National Corvette Restoration Society
Australian Chapter

PO Box 5292 South Melbourne Vic, 3205 Email: info@ncrs.com.au Website: http://www.ncrs.com.au

Inaugural Australian Chapter Meet
Kurrajong Hills NSW Australia
March 4th, 5th and 6th 2005

This was the first judging meet held by the provisional Australian Chapter, at our Presidents (Murray Forman) home in the western Sydney suburb of Kurrajong Hills.

Kurrajong Hills is situated at the foothills of the Blue Mountains and our Presidents home is situated on the crest of a hill near the base. It overlooks a green countryside from the 8 acre property including a golf course. A very picturesque place for our first meet.

This was the venue, and Murray and his wife Wendy had gone to great lengths to make their property available. A marquee was set up to house the 18 cars to be judged. Lunches were provided on the three days of the meet as well. We were blessed with fine weather over the 3 days, which just added to the spectacle of the scenery and ease of judging. American and Australian flags adorned the entrance of the property which looked nothing short of a picture.

The meet was the success that it was, because of the enthusiasm of all those who attended, and the desire to learn more about Corvettes. Being schooled in that respect by some of the top Master Judges the US has, made it even more special.

The US judging team was lead by Roy Sinor, who is the Head Judge in the US. The 7 judges were all Master Judges and came from all parts of the US. Three were joined by their wives, who in their own right are judges as well. The list of NCRS judges are tabled below, along with the participants both from Australia, and New Zealand.

The Meet commenced with a “get to know you” few drinks before lunch on the Friday. This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation by Mater Judge Roy Sinor explaining NCRS itself, its’ objectives and aims. Questions were sought and answered, and while coming away that evening a little perplexed, I think we Australians, and New Zealanders, realised how little we new about our cars. It is also a truth, which the NCRS members could see, that all was not going to be easy for them as well, given our right hand drive regulations, and modifications required by Australian Design Regulations. While we left them “scratching their heads”, their interest in our cars has only enhanced their desire, to learn more about us and our cars. They have returned to the US to report back to NCRS and re-look some of the items they encountered, and to create new manuals for Australia on the different models. In this aspect, I’m sure they will use the knowledge gained by people such as Peter Whiston and others, in the conversion industry.

Most of us stayed in Windsor some 24kms away. An older part of Sydney, with much history itself. It was where we were to embark on a paddle steamer on the Sunday evening, for our diner cruise.

Saturday we all gathered at Murray’s’ once again, and were grouped into sections covering C1’s through to C4’s. There were 8 in each group, then, those 8 were divided into 4 groups of 2, to learn to judge the different parts of the car. The cars were judged according to originality, i.e., the way the cars came out of the factory. There were manuals for each model, supplied by NCRS through their judges. They were used as our references. The manuals were printed in 4 sections, which was the way the cars were to be judged. The sections were, Exterior, Interior, Engine and Chassis.

As this is just a report on the weekend, I won’t go into great detail, but suffice to say each car starts with 4500 points. Points are deducted for condition and non originality, leaving a balance. That balance is then used to determine the award. Top Flight being the highest award, then Second Flight, then Third Flight. Cars that did not reach a prescribed number of points did not get an award.

Manuals are being drawn up now, in conjunction with GM, for cars made in 1990 and 1991, in readiness for 2006. A car must be 15 years or older to qualify for NCRS Awards. Highly modified Corvettes of all years are eligible only to receive Sportsman awards.

To give an idea of the time taken by us all to judge a car, and remember this was the first time we had ever done this to NCRS standards, took all day for a group of 8, to judge 2 cars.

Judging continued into the Sunday, with the finishing time round 3.30 in the afternoon. Copies of all the judging sheets, of which there are 18 for each car, have been photocopied and taken back to the US for evaluation. The originals are to be forwarded onto the car owners for their information. These judging sheets could be used by their owners for guidance, in the further restoration of their car, or even as a document to be supplied to a prospective purchaser. The value of an NCRS awarded car will in time be worth more. It took some 8 years in the US before NCRS awarded cars increased in value above the norm. This will happen in Australia too, as NCRS is more recognised.

The day was followed by a diner on the aforementioned paddle steamer in Windsor. At this function the awards were presented, as we steamed up the Hawkesbury River.

