203 ANNIVERSARY REWIND TO BUNDANOON 22 - 23 OCT. '88.

lo203404

lo203404

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At least 25 203's made the treck to Bundanoon for the 40th anniversary get together bash on the weekend of 22-23 Oct. '88. Interesting to note that only 1 of these cars at that point in time had 'historic' plates, also 1 was a 'special', trailered in, and all others were 01.JPG on full rego.
 
lo203404 said:
At least 25 203's made the treck to Bundanoon for the 40th anniversary get together bash on the weekend of 22-23 Oct. '88. Interesting to note that only 1 of these cars at that point in time had 'historic' plates, also 1 was a 'special', trailered in, and all others wereView attachment 126538 on full rego.
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Wakey, wakey, hand off snakey. Up and at 'em you lot, a busy 2 days to enjoy before it's all over. Sunrise reveille for '203 troop' in tent city.......more to follow.1.JPG1a.JPG
 
How many of the cars are still about? More to the point, how many of the drivers?
 
My Dad and I were there in his 55 203C, rego RJM203. Dad passed away last year. He and Rob Oakman did the redex rerun in it in 2003. I still have the car on full rego and drove it to the Oberon worm weekend last year. Car still has only about 70-75000 miles on it genuine (odometer broke at the 62,000 mark about a decade ago).
 
In these days of borders and bubbles and travel permits such a meeting could only be for NSW owners.
 
Does anyone know or hazard a guess how many 203's are still registered on OZ roads, that being full or club rego?

And how many could/would be still classed as 203's? i.e only has 203 running gear and no other mods...
 
I think Torque mentions 15 203's on the PCCV club registration scheme. I seem to recall around 50 being listed as owned in the PCCV during the 1990's. I thought the 203 engined cars were in the minority at Lake Fyans.
 
Dano said:
And how many could/would be still classed as 203's? i.e only has 203 running gear and no other mods...
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There were a not insignificant number that were fully restored to original specs in the 1990s, Gordon Miller's green one and Keith Bridges cream one being the most often seen at the time.

There may have been as many as 10 or more of these fully restored 203s, but they seem to always eventually end up in the hands of collectors who don't actually use them, and when they do their confidence in the cars is diminished because the tyres have gone rock hard and the fuel is stale or the brake cylinders have seized. They need to be used regularly to avoid these issues and the tyres replaced every 5 or 6 years, even if they still look new.

It always seems to be the modified or rougher cars which turn up to events and have owners who are willing to drive them often or over any distance. Cars like Keith Bridge's immaculate modified two tone green 203 or Jim Kearns's blue one or my father's grey one.
 
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Thought of some stories from last year's Oberon weekend. Keith Bridge told me he was giving a Jeep Grand Cherokee a good run for its money through the corners between Taralga and Oberon, on the way to the event. His car is 1500cc with twin solexes, extractors, a cam and head work with 185/65 15" tyres and lowered springs .

The other story was on the final day, a few of us were late leaving Oberon for lunch at Tarana pub. On the drive down into the valley to Tarana, there was a red 505 at the front being driven reasonably briskly, closely followed by Jim Kearns (1500 twin carb 203), followed by two ladies in a 206cc, closely followed by me (1500 203 with new 195/65 15" pirellis), closely followed by the Cosiers in their 508 Wagon. When we arrived at the pub, the ladies in the 206cc commented that they didn't know old cars could go that fast!
 
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It's not just 203s. When I take the 203 for a drive on weekends, atleast 90% of other classic cars I see on the road are modified in one one way or another. In my area (Wollondilly and Camden areas of SW Sydney basin), there's classic cars and motorbikes everywhere on weekends. The pub at Picton and Burragorang lookout are common places to see them.
 
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Well, I can say I've got one............but I'm locked up in Melbourne in Dan's "Ring of Steel." Car is longer 'French Blue' but now fully restored in a period correct burgundy. Renamed "Poubelle" and sporting my father's 1956 original rego plates. If you communicate with "Lewmax" or read Torque you may even know a bit about her. Reno. Just about finished after five years of labour and expenditure........... Next time I'll just buy another MG! ;)Sorry I can't make the reunion and would like to come up for the drive. Blame that bloody virus (or the Premier if your politics are of the blue kind!) If you make it.......have fun!
 
PS: Re Poubelle. I drive and use her as she was meant to be used............. After all, what else are they for ??? They are not made of crystal and benefit most from regular use and maintenance. I'm having fun and what my grandsons do with her when they inherit her will be up to them...........'Course I'll come back and scare the hell out of them if they abuse her!!!👻👻
 
At one stage Gordon Miller had the details of a large number of 203' s on his register. From memory he had details of over 300 but as he said some were holding up fences. I don't recall his figure for how many were on the road or under restoration but somebody may have it. They kept turning up. The small back window cars weren't around in any large number. The Redex Re-Run was a stimulus. The Western District was swept clean twenty years ago. For every car sold for restoration four or five would have been broken for parts.
 
Does anyone know how close Gary Nesbitt's car is to getting back on the road (the white 203 with deluxe grille, in photo above)? I know he has already straightened out the accident damage.
 
The baby-cack coloured 404 in the background in the first photo, that was mine. Sorry to spoil the shot.
 
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