. The Mazda Australia organisers were very efficient, and I was soon sitting down with a coffee, examining the contents of my Mazda show bag and awaiting our turn for the drivers’ briefing. This was just like a real motor sport event!

Sarah and John from Mazda Australia talked briefly about the day, and the four models that we would be driving – Mazda 3 MPS, 6 MPS, MX-5 and RX-8. John also talked about Mazda’s motor sport heritage – did you know that Mazda beat Porsche four years straight in the Bathurst 12 hour production race in the early 1990s? And that Mazda is the only Japanese car manufacturer to have won the Le Mans 24 hour race? All with rotary engines of course!

Motor School is the organisation that runs these days for Mazda – they also hold the driver training days that all Mazda Performance model purchasers receive free of charge. Actually, I remember when we bought our original MX-5 in 1989 that we received two driver training days – one basic training, and one advanced driving on Barbagallo Raceway. Given that all these cars have Dynamic Stability Control (DC) and ABS, maybe the basic training need has been taken over by electronic trickery driving the car for you?

Dave and Ron ran through the order for the day, cornering techniques and what we could and couldn’t do, with the emphasis on safety, as you would expect. No overtaking, and no turning off the DSC were the main points.

Enough of the sitting around – it was time to get out and drive! One bonus was the presence of a certain Dick Johnson, fresh from running his V8 Supercar team at

Mazda Performance Drive DayBathurst last weekend. He was giving eve-ryone two hot laps in the passenger seat of an RX-8, and I figured that this would be a smart way of starting the session. As expected, he was very smooth, while also driving quickly and aggressively. Quite a performance to try and emulate when I got behind the wheel!

First off was the three MPS. A very sharp clutch (yes, I stalled it, though so did many others) and as expected, there was quite a lot of roll and understeer into and through the corners. Very punchy though, and certainly plenty of power. It also had a loud roar from the exhaust under hard accel-eration that was similar to the sound of my late lamented RX-7 – really only audible from outside the car.

I was keen to compare this with the 6MPS, with the same engine and gearbox, but with added weight and four-wheel drive. It didn’t feel quite as powerful, but was much more civilised in its behaviour through the corners, due to the 4WD. You could put the power down earlier as you would expect. It also felt less frantic, and much more relaxed and luxurious, though this may have been the driver settling in to the task.

Next was the RX-8, and try as I might, I couldn’t match Dick’s level of perform-ance. I had forgotten just how high it revs, and because of the lack of torque, seemed to be waiting forever for the chime to come on at 8500 rpm, telling me to change up as I pounded down the main straight. It handled the corners very well, turning in much more sharply than the previous two cars. And I much preferred the lower seat-ing position, feeling more in control.

I saved the best till last – the MX-5! It was a soft-top manual, and we drove it with the hood up, which was a shame. I have to say that the straights seemed much longer all of a sudden, but it was sooooooo much nicer through the corners. You could turn in when you wanted, not two seconds lat-er, had more adjustability with the throttle, and generally felt much more in control. I heard many comments from other drivers that they were both surprised and delight-ed with the handling of the MX-5.

After all this activity, we enjoyed an excel-lent lunch, and I had a chat with Dick, and congratulated him on a great per-formance by son Steven at Bathurst last week. Finally, we received signed photos of ourselves sitting in the RX-8 with Dick, and it was time to go.

Thanks to Mazda for a very positive pro-

motion of the MX-5, and all the perform-ance cars in the range. They seem to want to promote that side of their product range, which hopefully augurs well for a repeat of an SP/SE addition to the MX-5 range in the future?

Ash Price

NEW DRuGS FOR WOMENDAMNITOLTake two and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to eight full hours. EMPTYNESTROGENSuppository that eliminates melancholy and loneliness by reminding you of how awful they were as teenagers and how you couldn’t wait till they moved out! ST. MOMMA’S WORTPlant extract that treats mom’s depres-sion by rendering preschoolers uncon-scious for up to two days. PEPTOBIMBOLiquid silicone drink for single women. Two full cups swallowed before an evening out increases breast size, decreases intelligence, and prevents conception. DuMBEROLWhen taken with Peptobimbo, can cause dangerously low IQ, resulting in enjoyment of country music and pickup trucks. FLIPITORIncreases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers.MENICILLINPotent anti-boy-otic for older women. Increases resistance to such lethal lines as, “You make me want to be a better person. “ BuYAGRAInjectable stimulant taken prior to shop-ping. Increases potency, duration, and credit limit of spending spree. JACkASSPIRINRelieves headache caused by a man who can’t remember your birthday, an-niversary, phone number, or to lift the toilet seat. ANTI-TALkSIDENTA spray carried in a purse or wallet to be used on anyone too eager to share their life stories with total strangers in elevators. NAGAMENTWhen administered to a boyfriend or husband, provides the same irritation level as nagging him, without opening your mouth.


Shopping recently I noticed the Con-verse brand had re-released their “All

Star” basketball boot. Those who weren’t chin deep in lager lunches or struggling to see past their shoulder pads may remember the 80’s. In a dec-ade where muggers stopped taking wal-lets began “rolling” kids for their cap and shoes; the cheap canvas Converse All Star be-came trendy. Costing only $15 they didn’t have fancy pump-up tongues or air cells in the heel, they were single colour canvas on a rubber sole. The hip kids in the 80’s would wear shoes without any laces, simi-larly the youth of today wear their pants without a belt and half way down their thighs for that “I’m so bad I just got out of the Police Lockup” theme. Ghetto culture shone through. Perhaps you were a little more Ozzie; you wore Dunlop Volleys, head to toe denim or Ugg boots. Either way, you felt so bad it was good. Strangled by rules and procedures, the current generation are not expected to use common sense, they’re suffocated by well-meaning baby boomers who rule by mass hysteria. Kids can no longer play football at school for fear they may injure each other. Those who are energetic get drugged to the eyeballs so their parents can cope when they return from working overtime at the office. There is more pres-sure than ever to conform; workers dare not speak out of turn or stand up for their rights for fear that they could be fired on the spot without reason or recourse. Bosses are bargain-ing their employees out of family time, holidays and loyalty.

JDM LookWhile many may cringe at big hair, leg warmers and Ken Done shirts, there was a greater freedom of expression in the

80’s. Converse have re-released the All Stars because youth culture is embracing retro (and paying five times as much). Retro is cool, it’s a symbol of more exciting times, bold expres-sion and cultural iconog-

raphy. What better fashion accessory than the pinnacle and rapture of 80’s vehicular design; the Mazda MX-5. Although it seems hard to fathom, the MX-5 is almost 20 year old, and this “modern classic” has become retro cool. I’m obviously preaching to the converted; you all love the MX-5 and as members of this club; you are cool by default. So, perhaps you a looking for an edge to stand out in the crowd? Well, one of the newer trends in MX-5 sub-culture is the “JDM look”. Riding on the wave of retrospective design, MX-5 fans are styling

their cars based on the 80s Japa-nese Domestic Market.Japanese design is predominantly very clean, iconic and minimalist. To follow the JDM styling MX-5 owners try to make their engine bay cleaner and simplified, like that of a classic car. Owners often strip emissions plumbing, hide wiring looms and replace the cam cover with that of the earlier Mazda 323s.

