Last Monday night the Sprite Club held its annual Stars and Cars evening at the Sporting Car Club. Featured cars and owners were members recently returned from the 2024 Sprite and Midget National meeting in Wodonga.
The following event report is a mix of Grant’s travelogue and my own experiences. Photos are from all of from many people and I apologise in advance for not individually crediting people! Hope you enjoy!
It’s been a busy weekend in the shed getting the Sprite ready for the challenge. Both the Sprite and I needed a stop at Mt Compass. Can you believe it 34 degrees at 9.30 . All loaded and ready to go.
Grant Stephenson and his Mk1 Sprite have been to over 20 National Challenges/Meetings since his first trip in approximately 1980 and this was the first year the Sprite has been trailered across rather than driven, and on a brand new trailer to boot! You’d think a new trailer would be trouble free, now wouldn’t you?!
My experience was the clutch failed a week or so out and, on the same stinking hot day, four of us cracked into the job and had the engine out and back in in about 8 hours, complete with brand new alternator, so I took the decision not to pack the old one as a spare. I mean, why would I take the old one when the new one is only a week old. Something else that would come back to haunt me. Mind you, every other spare I carried, from (several) sets of points and condenser to a new fuel pump were still in the same place I packed them when I got home!
Likewise, Adrian had been battling a failing clutch prior to leaving Whyalla and, with a 3500 round trip planned for them, discretion was the better part of valour and he had a local mechanic fit a new clutch. The new 5sp gearbox sitting in the back of his shed had to wait a bit longer before it gets used! You’d think problem solved wouldn’t you …. Somewhere around Mildura on the way over the new clutch started making strange noises, like a banshee screeching, every time the clutch was dipped. Nothing to see here, it’s a new clutch…..
Not to be out-done, Peter also knew he had some looming issues and ordered both a clutch Master and Slave cylinder but they didn’t arrive until the night he departed so he tossed them in, just in case. Mind you, his passenger for the entire trip, a 60l fridge, performed faultlessly and he had ice cold drinks for the entire drive!
Pete, along with the van Wageningen’s and Faulks, set off about 5 days early for the Pre Tour event and, as luck would have it, he had no clutch hydraulics by the time he got to the motel and spent the first night doing a Master and Slave cylinder change in the motel carpark. Somewhere between Adelaide and Victoria he also chipped a tooth on first gear. Luckily the beers in his car fridge were icy cold!
Day 1.
An interesting drive day one to the Challenge. David (Low) and I got breath checked by the local police at an Ouyen RBT, and yes we were all clean. An easy day driving, till I blew a tyre and destroyed a rim on the trailer.
I headed out shortly before 6am, first stop petrol and then meet up with Grant and Angela and David and Di at Tailem Bend, after which I was going to strike out on my own to visit the Flying Boat museum enroute to Wodonga.
The local petrol stations did their best to delay me, first with X-Convenience being out of 98 and 95 and then OTR having a dead pump. Eventually, with a coffee in one hand I was on my way, LED lights doing a fine job at turning the last vestiges of darkness slowly yielded to the ongoing daylight. A beautiful sunrise over the river valley awaited, as did an air temperature of ‘brisk’ 1C over the Adelaide Hills.
By sheer coincidence, I arrived at the same time as Dean with the yellow monster in tow. Discussions ensued and all present thought my plan to go it alone via Lake Boga was ever so slightly risky and so at about 8am Dean and I headed out, bound for Wodonga and adventures unknown.
Now, I’m lucky – with a 3.9 diff and a trusty Toyota T50 gearbox connecting the engine to the rear axle, The Little Blue Car comfortably sits on 105-110kph at about 3000 revs and 36mpg (about 7.5L per 100 for the metric amongst us), so its ability to devour distance isn’t really the issue, it’s the driver’s ability to be comfortable as the temperature climbed to nearly 35C by early afternoon that was the limiting factor, as was keeping bottles of water chilled!
The NSW roads were, frankly, terrible. If I were a NSW rate payer in the Riverina district I’d be justifiably concerned where my rates and taxes were being spent, again, something that a Spridget has a habit of reminding the driver!
