BIRD'S EYE
Page 50
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VIEW By The Hawk Fluid Situation A new spirit of competition
is, I understand, likely to be seen in the fuel supply field in the Republic of Ireland. Certainly, important developments are due to follow the formation of Golden Eagle Petroleum Ltd., a company that aims to carry on the business of importing and distributing petroleum, fuel oil, and associated products there. A spokesman for the organization told me that privilege prices will be available and retail purchasers are likely to be able to buy at 3d. or 4± a gallon under the ruling figures for comparable grades.
A prominent part in connection with the organization is being played by Mr. Brendan J. Brennan, well known in Ireland as a member of the Arklow bakery Brennans. In Britain, however, his name is much more familiar in road transport and brewery circles, for he has spent a dozen years as group transport engineer to the Ind Coope organization The new Golden Eagle company is a completely Irish organization and has, according to my information, no connection with Ultramar, the oil producing giant that sells under the name of Golden Eagle in Canada and the U.S.A.
Berks Carrier Retires There can be few of the old village carriers still remaining in business. They used to be the mainstay of rural transport in the good old days, but now... . Their numbers were recently reduced by one on the retirement of Mr. Arthur Lacey, a carrier in the vicinity of the village of Sutton Courtenay, Berks, for some 43 years. Nice to hear that local villagers, as a mark of their affection and appreciation, presented Arthur with an antique writing desk. This dates from the time of James II and bears a brass plate with the inscriptionf "Arthur Lacey—the faithful Sutton Courtenay Carrier, 1921-64. From his many friends in token of his great help and kindness." Mr. Lacey, born in this Berkshire village 65 years ago, is also to receive a cheque and an illustrated book containing a list of subscribers.
Jaguar driver outpaced from a standing start by a Ford 15-cwt. van? Yes, as I recently discovered when reading the Christmas road test report in Motorinq News. The van, needless to say, is a bit "special" —an American Ford Econoline powered by a Thunderbird V8 6.2-litre engine (producing about 340 b.h.p.) with wide-rim wheels from a racing Galaxie and Dunlop SP tyres. Typical performance figures? From
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Good Runner!
0-30 m.p.h. in 2-3 seconds, from 0-60 m.p.h. in 9-0 second5 and from 0-90 m.p.h. in 19.0 seconds. Why this remarkable performance? The vari was used throughout 1964 for servicing duty on international rallies.
Apparently a fleet of these vans has not yet been commissioned because Ford rally plans for 1965 are uncertain —but if they are commissioned it's likely that the 289 cu. in. 4.75,1itre Mustang engine will replace the Thunderbird.
The Jaguar driver offered to buy the van on the spot!
A driver who started his career on the road 43 years' ago has, I hear, recently retired from the Brough, Yorks, transport depot of Hawker Siddeley Aviation. He is Mr. Harold Hobson, a holder of the Queen's Medal for long service, who claims to have covered more than a million " professional " miles on the road—excluding many more he has logged as a member of the Brough Fire Brigade. An unusual distinction which Harold claims is that of being the first driver to have his lorry hoisted into the air in a Beverley transport plane at Farnborough. And he remembers being pulled up by the police for speeding—at 14 m.p.h.! Now that he is retired Mr. Hobson intends to relax—on a bike.
Million Miles Plus
wonder how many drivers on British roads can claim a record of 300,000 miles free from accident. One who can is Bill Brownrigg, who drives for The Tayside Floorcloth Co. Ltd., a Scottish firm of linoleum manufacturers who deliver direct all over Britain with a fleet of 38 eight-ton Commer and Thames vehicles.
Safe Record:
This company makes presentations to drivers annually under a safe driving scheme which they, introduced six years ago. This year Bill Brownrigg and 20 other drivers qualified for an award of £1 for each month of accidentfree driving—plus a bonus of £4 for a full year without accident. Bill was given a safe driving certificate for the sixth successive year and five of his colleagues received certificates for the fifth year running. Fellow Scot Tom Fraser, I'm quite sure, will be more than satisfied with this performance.
Mechanized Paradise: Just what is going on on Pitcairn Island, that Polynesian paradise where some of the " Bounty " mutineers fetched up in 1790 (Bligh and Christian and all that)? Unmechanized in transport, it is now to have, through the Crown Agents, a Land-Roverhauled Taskers trailer to move supplies, a Bristol-Duplex crawler tractor and a Massey Ferguson 35 tractor. Suddenly (and perhaps sadly) it's the Twentieth Century.