Rather than the spaghetti of pipes associated with a turbo setup, JDM fans

focus their performance modification on the classical individual throttle bodies and intake trumpets. You can even buy a wide range of carburettor kits to suit the MX-5. While American culture brings us bigger shinier bling wheels and rubber band thin tyres, the JDM set seem to go for wider wheel sizes with 80s styling in

black or matt colours with the occasional “deep dish” polished lip. The ex-Torana owners in the club will be happy to hear that fender flares are also making a come

back. The interior is given a classic look by removing the centre console so the carpeted transmission tun-nel remains and retro gauge faces are encircled with chrome ac-cents. Instead of radical body kits that make your MX-5 look more like an Autobot, there’s a strong

trend for more rounded kits with fixed or bugeye lighting. The original Mazda side mirrors are often replaced by smaller chrome items or those from a motorbike. So is life getting you down? The boss breathing down your neck? Perhaps you need some retro therapy of your own. If you are looking for a sub culture that will embrace you with open arms then the in-ternet is a good start; www.ClubRoadster.net began about a year ago and is already a huge community of MX-5 owners with a love of JDM styling. The JDM MX-5 “bible” is the Road&ster magazine produced by the MX-5 owners association of Japan.

David Turk


A-Z THE JAPANESE WAYFirst there was the Mazda AZ-1…ex-

cept it wasn’t really a Mazda because it had a Suzuki motor under a Mazda badge on the body.After Honda Beat, this was another mid-engined sports car classified as “K-car” in Japan. Like other K-cars, the dimensions were bounded by 3.3 meters in length and 1.4 meters in width, engine capacity limited to 660 cc and power output did not exceed 64 hp. The styling might be inspired by the first generation Toyota MR2. The Suzuki-sup-plied 3-cylinder engine had four valves per cylinder and a turbocharger, capable of the upper limit of 64 hp and 63 lb ft.Specifications

Model Mazda AZ-1 Year of launch 1993 Layout Mid-engined, Rwd. Engine Inline-3, dohc, 4v/cyl,

turbo. Capacity 657 ccPower 64 hp Torque 63 lb ftGearbox 5MWeight 720 kg Top speed 95 mph (estimated) 0-60 mph 11 sec (estimated)

Then we had one that looked slightly better by changing the rear spoiler to hold down all 657 cc’s of raw power.

Then someone seemingly did this to it.Not only did they fix the outside but they also added a 20B rotary engine (two litre twin turbo three rotors – final RX-7s were 1.3L TT two rotor for comparison). And hopefully some suspension modifications. It is apparently a one-off thing done by a

bored rich Japanese guy but I reckon he has done a good job of turning a K car into a very OK car. If anyone else knows anything more about

this beast please let us know… Ed

Here is some additional infor-mation on the AZ-1 courtesy of Wikipedia. Apparently this little widget has become a cult car in some circles.The Autozam AZ-1 was a mid-engined two-seat sports kei car,

designed and manufactured by Suzuki but sold by Mazda under its Autozam brand.

It debuted in October 1992 until produc-tion ceased in 1994, and was perhaps most noted for its gull-wing doors. Power came from the same Suzuki-sourced 657 cc turbo charged engine used by the Mazda Carol that produced 64 PS (47 kW) at 6500 rpm and 85 Nm (63 ft lb) at 4000 rpm.The AZ-1 was also sold by Suzuki as the Cara, with only minor detail changes including the addition of fog lamps.In the 2006 animated movie Cars, a pink Suzuki AZ-1 was featured as the Japanese news host when Lightning McQueen went missing.

MX-5 BLITZkREIGElsewhere in this is-

sue you will see Japanese and Italian after market body kits for the MX-5. The Germans have now got hold of the car and in typical Germanic fashion have basi-cally said ”never mind the looks, lets make the bloody thing go faster” (must have been an Australian German…Ed). They then proceeded to stuff an RX8 en-gine and drive-train under the bonnet and call it a Hansa 23R. The following is taken

from the Pistonheads website:Hansa 23R / Mazda MX-5Founded in 1905, Hansa-Automobilwerke has produced 10,000 cars over its first 25 years with more than 1,000 employers in the small town of Varel in north Germany. The firm was recently revived with the foundation of the Hansa-Mobile GmbH by Stefan Janssen.It offers tuning especially for Japanese cars and its first project is the Hansa 23R, a heavily modified Mazda MX-5. It’s got a modified bonnet, up-rated brake system and steering, OZ wheels with Yokohama tyres, sport suspension, weight optimised, exhaust, and more. It’s powered by the

drive-train of the 231bhp Mazda RX8.The first prototype has just been finished and its world premiere was recently here in Es-sen. Next year, Hansa Mobile will test the car in cooperation with Rotary-Motorsport and finish the German type approval (TÜV). The first customer cars / conver-

s i o n of customer cars are expected in summer 2007.Hansa Mobile will offer the complete car or convert customer cars. The pricing hasn’t been calculated yet, but we expect that the conversion from a Mazda MX-5 to a Hansa 23R will cost something around €20,000 (£13400).Combining Japanese reliability with Ger-

man precision engineering just has to be a winning combination. With this car and the rumoured 2.3 litre, turbo charged MX-5 mentioned in the last issue, revheads the world over have some exciting things to look forward to next year.

World Domination


Humour Us

TOILET HuMOuRA sexy woman went up to the bar in a

quiet rural pub. She gestured alluringly to the bartender who approached her imme-diately. She seductively signalled that he should bring his face closer to hers. As he did, she gently caressed his full beard.“Are you the manager?” she asked, softly stroking his face with both hands.“Actually, no,” he replied.“Can you get him for me? I need to speak to him,” she said, running her hands be-yond his beard and into his hair.“I’m afraid I can’t,” breathed the bartender. “Is there anything I can do?”“Yes. I need for you to give him a mes-sage,” she continued, running her forefinger across the bartender’s lips and slyly popping a couple of her fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them gently.“What should I tell him?” the bartender managed to say.“Tell him,” she whispered, “there’s no toilet paper, hand soap, or paper towels in the ladies room!”