Deniliquin was the nominated evening stop, although we considered rolling right the way through to Wodonga; however, fate, Murphy’s Law, and a large slice of luck intervened when the brand spanking new Turkish made Lucas Elektric alternator decided to stop alternating and so, with a cough, RDI-275 spluttered to a halt, approximately 10 miles shy of Denny. Dean and I looked at the engine and attempted to make sense of the symptoms when a local contractor, towing an LJ four door project car, pulled up behind and quickly diagnosed a dead battery. Mostly likely a collapsed cell we figured, given the bone jarring last 75km.
With a jump I was on my way, Dean following along behind. And 500m down the road, it died again. And this is when the kindness of country people showed through. Mr LJ Torana, Dennis Jukes of Jukes Contracting, connected up his jump start pack and said he’d pick it up from Reception of where we were staying in the morning. No names, no phone numbers, just old-fashioned values and trust that we’d do the right thing. “I know the place, I cleaned out their septic tanks only last week” he quipped. I couldn’t believe it!
Anyway, after much checking and the local NRMA guy calling Steve from the Sprite Club to attempt to fault find it over the phone, the new alternator was determined to be the culprit and Dean and I retired to the local pub for a counter meal, with the battery left on charge overnight.
All in all, an exciting Day 1!
Day 2.
Toolebuc to Wodonga no trailer issues but I’ve ordered a couple of new spares tyres and rims. Another RBT but the trailers wouldn’t fit so we got waved on. All settled in at the Blazing Stump Hotel. The Sprite is off the trailer for the Concourse tomorrow and it will be cleaned.
My fun was only just starting in Denny. Overnight we’d charged the battery and in the morning we disconnected everything that drew a power load. USB charger, digital engine/oil temperature sensors, spot lights, everything, even the thermostatic fan. This is where it gets interesting. See, in an attempt to find every usable bit of power my little 1275 produces, I removed the fan from the engine. Its worth 1-2hp so off it came. Unfortunately, that meant I now had no fan drawing air through the radiator once the electric fan was disconnected. No issues when trundling along at 110, but its something of an issue on a 30C+ day driving in a small city such as Wodonga. Hmm. Not such a great idea after all really!
Anyway, we got there. Dean had no issues at all and by 4pm I had a new alternator in the car thanks to Colin from Sprite Parts … and a reminder from Colin that only dumb people remove the fan. Yes, I think I deserved that!
Eventually both Peter (in the ‘Fridget’) and the Faulks arrived from the pre tour (still with his clutch sounding like fingers down a blackboard), the convoy of David & Di and Grant & Angela and Sue and Helen, who’d taken a slight detour from Adelaide … via Melbourne … ,as did Rob and Cheryl who drove their 370Z after attending the Pre Tour. You could accuse them of cheating, driving the 370, especially when they stepped out of the air-conditioned comfort of their reliable, dependable and luxuriously appointed sports car after I’ve just spent 10 hours in a Midget, with the roof off, worrying that the horse float ahead of me isn’t going fast enough and the car is overheating.
Or you might consider them simply smart … I’ll leave it up to the reader!
Thirteen Sprite Club of SA representatives. Let the fun begin!
Oh – at this point Peter discovered that the air-cleaner for this Weber DCOE was no longer attached to the car. Another thing to add to the list … and you try getting a Ramflo air cleaner in a country town on a Saturday.
Day 3.
7.00 am and out cleaning the Sprite, the sun was just up. Using the vacuum cleaner and the sponge, didn’t wake the neighbours up next door. Great display and so many Sprites . Then off on a 185 km observation run with some cryptic questions. Angela with her head down trying to make some sense of it all.
I have to admit, I might not have greeted the prospect of 185km though some of the best roads that Victoria has to offer with the same level of enthusiasm that others might have. However, without a navigator to help decipher the clues, I had a plan. I was going to use the IFR flight rules … I Follow Red (Sprites) … in other words, I followed the Low’s for navigation and I attempted to solve the cryptic clues. It all worked well until the car tried to overheat going up a climb behind a truck full of firewood, at which point I ditched the questions and just enjoyed the view and the drive.
And what a view and what a drive it was. The roads in the High Country are great, almost as good as the ones in the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa (!!). Stunning scenery, beautiful flowing roads, almost as if they were built with a Sprite or Midget in mind, and fabulous people when inevitably I stopped to let the car cool down (and reset the thermostatic fan temperature switch). Sprite people really are great!
