What vehicles have you had, and what did you do
to them, including non-Hondas?
1979: N360 Scamp, red,I just tried
to keep it running, I used to scare the hell out of my mates at 8,000 revs
on a particular dirt road at probably 50mph.
1980: N600 Scamp, green, bought from a wreckers, I welded it back together, and found various coloured panels for it. I found all sorts of ways to make it go fast, both bizarre and ridiculous. Rebuilt Struts, adjustable rear shocks, extra rear leaf springs, 1mm extra lift camshaft, front anti-roll bar, special disk pads, many spot lights, water injection. Then at some stage I painted it metallic gold over nutmeg and added a shag pile hood lining, vinyl interior pillars, crushed velvet curtains etc. I competed at the 1981 and 1982, National Meets in them, and lots of sprints and private practice at Lakeside, and a few motorkhanas. I once had ten people in it at Tafe.
1982:
Coupe '7' 1300 ,yellow/ orange/ white/ blue (different cars, orange one
twice), a major project after a Scamp, they are so much more complicated,
and so much faster. All I did to them was put the water injection on and
modify all the shocks, and tried to keep the oil leaks under control. John
Que and I competed at the 1983 National Meet in Adelaide, doing about 6,000
km coming back via Melbourne and Sydney, John bought his '9' in Canberra
on the way through.
1984:
City, yelIow, ordered it six months before it arrived, and it was
about the first one on the road in Qld, I had to peer over the fence at
the holding yard at it for 3 weeks as there was a customs delay. This car
taught me to motorkhana, it took over 12 months (I came nowhere at the
1984 National Meet), but I finally cracked a Fastest Time of Day by 4 seconds
at the 1985 National Meet and again in 1986 by 9 seconds. 
The
only performance modification (besides running Avgas) I made was to turn
the air cleaner lid upside down (just to make it sound better), I fitted
front and rear anti-roll bars to stop it bottoming out on the bump stops
on hard corners. I did a few Lakeside sprints and private practice, and
Surfers Paradise practice before it was closed down. I also did well in
a couple of rallysprints.
1987: Civic Wagon, Misty Beige, I traded
the City in at 96,000km for a demo wagon, and it was just like a big City,
same balance on the road, but more room and comfort. I didn't do anything
to it, and I competed in a few motorkhanas successfully, I recall overtaking
a BMW 318 down the straight at Lakeside, during some practice, but the
top speed was limited because of the high frontal area. The 1987 National
Meet Motorkhana in Canberra was made difficult for me by undersized tests,
but I did well against the other Civics in the Hillclimb.
1990: Suzuki Carry work van, not as nice to drive as the Acty, but it has A/C, and the Acty got squashed.
1990: Coupe 7 again, and a trip to Catalina Park in Katoomba for the National Meet. It was a frightening place with all blind corners, and moss on the road, and witches hats where you shouldn't drive. Coupes are terrible motorkhana cars, the overhangs are too long and the handbrakes are inefficient.
1994: Civic EB1, brown, just a runabout, I did a couple of motorkhanas in it and nearly broke some fingers in the process, surprisingly I was just as quick in it as in a City turbo II on the same day, but give me a City any day.
1998: Civic EB1 Hondamatic, turquoise,
another runabout.
I'm proud to say, I have never owned a car that wasn't a Honda.
2003: Concerto Hondamatic, Maroon.
How did you come to contact the club?
In 1980, John Tomelevage
left a leaflet under my Scamp wiper blade, and I turned up to a meeting,
and I've been on the Committee ever since :-)
What Honda would you most like, and why?
Over the years, thanks
to various dealers and Honda Australia, we've been able to drive the whole
range of Hondas, from 1984 Prelude on, and working in a dealership
means I have been able to judge them all.
In the large category, Legends are wonderful, CRXs were good in their
category, but I was always fond of my wagon, so I guess an Odyssey would
do me.
What do you / don't you like about the club?
I have had friends
around the clubs for over 20 years, I have enjoyed catching up with them
each year and watching their kids (and grandkids) grow up, each year some
new ones come, and they too get caught up in the tradition, I have been
to 16 of the last 21 National Meets, helping organise 5 of them. On a local
club level I enjoy being able to help members with mechanical things and
being sociable.
What aggravates me
is that the hardest thing to do is to get members involved with some part
of the club, just because you don't want to be knee deep in racing fuel,
doesn't mean you can't be involved on the social side, it is after all
a Car Owners' Association. Oh, and by the way, I hate Nav runs; after
20 years the novelty has worn off.
What information would you like to glean from
the club?