Speeches of gratitude were offered to our US guests by President Murray, as well as to Lou Rokas and Lon LeMaster for all the help that they had given him and Wendy, in the preparation and running of the meet. On behalf of all gathered I expressed our appreciation to Murray and Wendy for all that they had done, from the formation of the Chapter to the smooth running of the event.

Although I have said this in a past report, one cannot fully express the appreciation of the time and effort, all at their own expense, in setting up, and starting this Chapter of NCRS here in Australia.

$2454 was raised through the auction of donated gifts from our American guests, and our New Zealand participants. This has helped, in no small way, our NCRS Chapter finances and it was greatly appreciated.

It would be difficult for me to really express the enjoyment that I and all others experienced over the weekend. The things we learnt, the friendships we made will last forever. Our sincere appreciation for the time given by our American friends, who traveled to this country, at their own expense, cannot be over emphasised. Many of us have “adopted” one of our American visitors, and have paid their membership to our Chapter. They in turn have joined us into their “home” NCRS Chapters. I am now a member of the Pittsburg Chapter as well as a founding member of this Chapter.

Murray and Wendy, and possibly others (as I and others drove back to our homes), entertained our US guests for another week showing them the area and cementing our cross nation friendships.

Next year the whole thing will be done again. This time in Melbourne. We hope to select a date that allows the Americans to visit our New Zealand neighbors for their Annual Convention in late February before coming to Australia. I think after this one, there will be many more Americans wishing to come to our next meet. Our numbers too will swell, as word gets round about this “mini convention”, and NCRS Australia. At this time we now have 51 members in NCRS. Not bad for just 4 months!

While our Chapter is a provisional one, we have been told that it is only a matter of some weeks before we will be admitted to full Chapter status.

Listed below are the people who attended our very first meet, and those who received awards for their Corvettes.

Australian Participants were,

Murray Forman, Wendy Forman, Lon LeMaster, Louis Rokas, Ron Hepburn, Jim Gramms, Georgina Angelis, Neil Fletcher, Scott Morden, Brent Carr, Scott Munter, Peter Whiston, Bill Axisis, Robert Waddell, Michael English, Greg Webster, Terry Ruse, Peter Steve, Steve Busuttil, Mark Hedger, Warryn Stenning, Andrew Donovan, David Morcombe, Ron Barrett, Deborah Barrett.

New Zealand Participants,
Tony Goode, Graham McDonald, Veronica McDonald, John Begbie, Marie Begbie.

USA Participants,
Roy Sinor, Cheri Sinor, Michael Pierce, Ralf Ridge, Sharon Ridge, Eckhard Puboda, Terri Puboda, Tom Barr, Jack Humphreys, Charlie Cadenhead.

Finally, should anyone wish to join NCRS Australia, they must first join NCRS America. The cost for that is US$55. Our fee is A$25 per annum. Belonging to NCRS America entitles the member to two magazines, one quarterly and the other bi-monthly.

I should be pleased to forward any relevant information to any prospective member.

I can be contacted on Melbourne 03 98766777 mob 0427857636 or by email on corvetteoz@bigpond.com.au

Our next meeting is yet to be finalised but will be held late May or early June (not the long weekend) in the border town of Albury.

Ron Hepburn
Newsletter Editor,
NCRS member # 42969
NCRS Australia member # 007

January Newsletter from NCRS Australia

In my newsletter to you of a month or so ago we hoped to have judges from the US come to Australia to meet and teach us about our marque. Our President, Murray, has been able to attract 7 expert judges from the US to come to Sydney for this the very first meet, on March 4th, 5th and 6th.

I wish to invite as many as possible who would like to be part of this event, to join our club, and register for the weekend. A membership form for both the Club and the March event are attached. While many of us may not wish to to have our cars up to "top flight" condition, the opportunity to learn more about your car and Corvettes generally should not be missed. This is particularly opportune as some of the best and most respected judges will be here in Oz for the occasion.

Even if you look at membership of NCRS Australia from the monetary side, an NCRS judged car will be worth more than one that is not. A prospective buyer will know exactly all the things needed to be done to the car. It will have been examined and documented by the best.

To give an example..... Much like, but better than, a car being examined by the NRMA, RACV, RACQ etc prior to purchase. This is just one aspect of being part of NCRS Australia.