RELIGIONLittle Mary Margaret was not the best

student in Catholic School. Usually she slept through the class. One day her teacher, a nun, called on her while she was sleeping. ‘Tell me Mary Margaret, who created the universe?’ When Mary Margaret didn’t stir, little Johnny who was her friend sitting behind her, took his pencil and jabbed her in the rear. ‘God Almighty!’ shouted Mary Margaret. The nun said, ‘Very good’ and continued teaching her class. A little later the Nun asked Mary Margaret, ‘Who is our Lord and Saviour?’ But Mary didn’t stir from her slumber. Once again, Johnny came to her rescue and stuck Mary Margaret in the butt. ‘Jesus Christ!!!’ shouted Mary Margaret and the nun once again said,’Very good,’ and Mary Margaret fell back asleep. The nun asked her a third question... ’What did Eve say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?’ Again, Johnny came to the rescue. This time Mary Margaret jumped up and shouted, ‘If you stick that damn thing in me one more time, I’ll break it in half!’ The nun fainted.

MARRIAGE AND GOLFA husband and wife came for coun-

selling after 15 years of marriage.When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade

listing every problem they had ever had in the 15 years they had been married.She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of un-met needs she had endured over the course of their marriage.Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately.The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist turned to the husband and said, ‘This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?’The husband thought for a moment and replied, ‘Well, I can drop her here on Mon-days and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I play golf.

TERRORIST WANTEDI was feeling a bit depressed the other

day, so I called the help hot line.I was put through to a ‘call centre’ in Pakistan.I explained that I was feeling suicidal.They were very excited at this news and wanted to know if I could drive a truck or fly an air plane.

WISDOM AND DEEP THOuGHTS

1. A day without sunshine is like night.2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.6. He who laughs last thinks slowest.7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.9. Support bacteria. They’re the only cul-ture some people have.10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.14. OK, so what’s the speed of dark?15. When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.16. Hard work pays off in the future. Lazi-

ness pays off now.17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, “What the heck hap-pened?”22. Just remember -- if the world didn’t suck, we would all fall off.23. Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.24. Life isn’t like a box of chocolates; it’s more like a jar of chillies. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

LAWYERSA lawyer married a woman who had

previously divorced ten husbands. On their wedding night, she told her new hus-band, “Please be gentle, I’m still a virgin.” “What?” said the puzzled groom. “How can that be if you’ve been married ten times?” “Well, Husband #1 was a sales representative; he kept telling me how great it was going to be. Husband #2 was in software services; he was never really sure how it was sup-posed to function, but he said he’d look into it and get back to me. Husband #3 was from field services; he said everything checked out diagnostically but he just couldn’t get the system up. Husband #4 was in telemarketing; even though he knew he had the order, he didn’t know when he would be able to deliver. Husband #5 was an engineer; he under-stood the basic process but wanted three years to research, implement, and design a new state-of-the-art method. Husband #6 was from finance and admin-istration; he thought he knew how, but he wasn’t sure whether it was his job or not. Husband #7 was in marketing; although he had a nice product, he was never sure how to position it. Husband #8 was a psychologist; all he ever did was talk about it. Husband #9 was a gynaecologist; all he did was look at it. Husband #10 was a stamp collector; all he ever did was... God! I miss him! But now that I’ve married you, I’m really excited!” “Good,” said the new husband, “but, why?” “You’re a lawyer. This time I know I’m gonna get screwed!”


Bits ‘n’ BobSTHE MAZDA GOD (REF: WIkIPEDIA)

The name of the Mazda company is supposedly derived from Ahura Mazda, the transcendental god of Zoroastrian-ism. It is also said that Mazda coincides with the anglicized pronunciation of the founder’s name, Jujiro Matsuda, who was interested in spirituality, and chose to rename it in honor of both his family and the Zoroastrians. Mazda means “wisdom” in the Avestan language. However, in Japanese, the company has always been pronounced and spelled as “Matsuda” leading many to believe that Mazda is re-ally just a poorly anglicized version of the founder’s name.Zoroastrianism is the religion and phi-losophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). Mazdaism is the religion that ac-knowledges the divine authority of Ahura Mazda, proclaimed by Zoroaster to be the one uncreated Creator of all (God). While Zoroastrianism was once the dominant re-ligion of much of Greater Iran, the number of adherents has dwindled to not more than 200,000 worldwide, with concentra-tions in India and Iran.The “song” Thus Spake Zarathustra could have been titled Thus Spake the Mazda Disciple and it is not only modern car fans who like Mazdas. As demonstrated by a Zoroastrian adherent who states: “…I profess myself a devotee of Mazda, a fol-lower of Zarathustra. Some club members could chant…I profess myself a devotee of the MX-5, a follower of Mazda. Maybe we could sacrifice some Goggomobiles to the Mazda God before each run or something?

BCE (BLOODY CONFuSING EXER-CISE)

While researching the Mazda God article I came across the abbreviation BCE. Co-incidentally, it was also used in the recent Egyptian exhibition at the W.A. Art Gallery. It is apparently a replacement for the BC abbreviation used in dating things and Wikipedia gives us the following explana-tion. Common Era, also known as Current Era or Christian Era, abbreviated CE, is a designation for the period of time begin-ning with year 1 of the Gregorian calendar. An earlier date is then designated BCE, described as “Before the Common, Cur-rent, or Christian Era”. The numbering of years is identical to the numbering in the Anno Domini system, neither system using a year zero. The only difference is that the term “Common Era” does not use the religious titles for Jesus (“Lord” and “Christ”) that are explicit in “Anno Domini”

and “Before Christ”. Originating among Christians as early as 1716 (at first in Latin), Common Era notation has been adopted by many non-Christians, and also by some Christians wanting to be sensitive to non-Christians. The use of BCE and CE has been criticized by some who favour the AD/BC system as being “the result of secularization” and “political correctness”.Once again MX-press readers are kept up to date with current trends in CE 2007 and may trendily refer to ancient events as BCE e.g.1000 BCE.

TuRBO TOASTBugatti roars into the toaster business

Posted by Mike YamamotoForget about phones and MP3 players--the next designer gadget is the toaster. And leading the way to branded nirvana are, of all things, sportscar dynasties.Porsche joined the fray with a brushed-aluminum model that looks good enough for the track, and now Bugatti has gotten into the act with an appliance of its own.

True to its exacting nature, Bugatti has included “six browning-control options” for its “Volo” toaster, Gadgetizer says, with especially wide slots to accommodate different sizes of baked goods. But it’s the red Italian flair that drew us to it, of course.If Porsche and Bugatti can do it, I’m sure Mazda can. How about a cheaper, better looking, well-balanced, reliable Mazda SP toaster with a tiny turbo to give fast heat which has self spreading butter that Spreads Perfectly (SP)? Maybe a 13B Rotary toaster where the bread revolves at high speed creating heat through friction and toasts itself? “ Mazda Toaster, Good for crumpet too.”

OH M(Y) G(OD)MG was bought by the Nanjing

Automobile Group in 2005. Under its new Chinese owners, the brand stands for

something new in China, as MG gen-eral manager Zhang Xin said: “We want Chinese consumers to know this brand as ‘Modern Gentleman’. To see that this brand represents grace and style.” In Eu-rope it still stands for “Morris Garages”.