I would love more
technical info out of Honda, but they can't give us anything that the regular
press don't get, but at least we get the Presentation Night.
What are your other interests, flying, boating,
mountain climbing, wine tasting?
All of the above,
and I have done all of the above with the club. And I enjoy spending the
odd hour or two on the computer as well.
What sort of work do you do? Feel free to put
in a plug.
Mobile Car Air Conditioning,
Mountain Air, the advertising is elsewhere.
When I decided to
migrate to Australia I started to think about a Honda Dealership (something
to show the locals how to run a business!). The first real Honda I saw
was an S600/800 sports car in Hawaii where we stopped over for a couple
of days. My first Honda was a red S800, which I bought brand new in 1969
for $2,500 cash. I had gone for a demo drive around New Farm and my initial
impression was -- I thought my ass was dragging along the ground -- the
car was so low. This S800, which I gave a lot of thought to buying, was
my first brand new car. In the U.S. I had owned only used cars. I sold
this car in the mid 90's to Armand Daiga of Highway Auto Centre, he is
now restoring it, and it will be back on the road soon.
My second brand new
car was a Honda LN360 van, that I used for my photography business. The
LN360 was like a noisy fun machine, I think the top speed was around 60mph,
and coming back from the Gold Coast I opened it up and was surprised to
find that it held the road pretty good.. I expected it to be all over the
road at that speed. Next Honda was a Z360 (Zot) that came into my hands,
but with 
a
worn motor, it didn't stay around too long. A 1976 2 door Civic came upon
the scene, this car lasted quite a while and was very reliable. I upgraded
to a 1982 Civic Wagon, which I still have and about a year ago bought a
pair of Preludes (1980 and '81). The '80 Prelude cost me a fair bit of
money, but I really enjoy the car (I'm trying to convince myself the money
I spent was well worth it). It handles very nice, has a good feel to it
and the air conditioner works well (thanks to Leon for getting it going).
Somewhere around 1969 or '70 I started going to Honda car Club meetings in West End, where Adrian Taylor talked about cars, babies etc. I don't remember that club doing a great deal and we seemed to have drifted apart. A keen Honda man, Lee Blume came along one day to talk about Hondas and we got together to form a Honda Car Club. This club continued for a while until it bogged down and Lee Blume said he thought the club had picked the wrong car for a club! Daryl Wheeley and Jeff Unwin approached me about forming another Honda Car Club and calling it the Honda Car Owners' Association of Qld, which I did and the rest is history.
Some of that history: Jeff and I were the first people from Qld to attend a National Meeting, in Benalla, and the following year in Deniliquin. In 1981 we hosted our first National Meet, we got Honda Australia to cover the booking coat for Lakeside Raceway! I was proud of the fact that our club put on an excellent meet.
From my experience, I find it's hard to get people interested in doing car events, but once they try events and realize it's fun and a chance to learn a bit more about their cars, they enjoy it. I dropped out of car club activities for a while to try other interests, such as rock hunting, ten pin bowling, girl chasing, SCUBA diving (I had a 14' inflatable boat) after a few years I was president of my diving club.
Because the HCOAQ made me a life member and all the help they've given me in keeping my Hondas running, I've come back to help where I can. It would be nice if more people came forward to help keep the club active !!!
John was our founding member, a Life Member, current Vice President and great friend to us all.
John had completed organising our Christmas function, so we did not disappoint him as we know he didn't like his plans to be changed.
To many of us it seemed that the HCOAQ members were John's family and it is in this context that his passing is especially sad to many of us.
The next time I came in contact with the marque was towards the end of high school, when I started to take an interest in what my first car should be. I started to read "Wheels" and "Modern Motor" and pretty much every 2nd issue there would be another cover story about some new technology developed by Honda, or another economy or power/capacity breakthrough in small engines from Honda. It became apparent after they raved about the Honda City Turbo that this would have to be my first car.... It wasn't.
What vehicles have I had, and what did I do to them, including non-Hondas?
I've had seven Honda's, and three Ford Falcons to date. The history
looks like this:
1978 Honda Accord hatch.
This was my first road car. My dad warned me to buy a 'dunger', that I'd surely wreck my first car so it should be a Kingswood or something. He was right - the Accord was a write-off after I drove it off a cliff not a full fortnight after buying it. Not to be discouraged (and not having insurance or enough money to get other wheels) this car was rebuilt and 7 months later was on the road. Better than ever. Then there was the head-on which almost wrote it off a 2nd time. Then the 3-way accident that did the job for good. The Accord was the shiniest car that I ever owned - it had a complete respray at least once every two years ...unfortunately this came with a great deal of body shortening and modification! The Accord finally paid off though - I got almost twice as much for it as a write-off than what I'd paid initially.