Knowing and learning more about yours, and other Corvettes, meeting more people that have the same interests, and other fraternal aspects make it attractive to be a member. The chance to meet experts from the US and create more, and new friendships are an added bonus.

For those looking at membership from a business or a profit making angle, by way of restoring yours or other owners cars, joining would be invaluable, and should be obvious.

The US "Corvette Restorers" magazine comes with membership of NCRS America which is a pre-requisite to joining the Australian Chapter. This opens you up to a wealth of technical and social information not normally obtained.

On behalf of the President and members of NCRS Australia, have a great year and we look forward to your interest in our Chapter through 2005 and beyond.

Ron Hepburn
Editor
NCRS Australia

• Download NCRS Membership Form - (MS Word Doc. 22kb)
• Download NCRS Australia Comes Alive in 2005 event info - (Adobe PDF 42kb)
• Download NCRS Australia Comes Alive in 2005 registration form - (Adobe PDF 44kb)

The first meeting of the Australian Chapter of NCRS (National Corvette Restoration Society) Australia, was held at Murray and Wendy Forman's home in Sydney on the 16th October 2004. The election of Office Bearers and Committee were held and the positions are as follows...

Our founding members consist of: NSW 11, QLD 2, VIC 9, WA 7, USA 10 giving us a total of 39.

At the present, we are waiting for our Constitution to be written (this is being done by one of our members who is a solicitor). Copies of our intended constitution have submitted to him along with copies of the Dept of Fair Trading Model Rules. He has also been given copies of two American Chapter Constitutions, from this he will be able to formulate our Constitution. On completion of the Constitution, and with the minutes and the names of the above Executive Committee, we will submit to the Government for the registration of "NCRS Australia".

Membership fees for NCRS are to be $100 per annum. This is made up of AUS$75 paid per membership to NCRS America and AUS$25 to our local Chapter.

This entitles a member to a Driveline & The Restorer Magazines and other NCRS facilities ie; books,technical info etc. It is the NCRS regulation that you have to be a financial member of the American body before you can become a member of your local Chapter. At your local Chapter you can attend Judging schools, have your car judged and there are future benefits.

As we are only a "probationary Chapter" at the moment we have 12 month to complete 2 requirements. One being that we must run a Judging School, the other being to hold our first Chapter Meet. Because there are no qualified judges in Australia yet and the only way you can earn points towards being a qualified Judge is to be an "OJ" (observer judge).

For each day you attend a Judging Meet you earn points towards your total to become a qualified judge, so the only way we can carry out these above requirements is to ask for assistance from our American members, which Murray Forman has done.

The committee has made the decision with the assistance of the American members, to hold our first Judging School and Meet on the 4th,5th and 6th of March,2005, it will be held at Murray and Wendy Formans place in Sydney.This will be known as "NCRS AUSTRALIA COMES ALIVE IN 2005". Further details will be forwarded as we get closer.

Out of our 10 American members, we have 8 who have indicated they are coming out, which is absolutely fantastic for us to get started in the right direction. Most of them are Master Judges. We will be able to learn so much from them over the 3 days in March of Judging Schools. Murray and Wendy advised the meeting that they had attended a 3 day Judging School in Windsor, Canada, and learnt so much about their C2 that would normally have taken years, just in those 3 days.

Personally, I have been attending our National Corvette Conventions since 1989 and have now attended 11. The first convention I attended, just 36 cars were there, and the standard of cars was, with the exception of a couple, not much better than "daily drivers". The Melbourne Convention this year saw some 250 or more cars. The standard of the Corvettes have greatly improved, to say the least, with an increasing number, the equal of anything you would see in the US.

The aims of the Chapter are to standardise the judging of Corvettes in Australia to NCRS standards, and help those, through that judging, to improve their cars originality, and/or learn more about them.

We, as judges, can learn more ourselves, and be accredited, by American standards. Only then can we keep up with that ever increasing standard of car, being presented in Australia for judging, at Conventions or Meets.

Membership of NCRS Australia is open to both owners and enthusiasts of the Corvette.

Lastly I must say, had it not been for the driving force of Murray and his wife Wendy, their wholehearted interest in Corvettes, including a number of trips to the US for this reason, this chapter would not have been started.

Ron Hepburn,
Editor