MODEL BEHAVIOuRThe two MX-5s in the animated

movie “Cars”, Mia and Tia have been released as toy models. Apparently they are hard to get and very collectible in the USA. Watch for them in your local Toys R Us shop or TRU shop to non-collectors. Also they apparently changed colours in the movie from blue to red.

DON’T DRIVE LEGLESSA Japanese motorcyclist hit the cen-

tral barrier while negotiating a bend in a Tokyo street, but recovered and drove on for two km before realising that his right leg had been severed in the accident and had been left behind at the scene. The 54-year-old office worker was riding with a group of friends, one of whom stopped when he saw the crash and retrieved the missing limb. The man and his leg were taken to hospital, but the limb had been crushed in the collision and could not be re-attached.

MODEL NEWSAutoart has released models of the

NC MX-5 in 1/18 and 1/43 scale. Prices at the Gamesworld shop in Carousel for the 1/18 retractable roof roadster is $119 and they don’t stock the smaller 1/43 scale range because the price would be over $60. Colours are red, silver and blue in the smaller scale and so far only blue in the larger scale.

DuMMY FEELS THE HEATIf you can’t stand the heat... but

unfortunately, these drivers have to stay put whatever the temperature. They’re the new high-tech, heat-sensitive crash test dummies being used at Mercedes’ climate tunnel in Germany.The tunnel is cleverly devised to recreate all types of weather, from an arctic winter to the heat of the tropics. The dummies sit inside the vehicles and send back informa-tion on temperature recorded by more than 100 sensors fitted to their bodies. The data is then used to refine vehicle heating and air-con systems to make sure that human drivers keep their cool at the wheel when the vehicles finally hit the road.


Quick way to get rid of an annoying noise in your MX-5:

No, this is not the way to get rid of your co-driver’s comments on your driving, (but on second thoughts … read on, this might work!)Perhaps your MX-5s soft top cover has lost one or more of its press studs? Mine was missing two when I bought it and I had been putting up with the tap-tap-tap noise as I drive along, for about a year. I’d gone to get a quote from a car upholsterer and they estimated a couple of hundred dollars, since they would have to take the carpet lining out behind the seats to get underneath and fix in a new press stud bottom. I dithered because it sounded too dear, meanwhile the tap-tapping contin-ued.Then I had a brilliant thought (it happens to women a lot :o)I went out and bought a packet of “hook and loop” tape for just $5.20. I chopped off a couple of two cm strips and sewed then to the underside of the hood cover in the appropriate places where the studs had snapped off. The vinyl material is reason-ably soft, and the edge is folded under so it is easy to do this “invisibly”. The carpet acts as the “loop” part so there is no need to struggle trying to stitch the other half on to the carpet behind the seats.The result is a firmly-anchored soft-top cover, problem solved very quickly and cheaply.Now, back to that other annoying noise from the passenger seat …….Look out for more quick tips and brilliant ideas from female MX-5 drivers in future issues of MX-press!

Sandra Pullman

INSuRANCE PREDICTIONGiven that we seem to follow the good

old USA when it comes to money-grabbing methods I predict that it will not be too long before our insurance companies latch onto this one. Apparently in most states of America your car insurance premium goes up with each traffic fine that you incur. In California it is compulsory by law that this happens. In most other states you get away with at least the first one but get hit after that. Here they are more interested in your past accident record but you can imagine them pleading that it is their duty to penalise speeders by increasing the premium with each fine. The fact that fines don’t affect insurance company payouts nor do they deter speeders doesn’t seem to have

Members Articlesany relevance to the issue. If they intro-duced it here it would probably only lead to more drivers driving without insurance but may swell the coffers of the insurance companies by firstly raising more revenue and secondly by not insuring the chronic speeders who may have more accidents. I wonder why they haven’t got this one through yet?

MX-5 TRAGEDYAart ter Kuile found this internet story.

By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 October 2007 1829 hrs SINGAPORE: Regan Lee Da Wen, 26, was initially charged with causing the death of a salesperson while test-driving a Mazda MX-5 sports car. But he has since pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of com-mitting a rash act. Lee, on Wednesday, was disqualified from driving for 10 years and sentenced to seven months in jail. The case had dragged on for more than two years amid public outcry over Lee’s action. According to court documents, Lee was driving at a speed of more than 90 kilo-metres on 29 October 2005 along Upper Paya Lebar Road – nearly twice the legal speed limit for that stretch of road. It is believed that Lee had lost control of the car while negotiating a bend. Veering to the right, he crossed the centre divider, crashing head-on into an oncoming car. The impact flipped the Mazda before hitting another vehicle, killing 22-year-old Mazda sales executive Angelia He Xueli. Lee escaped unhurt. His case was supposed to have gone to trial with the original charge of causing Ms He’s death, which carries a heavier penalty. However, the case never went to open court and was adjourned several times. During that time, it is believed the pros-ecution and defence teams came to an agreement to an amended lesser charge.

ROAD RuLES (COuRTESY THE GOVT OF W.A. & ME)

Penalties for Speeding

1-9 km over limit $75 0 pts10-19 $150 2 pts20-29 $250 3 pts30-40 $350 5 pts>40 $1,000 7 ptsHolidays & Long weekends

Double points

12 Demerit Points

3 Month suspension

>45 over (Reckless Driving) 1st offence

Up to $1,000 or 9 months prison

Min 6 months suspension

Ian Lewis

TEACHER ARRESTEDNEW YORK, July 22 -- A public

school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calcula-tor.At a morning press conference, Attor-ney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. “Al-gebra is a problem for us,” Gonzales said. “They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.They use secret code names like ‘x’ and ‘y’ and refer to themselves as ‘un-knowns’, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philan-derer, Isosceles, used to say, ‘There are three sides to every triangle’.” When asked to comment on the ar-rest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.”White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the president.


Computer CornerDanish Speed Bumps

There is something liberating about the Swedish attitude to sex and it appears to have rubbed off on their Danish neigh-bours. The Danes have trialled a unique method of slowing traffic and getting motorists to obey the speed limit. If you log on to http://www.speedbandits.dk/ you will see some R-rated scenes of topless women waving speed limit signs…all in the name of road safety. There were a few problems however. It seems that some motorists slowed to a standstill caus-ing major traffic jams. Also there was no mention of the cold. Is this a summer only activity? Regardless of that, it is a lateral thinking attempt at solving a worldwide problem and we can only hope they try it here even if we already know it doesn’t work.

Ferrari vs kiaSomeone actually tested an old Ferrari

308 against a current model Kia. Go tohttp://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcon-tainers/do/vdp/articleId=122612/page-Number=1 to see how it ends up. By the way isn’t Kia the noise Xena makes when she is particularly annoyed?