1984 Honda Civic Sedan.
My 2nd road car, the Civic was supposed to be a temporary set of wheels
only. I really didn't like the look of it even. The idea was I could probably
get back what I paid for it a year later, while saving for something more
my style. It was white, and even a Hondamatic - yuk. But the 'Star
Drive' 12 valve Civic stuck with me for 5 years more than I had planned
in the end.
1989 Honda Civic GL hatch.
They say your first car is the one you remember the most fondly. In this case the Accord was deserving of this ...but the 89 Civic is definitely the most memorable. I'd put the white civic into a panel shop to get some stone chips touched up and saw this car for sale and thought I'd take it for a drive to see what the newer model was like. What a great drive -- at the end of that day I owned two Civics!
1998 Honda Integra VTi-R coupe.
Christmas eve last year I finally traded the 89 Civic on my first ever
showroom-new car. Leading up to
the decision I test-drove the VTi-R Civic, and the Subaru WRX ...both which
went a bit quicker. The Civic got dropped from the running since
it had less useable interior room than my '89 (and remember with my fondness
for in-car audio there would be a swag of gear to be bolted into the new
car in time). The Subaru was impressive - no doubt about that, but for
value for money I felt it left a bit to be desired ...for much the same
money as the Teg you were left with a very plastic car, and not even one
airbag.
What about the other two Civics, and the three Falcons? None of these actually made it onto the road. The EB-1 (with a boot!) and EB-2 (hatched) Civics were supposed to become one ...but did not. The two XB and one XA falcons were put to rest in two demolition derbies ...as is a fitting end for Falcons.
How long have I been in the club?
Since the Accord went off the cliff Leon ...can you remember? (err
..too far back for me. LP)
What do/don't I like about my current car?
The Integra is a dream to drive. It has plenty enough power to get
me out of (or into) trouble.
I don't like the current sound system (which will get ditched by this
time next year). The 89 Civic was probably better put together, but there's
really nothing to dislike about the Integra - which probably explains why
they've stayed pretty much the same car mechanically since 1995. I especially
like what Honda has done to the front styling around the headlights for
the 1998 model - until this occurred I was not a fan of the 4 headlight
look.
What are my plans for my current car?
Mechanically I don't expect to change anything. I can lose my licence
just splendidly with the standard 125kW (or 110km/hr in 2nd gear in a big
hurry when translated to real terms). The sound system will cause some
changes to the interior. That's about it.
What Honda would I most like, and why?
While I think everyone likes the idea of the NSX, my pick of the current
Honda range would be a 5-door Integra Type-R. Giving the rear passengers
a door each is a bit practical but the Type-R (un?)refinements just seem
too good to do without. It's a real shame a couple of these didn't sneak
their way into Oz. If you allow me two cars then an NSX would be a worthy
weekend car as well ...or an NSX Type-R ...or am I being greedy?
From the current range available in Australia - I'd choose the Integra
VTi-R of course!
What do/don't I like about the club?
Sadly I don't get to enough events (okay, ANY) to find any dislikes.
Kuruma is a great find in my mailbox when it arrives, and the discounts
I get from Austral Honda service (yes, that is a blatant plug) more than
cover for the annual fees.
I'll try to turn up to some events soon to get some dislikes...
What information would I like to glean from the
club?
Nothing for the moment ...if I think of anything I know where to eMail.
Have I done any motorsport?
(apart from cliff diving ..Ed.)
Participating? No. Spectating? Sure!
What are my other interests?
Photography, music, guitar.
1974 rolled along and my flatmate (different one) came home with a brand new white Honda Civic. My first true contact. I said "This car is for me!". My flatmate then told me I would have to buy my own. So I did in '75. Mine was the updated model with adjustable headrests and retractable seatbelts. Those were the days you could also get them pre pre-delivered (it's WHO you know not WHAT you know) and it came completely covered in this grey, sticky goo and it took ages to get rid of that stuff. I had to remove shipping bolts, unroll floormats and install the wheel centres. This was my first real car.
I had the Civic for
13 years. In that time I had reconditioned the engine, added a five speed
box, 13 inch wheels and a Weber carby (32/36 DCD) and extractors. It went
well. Back in the days pre-marriage, I also owned a Yamaha trail bike.
I had a trailer specially made to be narrow but long, and it was basically
a 6'x3' trailer. It was narrower than the Civic so you didn't have to worry
about wiping out the sides of the car you passed and long enough for the
bike.
