National Jowett Rally - 2008 - Victoria - Australia

[Forumadmin]

Did you sing 'Flowers of Scotland' to stay awake?

[Drummond Black]

No Keith , Was not allowed. but it was not really tiring.

Went out in Mike's Jupiter yesterday. Runs very well. Left Bill to get it cleaned & polished ready for Friday when we all leave for Bendigo.

Going to do " TOURISTY " things today. ( Wednesday )

Will try to keep you all up to date.

Drummond

[Drummond Black]

Been doing " Touristy " things Wednesday & Thursday in and around the Melbourne area. Ruby saw her first Kangaroo today. She was chuffed.

We met up with Bill Lock, Eric & Jenny Firth & Richard ( Member of the Australian Jowett Club ) We all had beers & wine .

Getting ready to leave early for Bendigo early tomorrow morning.

Will keep the news flowing.

Drummond

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

Thanks for the updates Drummond. You are obviously having a good time.

[Forumadmin]

Encourage some more Australians to sign up to JowettTalk and JowettGallery. We might talk to them!

[Drummond Black]

Got myself in front of a computer again. Not seen one since setting out for Bendigo.

What a fantastic time we have had at the JCCA rally. Ruby & myself were overwhelmed by the friendly approach towards us. This helped us to enjoy the event even more. At this point Ruby & myself would like to thank Mike Allfrey for the use of his Jupiter for the entire rally. We collected the car in Melbourne , drove it the 150 miles or so to Bendigo, used it for the entire rally period and drove it back to Melbourne, We covered about 500 miles it it and enjoyed every minute. Thanks a million Mike, it really made our visit a memorable one. Oh, and the hood was down most of the time. Our mileage was a drop in the ocean compared with our Australian Jowett members. I take my hat off to them ( I had to buy a genuine Bush hat ) for their enthusiusm and the distances they are prepared to travel. The longest distance was ( again ) Brian Heher from Western Australia who covered about 3000 miles to attend. ( took him nine days ). Pre- War, Bradfords, Javelins and Jupiters from Sydney , Brisbane, Adelaide made a fantastic display on the Saturday in the centre of Bendigo ( in brilliant sunshine imported from Crieff !!!. )

The Australian Jowett members love for their cars is unbelievable. Nothing is allowed to beat them. Some of their technical achievements puts us on the back burner. ( Bringing a few ideas home with me ) and the preparation of the Jowetts is of a very high standard.

The rally was very well organised, we were fed well, and often. They had a good relaxed schedule and stuck to it. We saw a lot of Bendigo and the surrounding area and loved every minute. Ruby and myself won the Sunday Observation Run Trophy with Eric and Jenny Firth coming second.
I gave an outline of our 2010 rally in Bradford during the Presentation Dinner ( Yes - I was wearing the Kilt ) and enthusiusm to attend is high both from Australia & New Zealand. ( Paul Beaumont , I have sent you a note of this to your message box. )

Lots more to tell , but we are now about to catch the Overland train to Adelaide ( 10 hours journey time ) to see more of this fantastic country , and Jowett members. Our reports will continue as we will be in New Zealand later next week where more excitement awaits us.

Drummond & Ruby

[Mike Allfrey]

G'dday From The Frigid South!

Drummond was absolutely right about importing the weather from Crieff. We are in a very cold spring snap at present.

Thank you for your praises Drummond, and I am glad you enjoyed our Golden Experience.

Dear Readers,

There is just a wee point that was not anticipated nor mentioned in Drummond's report above.

It did rain on the Friday evening and, after our barbecue when it was time to go back to our motel, my Jupiter refused (emphatically) to start its engine. A call for help to diagnose the engine immobiliser computer's malfunction. The fact that the low pressure oil lamp did not come on, also threw me off course. It was wet, dark and getting cold, in addition I was quite tired and finally suggested wheeling the reluctant Jupiter into the Veteran, Vintage & Classic Club Bendigo's clubroom's workshop for the night, and that we would attack the computer with a multi meter in the morning.

Truthfully, I was worried that Drummond and Ruby's weekend had been ruined on the first day. At 4:00 am I awoke and lay there thinking about how best to "hot wire" the ignition and petrol pump circuit. For me, the fact that the starter button set the starter in motion, told me that the computer was working - because starter, ignition and petrol pump are controlled by the immobiliser.

Then, in a flash of brilliance, I realised what was wrong. The isolation switch for the petrol pump!!

I arrived at the Clubrooms to find a Bradford's batther sitting beside the Jupiter. While discussion about the "hot wiring" process was to be undertaken, I quietly reached in and pulled out the pump's switch knob.

"Now start it Drummond" was the command!

The engine burst immediately into life and all was well!

The switch must have been accidentally turned off while Drummond turned into the Clubrooms' driveway.

I fitted the switch to control the flooding at the Zenith carburettors and, since fitting the Solexes have not had to use it. That is why I temporarily forgot to check it the night before.

Thank you for getting our Jupiter to and from Bendigo safely. Thank you Ruby for joining in and enduring the cold ride back to Melbourne. It was lovely having you both here with us at last. Just hope the Great Ocean Road was not too much of a strain.

I really appreciated having both my Jowetts driven to and from Bendigo for me and thanks are due also to Bill Lock for piloting my Javelin for me. A turned off switch apart, both cars performed very well.

Esperence - here we cme!!

Safe journeys home folks.

Mike A.

[Drummond Black]

Just an update to all since we left Bendigo, We dropped the Jupiter back at Mike,s house in Melbourne , Really enjoyed the oportunity to drive it to the rally. It helps to make you feel totally involved. Said our goodbye,s and the next day we were on the OVERLAND train Adelaide where we spent a fabulous two days. We hired a car in Adelaide and drove up into the Adelaide hills to visit Tim & Janet Kelly. Got a tour of his 10 Javelins & 2 Jupiters. ( He told me at Bendigo that he was a bit of a Jowett Enthusiast , but I did not realise just how dedicated. ) It apears that he has the earliest Javelin in Australia - no 187 ? ) After that we headed inland to get a good feel for the " real Australia " that we see on the telly.

Have really enjoyed our three weeks here & we are now off to New Zealand where more Jowett visits are planned.

A change of country will mear a change of topic in Jowett Talk. Look out for NZ section.

Drummond