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The Forum > General Discussion > Christmas - What fantastic memories do each of us have of Christmas ?

Christmas - What fantastic memories do each of us have of Christmas ?

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Hi, o sung. Motor racing was a gentleman's sport in my day. Nothing so crude as advertising on cars, so no sponsorship either. We paid all our own costs, unless we became very big time

I started in sports cars, but decided it did not make sense to have a lot of expensive damageable body work on a race car.

I bought a Lotus 20, formula junior open wheeler, then moved to a Brabham formula 2.

My team were pretty good mechanically, so it didn't break, & as I didn't run into things it was not as expensive as it could have been. We upgraded an old car & built the engine for it ourselves.

It was twice voted the most reliable racing car in Oz, by the professional racing mechanics club, a bit of an admission. We three were amateurs, a plastics engineer, a white goods designer, & a sales tax investigator. Not exactly what you would expect. It also won it's class in every race it started for a 20 month period, so prize money actually paid for the tyres, & an oil company gave me all my fuel & lubricants.

I ultimately was given a Formula 1 drive by a top team, & took second in our championships, the gold star. I also drove for General Motors, Holden dealers team, & Ford, before going sailing.

To indicate how it was, my second at Bathurst in the original Holden Monaro earned me $50.00. It was not exactly a lucrative activity.

Everything in life comes at a cost. I got to the stage where the time & effort involved in racing was not returned in the pleasure I got from it. Actually I guess the fun went out of it.

I got to the stage where spending 4 or 5 nights most weeks working on a car was no longer much fun, even with good friends for company, so stopped. I had nothing left to prove to myself, & the thought of the south sea islands became irresistible.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 2:32:40 PM
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HASBEEN...

A more fulfilling or accomplishing life you could not have wished for, albeit with that mysterious seductive lure of the sea, indelibly trying to entice you away from the smell of gasoline and the screaming pitch of performance tyres ? How on earth did you find the time to raise a family, and successfully engage in rural pursuits !

Interestingly much of your motor racing success relied essentially on the efforts of a plastics engineer, a white goods designer and a sales tax investigator - with the total absence of an 'academic' ? There are some here on the FORUM, who might not appreciate you failing to seek appropriate academic guidance, in the formative years of your racing career ?

Whereas myself in contrast, served in the Army and the police force, with a smattering of casual jobs, throughout that time ?

A Repatriation Doctor (Psychologist) casually, but kindly observed '...you've never held a real job as such, have you, other then your Army service, and as a policeman...'? 'Spluttering' in my own defence '...what about the casual, part-time stuff I'd done while in the coppers...' ? She dismissed this with a wave of her hand, saying something to the effect, she meant a career, something productive, rather than as a 'protected' functionary within the aegis of the Defence Department and NSW government ? This kind lady was helping me with some of my 'adjustment' difficulties, post my retirement. She was on my side, eh ?!

Reluctantly I saw her point, she wasn't dismissive of my two occupations, rather I'd no real experience in the outside, commercial market place ? And in hindsight I realise she was quite right with her summation ? Compared to you HASBEEN...well it doesn't matter really, comparisons are odious, and at 75 with the clock ticking it's the least of my worries I suppose.

You've had a very full, satisfying life by all accounts HASBEEN, and so have I (I think?). Anyway, I've no real regrets concerning my own vocational choices. And I guess, neither have you ?

Take it easy ol' man !
Posted by o sung wu, Tuesday, 23 December 2014 4:45:45 PM
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