MX-5 Italian StyleAfter seeing some of the Japanese

attempts at body kits have a look at an Italian version at http://www.retroforza.com/ which might appeal to the retro Ital-ian sports car people. You can then go to http://www.retroforza.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28 to see how to install the kit.

MX-5 krash-N-TrashWant a cheap MX-5 or some parts

at least? Go to www.mx-5.de/html/haupt-seite.shtml and translate the pages. Go to the “cemetery” section and there you will see what a whole bunch of over enthusi-astic German drivers did to their cars.

Speeding Ticket VS GPSGo to http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/

post/20071026-accused-speeder-to-cops-my-gps-proves-your-radar-gun-is-wrong.html and read about the dude in America who is trying to beat a speeding ticket by proving his GPS shows him not speeding at the time and place stated on the ticket. The quirkiest bit about all this however is that he is being egged on by his stepfa-ther who is a retired sheriff who has the glorious name of Roger Rude. How many times was “Roger Roger” heard on the radio when this bloke was sheriff and what about complaints about the “Rude” sheriff etc.?

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Be-holder

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder‘ is an old truism that not only applies to people, otherwise ugly blokes like me wouldn’t even be spoken to by the fairer sex, but also to cars. Thanks to some computer dredging by David Turk we can show you some MX-5 stuff that only a mother could love. Lets go to http://www.zoom-eng.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=260_49_50_285&products_id=611&osCsid=2c4b089110e5af3e0a99b1

b5cc1d5c0f to see a carbon hardtop for an NA or NB MX-5 produced by Zoom Engi-neering in Japan. Seems like a reasonable thing but you will need to translate the Japanese to see if can be colour-matched and what the landed cost would be.Next we move on to an NC body kit at http://www.ab-carsshow.com/mh1/in-dex_customer.html produced by Monocraft MH1, another Japanese firm. This, in my eyes did not look too bad, but wait, there is more.Shuffle along to http://www.ducks-garden.co.jp/311type-3 to see the NA body kit that wins the set of steak knives. Revelling in the name of Ducks-Garden Roadster 311 Type 3, this monstrosity is every Ameri-can’s dream, a mini Cadillac. My advice would be to take the steak knives and stab the beast until you have killed the body kit, saved the car and cremated the kit remains. Ducks-Garden is definitely not the duck’s nuts.If that is not enough for you, hold your breath, gird your loins and jog further along the net until you come to http://www.katch.ne.jp/~elvis/ where you will encoun-ter yet another Japanese NA body kit full of chrome and bulging head lights that fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. It sort of looks like a chrome plated frog that has been dissect-ed and attached to the front of a perfectly good car.Still, I suppose someone must love them or they wouldn’t make them and they are …er different. I might have to give Dave his own ugly car column.

From the pages of Flight Safety Australia magazine Sept/Oct 06 issue comes the following summaries of aircraft crashes:

AIRCRAFT LOCATION DESCRIPTIONCanadair CL-215 Greece While scooping up sea water, the aircraft crashed into a wave and sunk (sic).L100-30 Hercules Congo DR On the second landing attempt the aircraft descended at high speed and crashed.Twin Otter 100 USA After takeoff the aircraft lost height, contacted a utility pole and tree during landing.Antonov 28 Russia The aircraft struck a mountain side, crashed in a forest and caught fire.Schweizer 269C NSW The helicopter landed in long grass which then caught fire.Robinson R22 BETA QLD The pilot’s swag jammed the cyclic. The helicopter then impacted the ground. Robinson R22 BETA QLD During mustering the helicopter’s tail rotor struck a dead tree.Cessna 182P QLD The aircraft collided with a house.Kavanagh Balloon QLD The passenger caught his foot on the basket and fell awkwardly on his left leg.Beech 58 Baron WA The pilot inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead of the flap.

And finally my favourite was a motorised glider in NSW that “collided with the ground”. Yep, that will cause an accident every time, I reckon.

(Note: Some of the above had “serious” or “fatal” consequences. We are trivialising the trite terminology, not the incidents...Ed).

Plane Stuff


Around The ClubMX-5 SP SOLD

After nearly nine months having two cars, my SP has finally been sold. Why did it take so long to sell an SP, aren’t they a very limited edition? Well, one way to slow the process is to not advertise widely that the car is for sale. It worked for me!!I bought an 04 Boxster in early January with the inten-tion of selling the SP, but the MX-5 is such a lovely looking car, and the SP goes like a rocket. Thus, it was hard to say goodbye. So I did what anyone would do. I relegated Sheila’s old Magna to the driveweay and put both of the soft-tops in the garage. I could use the Boxster as the daily drive, and use the SP for club events. This worked fine until Sheila got a new Mazda 6 (that was my big mistake). For some reason, she then thought that her car deserved a possie in the garage. Anyway, long story short, the pressure was gradually applied to sell the SP, or the Boxster.I managed to hold on for another four or five months but as of late September the SP has a proud new owner. The car has been bought by club member Wayne O’Brien. For those who don’t know Wayne, he’s easy to spot. He’s the one with an ear-to-ear grin. He is also sporting the MX-5 SP registration plates.It was sad to sell the SP as it’s the best car I have ever owned, but you only live once so it’s good to try other cars. Know-ing that it’s still in the club made selling a bit easier as I effectively have ‘de facto’ visiting rights by turning up at club events. If Wayne has half the fun I’ve had in the SP, he’s picked up a bargain.Now all I need to do is wait for the NC turbo…………….In the interim, I’ll still be active in the club. I’ll be the one in the dark blue Boxster, looking longingly at Wayne’s SP.

Alan Wallace

BREAkING NEWSIt was recently reported that the ex

presidential limousine (Dave’s MX-5) had a mirror broken. Taking a lead from

that ancient British monarch Edward the Confessor, one Ted, offspring of the aforesaid Dave, ‘fessed up that he had been the propelling force behind the tennis ball which caused the damage. We don’t know what punishment was meted out or whether the ball was examined for explo-

sive innards in case it was an assassination attempt but life ap-parently has returned to normal in the Turk household.

SP REGISTERThere is a bloke

called Alastair Dennis who is the vice presi-dent of the Victorian MX-5 club and the editor of MXtra, their club newsletter (must be a good bloke). He is trying to establish a

register of all 100 MX-5 SP models in Aus-tralia. He is well aware of the privacy and security issues but other marques have successfully done this exercise before and for a car that will become rarer by the year I think that the MX-5 SP deserves to have its own register. For those who wish to participate please send me the VIN of your vehicle, rego, colour, kms and your name to [email protected]. If the vehicle was not sold new in W.A. it would also assist to know this.