Then Mrs Hessling came on the scene. It didn't take long for the bike
to go. I kept the trailer for a while.
In '82 we decided to migrate to S.A. (with another trailer, a 3'x4' beauty) and I joined the Honda Car Club of South Australia. The best bunch of people I have known. That's when I learned that you could drop V8's into S600's, put more than just bread into bread vans and drilling a small hole in the hand brake handle gained extra seconds in motorkhanas. I competed in motorkhanas, mudsprints and the occasional lap dash. But in all the years I was involved in the car club, I never got to attend any National Meets. Something always seemed to get in the way. I wrote several articles for their magazine which some of your present readers may remember. The last one was about Queensland road rules which I wrote not long after coming to live here . (You should have been warned --- that we don't have any rules in Qld. Ed.)
While living in S.A. our only daughter was born. Not long after that happy event it was decided that the Civic was too small for two adults and one small baby and four tons of nappies, prams, change of clothes, bottles, capsules, buckets, plastic bags, food tins, and whatever else babies need. So in 1988, the Civic departed to be replaced by a non-Honda. I won't elaborate on what we got, suffice to say that I know of one green 'S-car' that had the same motor. After getting rid of the Civic, our pride in the succession of different cars plummeted. We have never owned a Honda since but one day there will be one in the driveway.
Here is a bit about
my personal side. I conducted this interview with myself only last week
and the following extract will give youz readers an insight into my world.
S.H. What is your favourite colour?
S.H. No-one has ever asked me that. Orange
was with me for 13 years and I guess that's my colour.
S.H. What car do you drive now?
S.H. I drive a Hyundai Lantra Sportswagon,
Olive Green in colour only because they don't come out in Orange.
S.H. Why?
S.H. Why what?
S.H. Why a Hyundai?civic photo
S.H. My current work requires the use
of one.
S.H. What's that?
S.H. What's what? Jeez!! You're a pretty
crappy interviewer.
S.H. What do you do for a living?
S.H. I'm a poker machine technician. (I'm
sure there's a line here somewhere. Ed.)
S.H. What is your favourite Honda and
why?
S.H. A Coupe 9 'cause I've never driven
one but love the shape.
S.H. What other interests do you have?
S.H. What do you mean 'other' interests?
You haven't asked about any yet. You keep asking stupid questions and I
will refuse to answer them.
S.H. OK. What interests do you have?
S.H. I enjoy reading horror and listening
to alternative music. The only station I listen to is Triple J and it's
been like that since 1975. I enjoy riding my MTB (Mountain Bike). I was
in the MS Brizzy to Bay ride last weekend and try to ride whenever I can.
I enjoy taking my daughter to Nippers each season. I spend a lot of time
on my computer designing brochures and flyers, and wandering around the
'Net. In fact I have to redesign a site that I did. We are also slowly
renovating a high-set at Woorim. Love that house, 4 bedrooms, study, water
views, potential, great soil, trees for climbing.
S.H. ...er... sorry but the tape recorder
stopped. What did you say?
S.H. That's it. Forget it. Interview is
finished. I'll see you next month, maybe.
After the Civic, I
moved to a Suzuki (don't tell anyone - please!) for a year or so, then
to a diesel Hilux ute for way too long, then to my current '89 Prelude
that I've had for about 3 years now.
Apart from the air conditioning that doesn't cope with Queensland summers
any more -- the vehicle has been very reliable. I've got over 170,000 km
on the clock and will probably be with the car into 200,000 km. The vehicle
is regularly serviced (every 5000) at Honda dealers -- I don't have any
idea / time/ facilities/ to service my vehicles any more.
I'm not planning anything
adventurous for the Prelude - apart from finding a garage for it in the
next 
house
we buy. Yes -- we are looking for a new house on the northside of Brisbane.
For my next car -- I'm looking at an Accord (eek, family car) -- probably
2 or 3 years old. I imagine that around June / July next year I will be
looking in earnest.
Most of my time has
been spent at Uni and work. I finished my IT degree last year and have
started an MBA -- also at QUT this year for the next 2 years. It seems
that most of the club meetings fall on the same nights as lectures. This
is also a problem for professional associations I'm involved in.
I'd love to come to more meetings and events. My wife wants to win
another nav run trophy. I'm not sure if I would be inclined to do any motorkhanas
in my Prelude I think the last nav run / event we were considering was
on the day of our wedding anniversary.
Whilst it's probably not as much as I could do -- during these periods my contribution to the club is pretty lean -- where possible I could assist in areas like the web page.