owned by Peter Shannon Reprinted from ‘The Piston Broke’ Gladstone vintage and classic carriage club-  newsletter June 2001

Hidden away in a shed at Peter Shannon’s place, where one has to climb a ladder to get a photo was this 1926 Model T Ford. Peter bought this late ‘T’ in 1964 from Falkener Motors in Gatton. The Original owner was from Murphy’s creek near Toowoomba, and decided it was time for a new Ford so he had taken the model T to part exchange on a Ford Anglia.. Peter says the T Ford came with wooden wheels. In 1926 wire wheels were an option. It changed in 1927 and wire wheels became the standard and wooden wheels became the option. . .My memory on what was said during conversations has been proven to be unreliable on many occasions, but I was fairly sure Peter told me that he replaced the wooden wheels with wire because they developed noises on rough roads, and it was not until I looked at the photos that I noticed the Ford still had wooden wheels on the front. . . Unless. The photo is wrong ? I expect we shall get a few emails from the web site telling us that wire wheels were not an option from someone in The US or Canada, but my own brief research tells me that there were varied dealer options around the world, and as this is an Australian sold Vehicle I shall except Peters word, he is a better authority than I will ever be. The car is not presently mobile as it has a broken Bearing. Peter says it currently has an earlier T model engine, but he has a 1926 engine that will be replacing the un-original one (when it has been rebuilt) to make the T ‘correct’ Unfortunately – (or quite possibly Fortunately- it was a great Rally ) The Mt. Morgan Rally was crammed with interesting places and things to do and the Stopover at Peters place was limited to a couple of hours, and members were rounded up By Bills Fire Truck with Siren blaring .; Kurrajong Jambin Qld 4202

 

1949 3 ton Ford tray back truck   owned by John Nixon

With a lot of members out of town It is sometimes hard to gather together a collection to represent the Club at the annual Harbour Festival Parade. John Nixon (we have met him several times through the Capricornia Branch of the Queensland Jaguar drivers Club) offered to fill a gap with his extremely attractive Ford 3 tonner. The Truck is pretty well original, all the serial numbers match etc. But it now runs on gas. With the side Valve V8 under the bonnet I do not suspect that John misses any loss of power. The Ford spent its life working on a Dairy farm in Bairnsdale, and John bought the truck when he needed a vehicle to complete a job he was working on, so it is good to see that the Ford is not just a display piece. . It still contributes to the work load . . . That’s what it was built for.
The 49 is Australian built (I am just saying that off the top of my head – presumption) and John has had to do very little restoration apart from replacing the old tyres

Photo left

Another under the bonnet photo of a Ford V8   – looking under the bonnet of Ford V8s is becoming quite a pastime for club members lately, and if you ever see a group of members huddled around a pile of photos . . The chances are that they are not ‘Girlie pics’ But another Ford.

Photo right An extremely smart interior greets the driver. What cannot be seen is a rather nice sound system that is conveniently hidden away behind the glove box –

A few members will recall checking out Johns magnificent ‘e type’ a couple of years ago when he called in to pay us a visit at one of our engine running days. I recall someone asked him why the number plates were inside the car? – John simply asked “would you drill holes in This Jaguar ? ”

 

 

 

 

‘ RED FRED ‘ Owned by Bruce and Cheryl Gibson     See also 64 Compact

The 1963 Ford Compact Fairlane . Sometime with joint membership, you come across a  His’ and ‘Hers’ situation. I think this is the first time  I have ever come across a ‘HERS’ and ‘ OURS ‘. I innocently asked Cheryl where Bruce was because I wanted to get some details  on the 62 Compact as I had  missed the last Club outing and had not managed to get a photo  of it. Cheryl gave me a bit  of a lopsided look. “what details do you want  ?”  she asked, ” Its not Bruce’s Car.  Its Mine!”

“Right” I said,  “so the ‘pink’ one is Bruce’s and the red one is yours” .

As I said ‘pink’ I distinctly  remembered someone asking me to correct the page on the web-site, because the car was not pink. . I distinctly remember not doing it; not so distinct was the correct name of the colour, but I am a little colour blind so I expect to get forgiven….

“the Red one is mine, and the 1964 is ours” Sheryl said.. . . . I had to grin when Cheryl said that, ” I will write that down ” I said, “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is ours,”

“I know you will” she can be a bit Cheeky that Cheryl ” you had better write down that it has a 289 Windsor motor, but we are looking for an original 260 motor for it, a lot of 260 motors were replaced with 289s but I would like to have the car as original as possible.  I told her that I would post a message on the web-site in case somebody out there had one and then I asked ” that’s a V8″

“yes, and it has a three speed auto, but the original 260 had a two  speed” Sheryl then started to tell me about the Ford  Compacts history and I forgot to take notes,  If I recall what she told me correctly the 62, 63, and 64 Compact Fairlanes were  Canadian models that Ford Imported and assembled  in Australia. I did recall

Sheryl intends to replace the mag wheels with original wheels, she is going to get white wall tyres, she will re-upholster the seats, that she has accumulated a bit of literature on the compacts. . and that she knows a lot more about Ford Fairlanes than I do, So I made a note of Cheryl and Bruce’s email address  and I shall forward a few of the tricky questions that get emailed to the club web-site.

Between the Sheryl and Bruce they now own a  62, 63, and 64 compact. To my reckoning that makes a complete set ! I did own a 59 fairlane 500 for a few years and it is not hard to understand why she loves them.

1971 F250 Fire Engine owned by Bill Swindells

Bill Swindells   Gladstone Vintage and Classic Carriage Club member has been talking about getting a fire engine for the last two years,. Bill was even presented with a hose nossle at the last Change over dinner, (photo coming soon)    Well Its Here………

The Fire Engine has started its new life in retirement with purpose. A group of Children from the ‘Special needs’ Organization are seen above testing the siren during an Outing Organized By Tessa from Special needs, and Club members John Hinde , Bill Swindells, Joe Allen, Frank Smith, Jeanette Jensen and Arthur Timms.

The Ford Started life At Ayre in Queensland in 1971 and was transferred to the Julia Creek fire station in 1973 where it spent most of its working life. It was retired in Boulia in 1999 where it spent its last years of active duty.

It came complete with hose reels , Pump (driven by P.T.O. lever in cab) 5,00 litre water tank, flashing light and siren. The Siren proved very popular with a recent visit by a group of children . (see photo) Bill still needs to find a ladder. And some suction hoses that are used for pumping water from creeks or rivers   (update) (HOSES SINCE FOUND)

1971 F250 Fire Engine  This ford is powered by a  Canadian Six Motor and has done around 16,600 Miles

 

 

 

 

Owned By Dominic and Coola Collings

1967 XR Ford Falcon, is fitted with a 200 Pursuit motor, that has been converted to Automatic. It has been fitted with a holly carburetor (the original is under the house) and has a 2V Head . A set of twelve slotter wheels. Apart from that the XR is original.

1964 Fairlane 500

Bruce and Cheryl have two more Ford of similar vintage at Daisydell Farm (I love that name) but this is the one that has been using up the time lately. I suspect the other two will soak up some future hours..

This … 500 was purchased this colour, previously it had been hot rodded, it also had a nasty ding in the wing, but Bruce has been gradually restoring it to the way it was meant to be, but I suspect it may well stay pink, It looks good.

Under the bonnet is a 289 V8, with an automatic three speed gearbox. It is an Australian assembled 500 and manages around 23 miles per gallon

restored by Keith Parsloe