WHEATBELT MOTORPLEXYour committee has received a letter

from the Dowerin Events Management (inc) asking for expressions of interest in a motorplex (motor sport complex) at Dowerin, 165 kms north east of Perth. We are responding to the effect that it seems like a good idea. The Dowerin Shire has hosted the Dowerin Field days for 44 years and it is a huge event on the farm-er’s calendar. If the motorplex is handled as professionally and is as popular as the field days it will be of huge benefit to club level motor sport in this state. Projected opening time is at the end of 2008.

PEDANTIC POMSWe all know now that smoking is

dangerous over a long period of time. You may also know that in England, like here, it is an offence to smoke in an enclosed space. When two presenters of that great TV motor show, Top Gear, recently lit pipes filled with herbal tobacco in front of an audience in an aircraft-hangar-size studio the moral minority hit the roof. The

audience probably inhales more exhaust fumes on the trip to the studio than herbal smoke from this effort. Here is an edited version of a report on the fiasco:

Top Gear pipes anger anti-smokers Anti-smoking campaigners have asked the BBC to apologise after Top Gear present-ers Jeremy Clarkson and James May lit pipes on Sunday’s show. “Smoking in a studio is illegal. We would hope programme-makers make some form of apology,” said a spokeswoman for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash). Waverley Borough Council said it was investigating the incident at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. The BBC declined to comment on whether or not what took place was illegal. All three of the show’s presenters pulled pipes out from under their chairs during a discussion about Porsche-branded prod-ucts, but Richard Hammond did not light up, having recently given up smoking. The ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in England was introduced in July, following similar laws in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Flouting the ban can result in fines of up to £50 for individuals and £2,500 for busi-nesses who allow people to smoke on their premises. The BBC’s spokeswoman said it had received just a couple of viewers’ com-plaints. During an item in Top Gear, making fun of car merchandise, the presenters lit up branded pipes, which contained herbal tobacco,” she said. “We are very up-front about the style and tone of the show, so viewers know what to expect.” “There were no complaints from members of the audience present during the film-ing,” she added. One audience member told the BBC News website: “No-one in the audience seemed to mind when they lit up - people laughed, although the room did get quite smoky.” Ash’s spokeswoman said smoking was “not appropriate for the BBC”. “There are no exceptions,” she said, add-ing: “You cannot smoke in a public place. This isn’t covered by artistic integrity.” She said she did not consider it appropri-ate to fine the BBC, but that producers “should be reminded at the very least of the law, and make sure they abide by it”. A spokeswoman for Waverley Borough Council said footage of the show had not yet been viewed, but added: “Smoking is not permitted in a smoke-free place.”


Motorsport reportWith Ian Lewis

CLuB COMPETITION 2007 RESuLTS EventDriver MC Auto Test 5 Targa West MC Auto Test 6 MC Sprint 6 Midvale

Superkhana MC Auto Test 7 YTD Average

Car 12 August 6 September 9 September 23 September 7 October 14 OctoberAshley Price PRB 1st 32nd 7.7Warwick Gates 1.8 4th 4.8Mark Hardcastle 1.6L 7.8Peter Corboy 1.8L 8th 8.4Graeme Martin Elise 1st 9.4Simon Corston 1.8T 5th 7th 15.8David Masters 1.8T 16.7Rob Payne S2000 30.9Peter Coleman S2000 28.3Alun Morgan 1.8 26.0Michael Wood 1.8T 11th 50th 32nd 26.9Tony Hamilton 1.6 16.2Ian Lewis 1.6T 3.0Ian Coombs 87.0Ian Wells 83.0

MotorSport Report - 3 November 2007

AEM SuPERkHANA AT THE MID-VALE CYCLEDOME

Sept 2nd Three MX-5s competing, but not club members – yet.

DRuG BuS(T)W.A. Police can now randomly test

for cannabis, speed and ecstasy at their booze buses.

MAXAuTO ACTION AuTOkHANAOctober 14. Simon Corston came

7th, ahead of a Porsche GT3 & heaps of GTR Skylines.

MC STATE AuTOTEST AuTOkHANARound 6 of the State Autotest

Championship of W.A. was conducted on Sunday Sept 9 in perfect conditions. The courses were Challenge 9 on one skid pan and Mt Arrowsmith utilising both skid pans. Each class was represented and we witnessed the best, most competitive and

exciting autotest driving. In particu-lar it was wonderful to see so many Skyline R33’s with 9 competitors, some sharing cars. Also the number of girls competing now proves that it’s not a “blokes only” sport. Mandy Lister has competed for a while now. She is a very quick punter who has improved with every event she enters. Congratulations go to Graeme Martin, Morgan McBride and Danny Cerro for

putting on a “Duke Out on Arrowsmith”. It was great to watch the three guys really throwing their cars around the circuit in an attempt to beat the fastest time set. Warwick Gates took out class AO, but it was Graeme Martin who again pinched the trophies with the fastest times on both Challenge 9 with 51.78 and Mt Arrowsmith with a lightening quick 55.88.The 2007 competition was finalised when Round 7 of the State Autotest Champion-ship of W.A. was conducted on Sunday 14 October. One morning session with 26 hardy competitors faced the judge for the last time in 07. Each class was represent-ed and again we witnessed really competi-tive and exciting autotest driving.As for most of the year Skyline R33’s have dominated our entrants list with eight com-petitors. Many classes came down to this final round to decide. The added pressure resulted in very aggressive driving as we used Challenge 15 and the double-skid pan Daytona courses. Outright fastest was John Fowler (Porsche GT3) in both

disciplines with a 37.53 on Challenge 15 and with the last run of the day and year – 56.43 on Daytona. Daryl Dellow (WRX) was a consistent second but was unable to match the brute speed of the GT3. Club member Simon Corston finished sev-enth, sandwiched between two Porsche GT3s in class B.Congratulations go to club members Michael Wood taking out the 2007 Trophy for class B in his MX-5 SE and Ashley Price with the Outright Trophy in his PRB Clubman.

MC STATE SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 26. Round 5 of the State

Sprint Championship of W.A. was con-ducted in atrocious weather conditions for competition. We do need the rain but it is so inconvenient when a Sprint event is conducted. At some stages it was dry and then a downpour. In the morning session it was a least consistent. Rain, rain and then more rain. This at least allowed all competing to have a ”level playing field”. The afternoon session had a full field of 34 competitors. It started out as dry and that was both good and bad. But then it rained – in a torrential downfall. Both competi-tors and spectators were seen running for cover with many cars caught out and spearing off at warp speed. There are a number of memorable stories and sights that were both funny and a bit tragic. The rain normally means the 4WD fraternity smile. But the rain was so heavy that even