However, I get ahead of myself – the Display Day. Another fabulous event with a display of 50 or 60 Sprites, Midgets and a few lovely associate cars. We all had drip trays yet, ironically, it was an MX5 that caused the most concern for the venue when it let one of its fluids go all over the concrete! The People’s Choice award went to a stunningly restored Mk2 Sprite and, as always, the display of cars brought out the locals and many many conversations about old cars and memories of youth. I put up photos of the event on social media and I had a number of comments from Sprite and Midget owners from WA, Tasmania and even from New Zealand, all of whom wished they’d know and want to know when the next one is so they can come along … there’s some food for thought!
At this point I really should talk about some of the evening events which included Rocker Cover Racing, always a crowd favourite. As with much of this event for me, this was another ‘first time’ and with a little help from friends (thank you Steve … again!) and family with parts, I managed to build the ‘Even Littler Blue Car’, as a homage to our Midget. Protests resulted as it has a Morris name badge (rather than Austin or MG!) and there was some consternation when we were seen oiling the bearings immediately before the races! At the end of the night, it was Queensland by the smallest of margins from SA, then Queensland #2, daylight, and then NSW and Victoria somewhere behind. Cheeky I know. Almost cause to hold another National Rocker Cover Race in a couple of years here in SA really…..
Day 4.
We took the bus tour and left the Sprite at the hotel. First stop Beechworth Asylum for a garden information walk, and a wonderful lunch, we were treated to the Kerrigan’s house from the Castle (note, it needs a total rebuild), then couple of other stops before on to the Beechworth Berries for ice-cream. The competition drivers headed to Wodonga TAFE campus for a day of sprinting.
Which is where I headed with my trusty 70-200mm lens attached to my DLSR. As an avid motorsport fan, I wanted to understand the motorsport elements; perhaps not actually experiencing it for myself, but to experience the atmosphere of the event. And what an event. Everyone there was having a ball, all highly complimentary of the tight circuit and the day in general. The photos don’t do it justice!
Dean left with the quickest laps, as might be expected. Oddly he didn’t fare as well in the regularity section!
Dinner that night was again lovely. The Blazing Stump Hotel we were using for our meals excelled themselves every night it has to be said. We had an opportunity to hear from author and musician Tim Hain about his photo-book of Stirling Moss in a live cross to the UK and the AHSDC raffled off one of his books, and other auction times including a lovely painting commissioned for the event, raising about $1000 for their club. Both the painting and the book made the way back to South Australia!
Day 5.
The last day of the challenge but two more drive days to go. We decided to have a look at the motorkhana. Well what a dust bowl! Brings back memories of Bordertown days . The night theme was 1920s Gatsby, so we all got to dress up . Angela got best dressed lady. Another brilliant Challenge, huge big thankyou to the organisers. So much work, so much fun.
Yes, the Motokhana. I’m still cleaning my lenses!
I took a sneaky detour out to the Hume Weir, site of a very early National Challenge. A very impressive piece of engineering and one that most South Australians should be thankful for yet most of us don’t know it exists, nor that it’s one of the reasons the Murray River has a constant supply of water through the year.
Peter’s car; however, returned home ingloriously on the back of a tow truck. His alternator bracket had broken, causing the alternator to snap one of the lugs off. Fortunately Rod Wells of the Bugeye Barn not only had a spare alternator but also a replacement bracket. Another SA car saved by the support of the wider Sprite and Midget community.
As for Adrian’s screaming clutch – it hadn’t gotten any better, in fact he felt it was now worse than the clutch he’d replaced. Only a trip to Melbourne (400km) and a drive to Whyalla (about 1000km) to go on their odyssey.
And the final dinner – just a wonderful way to close what was a great event. I’d taken a leaf from Grants book early in the Challenge and made sure I sat at a different table with different people every night. Everyone had an interesting story or anecdote from the weekend but one thing that was constant, was the enjoyment. Just a great four days.
Day 6.
We started the day with a farewell breakfast, I made an effort this year to talk to people that I’ve seen for many years but never spoken to it was so so good to make some new friends, two more drive days to go. No trailer troubles, but some seriously shitty roads. Good to see our mates have made it home safely.
