Radio Interview on 88.3 Southern FM - Ambrosia

Leanne

Now we’re going to talk about the Austin 7 Club, and its wonderful event, Historic Winton, which happened a few weeks ago. And on the phone with us right now is one of the committee actually, the secretary of the Austin 7 Club, Michael Lambert. Good morning, Michael.

Michael

Good morning, Leanne. How are you today?

Leanne

Good. Thank you. Tell us first of all, how did you get into all of this? Because you do a million things.

Michael

It’s always fun. Where do I start? I think I blame it all on my wife to start with.

Leanne

Don’t do that!

Michael

Oh, I don’t know. She kind of accepted it.

She started off one day with, ‘You should get a classic car.’ Which turned into me going, ‘How about I get a vintage car?’ And then looking at what was available for the price range and all that sort of thing and decided an Austin 7 would be kind of cool. And I vaguely remember my grandmother mentioning an Austin 7 as the car she learned to drive in. So I went and joined the club. And I guess from there it’s all kind of snowballed.

I stupidly let on that I know a bit about computers, which in a vintage car club is not the most common thing. So I got roped into helping out on a lot of events, helping out with some of the club’s Internet needs, their technology in the club rooms. And also I think I got voluntold that I was on the, on the Historic Winton Committee.

Leanne

Oh, voluntold. I like that one.

Michael

Yes. Yes. It’s always the best way to join a committee.

Yes, from there it’s kind of piqued my interest in motorsport, which has always been there throughout my whole life. But it really led me down the sort of officialling path and officiating and finding out what else was involved in motorsport.

Leanne

Because you not only do Historic Winton and tasks there, you go out and you’re an official at other events as well.

Michael

Yes. As part of Historic Winton I was asked to help with driver sign-on because that’s quite computer based. And I thought, well, if I’m going to be doing quite an important task like that, I should really get to know what officiating at motorsport events is about. So I went and got my official’s license. I did my Motorsport Australia General Officials license. And I also got my AASA official license, both of which were fairly straightforward to get. And then started sort of asking around, how do I get more involved? And I ended up in the Victorian Flagmarshalling team and also in the Victorian Fire Rescue Squad, both of which work at a number of events.

Leanne

Okay. So to stop there, for the great unwashed listening, what does a flagmarshal do?

Michael

So I think my favourite was someone who said he always assumed it was waving flags at retired orthodontists. But it’s a little bit more than that. We stand right by the side of the track we’re armed with a bunch of flags that the colours have different meanings. And we have to display those flags to the drivers in a way that will get their attention to let them know what’s happening on track.

So if we’re waving a blue flag, it means someone’s about to try and overtake you. If we’re holding a black flag out with your car number on it, it means that you’ve done something naughty, and you must go to the pits. There’s also a yellow flag to say there’s an accident or an incident ahead. Red flag to say time to get off the track…

Oh yeah, the checkered flag. Yeah, that’s probably the one that’s the favourite for a lot of drivers. Hopefully they’re the first person to see it when they finish the event because it usually means that they’ve won a race.

Leanne

That’s right.

Michael

But it can also mean it’s just the end of the session. If it’s a practice or qualifying session, it just means, okay, you’ve had your time, it’s now time to get off the track.

Leanne

So, Michael, how long have you been doing all this?

Michael

I think it’s about 18 months now.

Leanne

Oh, seriously?

Michael

Yeah, it’s literally just 18 months. But there’s a little caveat to that and that is, I think it must have been about 1990. I accompanied my father to Mallala in South Australia and through the Sporting Car Club over there, we helped out with timing. So, I had a little bit of exposure to it many moons ago and I worked at a couple of Grands Prix in Adelaide, not as an official, as a tray vendor, so selling chips and drinks. So, there was a whole lot of cases where I could have got into motorsport but the stars didn’t align and I didn’t find out how to do it until quite recently.

Leanne

As part of the Austin 7 Club, I mean, the members are working all the time on events, on hill climbs and observed section trials and Historic Winton. Do you actually have some fun there?

Michael

Of course. If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t be out there doing it. Personally, I love motorsport. I’m the sort of person that until recently used to stay up and watch every Grand Prix until the middle of the night. But I’ve stopped doing that now; I’d rather get some sleep. But it means that I’m out track side most weekends. I can go and watch cars. In the case of OST, I’m walking around the track. I’m helping to make sure that these people that like to race the cars can continue to do that.

Leanne

So, OST observes section trials, it’s affectionately known as a mud trial, isn’t it? Because the muddier the better.

Michael

Yes, so yeah, definitely. When there’s enough rain around, it’s definitely very muddy. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been too much this year. But the mud trials is run by the Austin 7 car club. And in that, the people that custom built cars that are loosely based around an Austin 7 these days. I think it’s the distance between the wheel has to be the same as used to be common on an Austin 7. And these cars especially built to crawl around on mud and turn in very tight circles. And it’s about the skill of getting through a circuit rather than doing it at any great speed. Cross country, they have to get through 10 gates or a line between two posts and that can be quite challenging. And so it’s not uncommon to see the cars with all four wheels off the ground. Occasionally, you get one perched in a tree, but actually that doesn’t happen too often. But yeah, it’s a lot of fun, a lot of camaraderie between the competitors. So it’s fantastic being an official at that and helping them to do what they love. But at the same time, getting to see a different side of motorsport than most people can see.

Leanne

So the Austin 7 club’s been celebrating its 75th anniversary. Isn’t that amazing?

Michael

Yes, absolutely crazy.

Leanne

And so what sort of things has the club been doing?

Michael

So it kicked off at an AOMC event, the Association of Motoring Clubs event, down at Cruden Farm in January. That event happened to be on the actual day of the Austin 7 Club’s 75th birthday. So we tried to get 75 Austin 7s there, unfortunately we didn’t quite make it. We managed to get 57. But the joke around the club is that on reflection that’s 75. So it’s okay.

Leanne

So 75 backwards.

Michael

Yes, yes. So we’ve had that; we’ve had a lot of smaller events and we’ve got the annual rally coming up later this year. And also at Historic Winter this year, we did quite a big celebration for it. So we had a special parade lap for Austin 7s and the Austin 7s led the parade laps that had all the other cars in them as well. So that was really nice to see. And we had a really good turnout. I can’t remember how many there were, but it was a noticeable number of Austin 7s at the front of the field.

Leanne

So just before we go, Michael, do people have to own an Austin 7 to be a member of the Austin 7 club?

Michael

No, you don’t have to own one. You just have to have an interest in something Austin 7 related or mud trials related. That’s probably the main prerequisite. Generally, if you want to be a full member, you need to have an Austin 7. But that usually happens fairly soon after getting involved in the club if you’ve got the money for it. But yeah, if you don’t, if you’re just into a historic vehicle and want to come along, then yeah, that’s always fantastic. We have the regular monthly meeting is on the first Wednesday of the month. And on the third Wednesday of the month, we have what we call a hot air session, which is just a chance for a bit of socializing and sometimes a presentation. I think we’ve got one on Hydroblasting this week.

Leanne

Hydroblasting, fantastic. People can find out more on the Austin 7 website, which is austin7club.org.

Michael

That’s correct, austin7club.org.

Leanne

Thank you, Michael. Thank you for joining us today.

Michael

Thank you.