the better drivers were found out. The rain included a strong wind. This gave our wonderful officials led by Les Baxter Clerk-of-Course, a hard time. Cones were blown over and with cars off; their work was cutout. The weather like the recent Duttons should have favoured 4WD cars. But it was a two-wheel drive car that came out on top. Mike Joss driving a Nissan Silvia had the fastest times on every pass. Mike’s final run was 116.53 seconds, seri-ously quick given all the weather dramas. The class winners started with Graeme Martin in AO, a fastest of 121.42 seconds. September 23. Round 6 of the State Sprint Championship of W.A. was con-ducted in perfect weather – for once! And what an event we had! A full field in the afternoon session was preceded by a near capacity line-up in the morning. What a sight it was - some really quick cars and even quicker drivers. The two-wheel drive cars came into contention with the fine weather, bringing the 4WD advantage back a bit. Or was it just a case of better driving? The launch ability of 4WD cars is a distinct advantage but more so in the wet. Yesterday the fine weather brought that advantage back. Matt Cherry in the AHG Driving Centre Evo 6 (D class for 4WD) was the quickest on the day with 113.71. We all thought that we were in for a “dog-fight” when Mike Joss’s Silvia’s (BO class for 2WD) first run produced a 115.58. However Mike was unable to match that again and finished second overall. Third place was taken by the rapid Brett Morse in his superb BMW E30 M3. We had relatively few Porsches enter so it was good to see Benham Borbar’s (Porsche GT3) take B class with his time of 122.87. Michael Wood was second.

TOP 10 FuEL SAVING TIPSWhether you drive a two-seat hybrid

or a three-ton SUV, chances are you can squeeze a bit more distance out of each gallon of fuel. These ten fuel saving tips have served me well over the years, and they can help you improve your car’s fuel economy and take some of the sting out of high fuel prices. Most of these tips will give you a very slight increase in miles per gallon (mpg) -- but use several together and the gas mileage improvements will really add up.1. Check your air filterA clean air filter is the key to good fuel economy. A dirty air filter restricts the flow of air into the engine, which harms performance and economy. Air filters are easy to check and change; remove the filter and hold it up to the sun. If you can’t see light coming through it, you need a new one. Consider a K&N or similar “per-manent” filter which is cleaned rather than

changed; they are much less restrictive than throwaway paper filters, plus they’re better for the environment.2. Check your tire pressureNext to the air filter, under-inflated tires are one of the most commonly ignored causes of crummy mpg. Buy a reliable tire gauge, check your tires when they are cold (driv-ing the car warms up the tires and the air inside them, increasing the pressure), and keep them properly inflated. Use the inflation pressures shown in the owner’s manual or on the data plate in the driver’s doorjamb.3. Slow downAs speed increases, fuel economy de-creases exponentially. If you one of the “ten-over on the freeway” set, try driving the speed limit for a few days. You’ll save a lot of fuel and your journey won’t take much longer. Just be sure you keep to the right, so you won’t impede the less enlight-ened.4. Hang with the trucksEver notice how, in bad traffic jams, cars seem to constantly speed up and slow down, while trucks tend to roll along at the same leisurely pace? A constant speed keeps shifting to a minimum -- important to those who have to wrangle with those ten-speed truck transmissions -- but it also aids economy, as it takes much more fuel to get a vehicle moving than it does to keep it moving. Rolling with the big rigs saves fuel (and aggravation).5. Accelerate with careJack rabbit starts are an obvious fuel-waster - but that doesn’t mean you should crawl away from every light. If you drive an automatic, accelerate moderately so the transmission can shift up into the higher gears. Stick-shifters should shift early to keep the revs down, but don’t lug the engine -- down shift if you need to acceler-ate. Keep an eye well down the road for potential slow-downs. If you accelerate to speed, then have to brake right away, that’s wasted fuel.6. Get back to natureConsider shutting off the air conditioner, opening the windows and enjoying the breeze. It may be a tad warmer, but at lower speeds you’ll save fuel. That said, at higher speeds the A/C may be more ef-ficient than the wind resistance from open windows and sun roof. If I’m going some place where arriving sweaty and smelly could be a problem, I bring an extra shirt and leave early so I’ll have time for a quick change.7. Back off the blingNew wheels and tires may look cool, and they can certainly improve handling. But if they are wider than the stock tires, chances are they’ll create more rolling resistance and decrease fuel economy. If

you upgrade your wheels and tires, keep the old ones. I have fancy sport rims and aggressive tires on my own car, but I keep the stock wheels with a good narrower-tread performance tire in the garage. For long road trips, the stock wheels give a smoother ride and better economy.8. Clean out your carThe more weight your car has to haul, the more gas it needs to do the work. If you’re the type who takes a leisurely attitude to-wards car cleanliness -- and I definitely fall into that group -- periodically go through your car and see what can be tossed out or brought into the house. It doesn’t take much to acquire an extra 40 or 50 lbs of stuff.9. Out with the new, in with the oldMany people keep their old cars around even after they buy a new one. A spare car, especially if it’s an econobox, can be good insurance against temporary spikes in gas prices due to world events. The costs of keeping the car may or may not be less then the fuel saved, but it does al-low for more predictability in your budget. My old beater doesn’t look like much, but it goes 10 miles further on a gallon of gas than our regular car. For that, I can afford to look bad!10. Don’t driveNot a popular thing to say on a car site, I know, but the fact is that if you can avoid driving, you’ll save gas. Take the train, car pool, and consolidate your shopping trips. Walking or biking is good for your wallet and your health. And before you get in your car, always ask yourself: “Is this trip really necessary?”Speed Limit Reductions?Here’s something for you motoring en-thusiasts to look forward to – not! Road Safety ‘experts’ from Monash Uni, com-missioned by our state government have devised a road safety strategy for the next 12 years. The paper proposes reduc-ing all 60 km/h Perth roads to 50 (can you imagine driving along Great Eastern, Canning or West Coast Highways at 50?), all CBD roads to either 30 or 40; even the bike couriers will get booked! And reduc-ing country roads to 100, until they are made safer. When statistics show that the majority of road deaths occur on country roads, sometimes head-on, often without a seat belt, sometimes drunk, how do they think these changes are going to help?

STATE MOTORkHANA CHAMPION-SHIPS

No members currently competing.

TARGA WESTAshley Price came 32nd in the Com-

petition class, but we can’t blame him, he was only navigating for Bob Chaplin in a

(Continued on page 19)


Your CommitteeMazda MX-5 Club of Western Australia Inc. Committee for 2007-2008

Home Mobile Email President & Newsletter Production

Simon Corston 9310 4013 0409 139 606 [email protected]@mx5club.com.au

Vice President Sandra Pullman 9364 4456 0416 221 773 [email protected]

Secretary Robyn Thompsett 9593 6673 0419 587 776 [email protected]

Treasurer Alan Wallace 9313 6538 0414 809 922 [email protected]

Motorsport Manager Ian Lewis 9277 3684 0407 058 996 [email protected]

Membership Ashley Price 9364 4456 0411 886 122 [email protected]

Merchandise Janice Fairhurst 9359 2926 0406 014 537 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Bob Sharpe 9332 1303 0430 596 479 [email protected]

Social Secretary Aart ter Kuile 9387 1426 0419 915 784 [email protected]

Webmaster David Turk 0413 939 007 0413 939 007 [email protected]

General Committee Leslie Proctor 9358 2360 0411 520 595 [email protected]

General Committee Gary Wotzko 9255 1145 0413 564 373 [email protected]

All other club correspondence to: Mazda MX-5 Club of WA Inc., PO Box 849, Cloverdale WA 6105The committee meets on the last Tuesday of every month at Mazda WA 170 Campbell Street Belmont at 6:30 pm.