6.30 breakfast and goodbyes, 7am and three of us are all westward bound. Once again it was about 2C as the sun broke through and began to burn off the morning fog.
Fingers crossed all the car behaves itself for the next 10 hours. And, blow me down, it did. Well, it had a small niggle – coming through one hamlet somewhere I could suddenly hear a different noise. Off to the side of the road and Dean and I are looking for the source. It’s the clamp around the exhaust, completely loose and running up and down the pipe. Its still there and its still loose. Maybe I’ll fix it in a week or so. It’s almost a lucky charm really!
As for the drive, it was largely uneventful. About 200 head of cattle ‘grazing the long paddock’ at one point and a roadtrain that decided it was turning right when Peter was about halfway down it’s length. The worse part of the drive were the moronic SUV drivers on the road between Mount Barker and Adelaide who took great delight in blocking both lanes of the freeway. Why would you want your shiny new ute passed by a pair of 50+ year old MGs…!
Home for dinner. Just over 800 km in just 9.5 hours. Not bad for a 53 year old MG! Total trip distance? 1815km, averaging 35mpg. 163L of Premium unleaded were consumed at a cost of $342.
Adrian, however was not so lucky. The clutch finally gave in in the picturesque town of Woodend and RACV took it back to their depot at Macedon. From there they were looking at options as to how to get the car back to SA to be rebuilt properly, complete with the 5-speed conversion, ready for its next big adventure. I possibly would not want to be the mechanic who installed the new clutch only a few weeks ago.
Final drive day home and just under 2000 km for the round trip .Just in case you were wondering , no I didn’t need to use the new spare wheels for the trailer . That was because I bought new ones. We all know what would have happened if I didn’t buy two new spares
It was great to have David & Di Low as our driving companions , I’ve known them for just over 30years but never really sat and talked to them properly. Thanks guys, loved it.
Hope my last seven days have been interesting enough to give you an insight on the challenge if you weren’t able to get there.
… I really couldn’t have put it better myself! Interestingly, the three Sprites that went across performed faultlessly. Even the often-temperamental race car. The three Midgets; however, (yes, Peter’s ‘Sprite’ was technically born a Midget) caused everyone the most grief! Two clutches, two alternators, one alloy rim and tyre, two tow trucks, one gear tooth, a master cylinder and other miscellaneous bits. Quite a record for a small group really!
As for David & Di. They took Easter to recover and then hopped into their MX5 and headed to Queensland for the MX5 nationals. You just can’t keep good people down!
And what happened to Rob and Cheryl you might ask? I believe their uber reliable Nissan made it back to South Australia with both passengers ensconced in air-conditioned leather luxury and has not stopped touring. I last heard they where on their way to Clare for a weekend in the wineries. I’m not jealous at all…!
And the enduring memories of the trip. For me it was the people. We have wonderful people in our club who genuinely care for their fellow clubmates, as did everyone who attended. If you stopped on the side of the road, so did a random other person to make sure you were ok. For Peter, it was the drive. He could have kept going and left the troubles of the world in his wheel tracks. We all have our personal memories from the experience, although Adrian’s may be a little coloured by their mechanical malaise!
Post script.
As the Club began its ‘Stars and Cars’ night on the 8th of April, the Faulk’s car was finally on its way to Adelaide, just over two weeks after its clutch gave out.
Videos
Please click the following links to see some of the video footage from the week. Sorry … mine is no where near as well put together as Wendy’s!
What next…
Some of you may have heard that the Sprite Club of SA is looking at hosting the next National Challenge, in 2026. Well, yes, we are looking at it. The Committee has given us permission to look at the feasibility of holding the event, so we are taking the next 2 months to really look at the challenges involved with hosting ‘The Challenge’. It’s not as simple as many might hope it to be, not least getting the date right as there are a few things to consider, not least the dates of the Gather Round and the Adelaide Motor Sport Festival amongst other ‘Mad March’ events here in South Australia. A single venue big enough to host all of us in ‘striking distance’ of Mallala is another consideration so some compromises may have to be struck to make this work. But the Club is giving it serious consideration.
A Festival of all things Spridget. Now, wouldn’t that be something…
Timing, they say, is everything! Stay tuned for more updates.
And if we can’t … I heard that Queensland said that they would, and I reckon a room full of people heard them say that too!
