Post by administrator on Feb 15, 2011 10:23:45 GMT 1
Begin forwarded message:
From: norbert dietsch
Date: 13 February 2011 23:32:39 GMT
To: John Hyam
Subject: MIDGET CAR PANORAMA
This is a great site and brought back some good memories. I am glad my son found it. He is the IT man in the family thank goodness. I was involved from the start of MARC through Paul Emery. He would phone me up and ask if i had a spare few weeks to help build some midgets?
One of the commissions he had was to build Peter Jopp's first car - Imp-based of course but with new parts/ After help building the car, I then looked after it while Peter raced it. After a year he bought Les Leston's Ford based car and sold his first car to David Underhill which I also looked after while they raced them.
We then went to Jamaica in the early 1970s. I went as one of two mechanics to help look after the 18 cars. It was busy work but a great time. Peter then, I think, while out there offered to buy Cliff Davies car.
He then sold his second car to David Underhill and then I had the Imp-based car off of David. Unfortunately the cars came back damaged from Jamaica. Deck cargo, sea water, alloy and steel do not go well together.
The car needed a complete rebuild before i could race it. I rebuilt it at Emery's of course. I lent it to Woody Harris so he could race in England at many meetings around the country. i was also involved with help building the Bob Waterman's Mamba, for Derek Harris. I also rebuilt the kitchner car for Peter Stapleton.
My wife and i had some great weekends, especially the Trevor Redmond west country weekends, racing Saturday night in Dorset, then off to the Exeter motel for the evening, then off to St Day track in Cornwall for Sunday afternoon racing.
We then drove to Newton Abbot for the evening racing, so it was three meetings in a week end, a busy week end even with a young daughter and then a son.
I haven't been to a meeting for years, but now that I have retired from work I will try to go this year.
I still have my GP midget and I intend to rebuild it to its former glory - in Emery colours of course.
I will try to find some more info and try to send it to some of the links/threads (if that is the term) but I might need my son to help me do this. Best wishes,
Norbert Dietsch.