Thanks to Mazda WA for the use of their premises.

Founding Members of the Mazda MX-5 Club of WA (Founded Nov 1990) who are still members

Doug Cooper Ian Lewis Graeme Martin Ashley Price Sandra Pullman

Life Member: Brian Butterworth

For Sale

For more vehicles and parts for sale check our website www.mx5club.com.au

MX-5 PARTS FOR SALE

Parts taken from 2005 MX-5 SE:

Radiator• IHI Turbo (refurb. req’d) & pipe • workCast Manifold/dump/front pipe• Front strut brace with mounts• Fuel injectors• Air cleaner• Bilstein coilovers•

All reasonable offers accepted.

Contact: Simon Corston

Phone: 0409 139 606

Email: [email protected]

MX-5 PARTS FOR SALEArmrest – passenger door $20Brakes – recently refurbished front cal-lipers $90 pr; front & rear rotors $90 setExhaust – 2.5” stainless steel, turbo-dump-pipe to tip $300Heater core & fan $40Jack $10Turbocharger, Garrett T25L – requires refurb - offersVents - air con eyeballs $5 each

Contact: Ian LewisMobile: 0400 319 958

MX-5 FOR SALE

Lovely Classic Red ‘93 Limited Edi-tion MX-5, (manual), two owners from new (both members of the MX-5 Club), 157,000 kms, $12,900.

This special edition features tan leather seats, BBS wheels, CD player, stainless steel scuff plates, hard top, air-condi-tioning.

Phone: 0422 238 927Email: [email protected]


Lotus Elise. Ex-club member Hans de Corti and his son Marc, came first in the Competition Classic class in their 911RS.

TuNE TO WINDriving and tuning articles from past

M-press magazines are available at www.mx5club.com.au and you can read more in Engineer To Win, Tune To Win & Prepare To Win by Carroll Smith, How To Make Your Car Handle by Fred Puhn, Race Car Engineering by Van Valkenburgh and Inside Racing Technology by Paul Haney, all available from PitStop Bookshop, King

St Perth.

V8S IN PERTH 2010V8 Supercars Australia have asked

Eventscorp to pay $3M a year to bring racing to the city centre – plus an up-front payment of $13M. If the government de-cides it’s too much we will not see the V8s in W.A. after next year’s event. Surely it would have been better to keep it at Bar-bagallo Raceway?

WASCC TuNING DAYS AT BARBA-GALLO

Rules, regulations and price have caused us to cancel our Sprint School at Barba-

gallo. If you are still keen to experience driving on the Barbagallo Circuit, I suggest you join the WA Sporting Car Club. Go to http://www.wascc.com.au/ for membership details. Once a member, you can drive on the track on tuning days, with instruction if you desire it, 20 or 30 times a year for only $55 a session and the first session is free. You can also attend one of their excellent Driving Schools, held twice a year for only $300. In fact if we can get 14 members & friends together we can have a week-day school with WASCC instructors all to ourselves!

Motor Sport Report (Cont.)(Continued from page 17)

Through the Lens

The things you see on the road!

Neville & Linda Armstrong

David with ACT member Malcolm Bernhardt

One of the vintage cars at Caversham

Aart offers run advice to Jason

Joe (cool) Cameron

And it hadn’t left the driveway!

Wayne O’Brien with his SP

The 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt dream car

Based on the sketch below the first re-tractable hardtop or Coupé Cabriolet was conceived in 1922 by Ben B Ellerbeck. His system allowed easy switching be-tween Coupé and Cabriolet modes thanks to an articulated hardtop that could be moved onto the trunk. The transformation is manual but only one person is required.

After Ben B Ellerbeck’s efforts in 1922 – 1923 the concept of a Coupé Cabrio-let disappeared until in the early thirties, designer and engineer Georges Paulin, who created some masterpieces of pre-war French coach building, developed the éclipse system. His retractable hardtop not only retracted into the trunk (and not onto) but was even electrically operated.Ellerbeck fitted his system on a 1922 Hud-son super-six with an ultimate refinement: the top featured an opening so that the rumble seat could be opened even when the top was down!Ellerbeck’s formula appears to be ideal: as a Coupé, the car has acceptable styling and its comfort is equivalent to a regular Coupé or saloon car.

The Ups and Downs of the Retractable Hardtop - Part OneAs a Cabriolet, the lines are smooth com-pared to other convertibles of that era with their protruding folded cloth tops. Ellerbeck developed an im-proved model for the 1923 Hudson

Super Six that did not require the sliding arrangement shown in the sketch. However, as far as we know the novelty never came into produc-tion…

The factory Peugeot 401d and 601d éclipse were not a huge commercial success due to their price, but this was still the first double digit produc-tion of a Coupé Cabriolet, in 1934 - 35 Peugeot sold 99 éclipse sys-tem-equipped cars. More factory models followed until production was dis-contin-ued after the 1939 Peugeot 402b éclipse.Then a handful of dream

cars or specials had retractable hardtops, the most remarkable one being the extravagant Gaylord Gladiator, a Ca-dillac-pow-ered roadster which was de-signed for Jim Gay-lord, inventor of the bobby-

pin.But it was not until 1957 that the sys-

tem came into mass production on the six seat Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner.

Georges Paulin built a battery-powered

1/10th scale mock-up that was unsuc-cessfully submitted to Citroën in 1932. A Hotchkiss was the first car equipped with the éclipse system and the car was to be

showed at the 1933 motor show but never made it because of a disa-greement between the backer and the

inventor!Coach builder Pourtout used the éclipse roof with a small batch of Lancia Belna, followed by a few cars based on Peugeot 301 and 601 chassis. This was so well re-ceived that Peugeot itself included éclipse models in its range from late 1934.

After the demise of the French éclipse system in the late thirties the American car manufac-turers got in

on the act as the retractable hardtop became fashion-able in the USA. The 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt dream car was the first of that

era, but the retractable hardtop was only a feature among others (full-pontoon shape, concealable head-lights).

Aart ter Kuile

(Part two of this article will appear in the next MX-press.)

Even in the 1920’s they used “ babes” to sell cars …

The 1932 Hotchkiss am éclipse in action

Pourtout’s 1934 Peugeot 301 Darl’mat éclipse

1923 Model

mx-press · mx-press sep-oct 2007 2 for someone as enthusiastic about cars as i am, a big motor...

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