Snail Mail: Rootes Car Club Norway, Delet, N-3520 Jevnaker,
Norway.
E-mail: geirha@online.no
Annual membership fee: NOK 250.00
History
Rootes Car Club Norway was formally established on October 6th 1990.
The initiator was Geir Aspheim who is still the chairman. Geir is a
true Rootes enthusiast, and for years he used to write down the registration
numbers of all Rootes vehicles he saw along the road. At last he had
more than 100 names in his notebook, and the idea of a club dedicated
to Rootes cars began to take shape. All these Rootes owners were invited
to a statutory general meeting, and press announces were sent to newspapers
and local radio stations.
This resulted in 23 persons finding their way to the meeting. Together
they decided club regulations and elected a management committee, and
Rootes Car Club Norway was born. 5 months later the club included 65
members, and the number has increased steadily to more than 200 devoted
souls in 2001.
From the very beginning the club has been involved in several activities.
Our club magazine, Sir William's,
is one of the best in Norway and is issued 4 times a year. The name
is chosen in honour of Sir William Rootes who ran Rootes Group together
with his brother until 1967. A comprehensive department for parts and
accessories is available to the members, we arrange rallies and meetings
and we have established international contacts, mainly to Sweden
and Denmark. Our
contact with IHVO
is taken care of thru our membership with the National
Norwegian Organization for Historical Vehicles (LMK).
In 2000 we celebrated our 10th anniversary by inviting Rootes friends
from all over the world to a 5 days International Rootes Festival 2000.
This meeting was of course the climax of our 10 years' history, and
it was very successful. The meeting was held at Hokksund about 60 kilometres
west of Oslo on July 19th - 23rd 2000.
Sir William's
Our very first club magazine was issued in spring 1991. Several attempts
were made to find a good name for it, but only after 7 years the magazine
was named Sir William's. Beeing a national club, we feel that it is
of greatest importance to have a best possible medium to unify members
who live far apart, and three fourths of our income are spent on the
club magazine. As personal computers became common in every home, the
layout were greatly improved from simple typewritten pages in 1991 to
a professionally composed magazine with 28 pages, 8 of them in full
colour. We all look forward to the day when Sir William's is found in
the postbox.
Parts and Accessories Department
The last Rootes/Chrysler dealers died out in the 80s, and parts and
accessories for our old clunkers became hard to find. Importing from
England is expensive and time comsuming, so from the very beginning
we understood that a parts departement
in Norway was essential. Harald Marthinsen, one of the most loyal
members of the club, undertook this important task. Today he owns original
parts catalogues for most of the models and a comprehensive number of
parts for sale to the members. Not to mention his competence - Harald's
knowledge of Rootes cars is impressive, and he is always willing to
share his knowledge with others.
Rallies and Events
Meeting with others who suffer from the same madness is essential.
Therefore we arrange several rallies
and meetings every year. The Spring and Autumn Meetings have already
gained traditional status, and the Rootes Rally is our own exclusive
annual rally which is arranged ultimo June. Scandinavian Rootes Rally
usually arranged in the autumn, alternates between Norway, Sweden and
Denmark. We are on show at the major veteran markets in Norway, and
we try to make ourselves visible at other races for historical cars.
Our annual general assembly is held when the season is over, usually
in October.
International Contacts
We seek to maintain close contacts with our sister clubs in Sweden
and Denmark. One fruit of this cooperation
is the annual Scandinavian Rootes Rally. We also have some contact with
Rootes clubs in England,
the Netherlands, USA
and Australia.
We are aware of Internet mailing
lists for Hillmans, Alpines, Tigers and Imps.
Management Committee
The Management Committee for 2005:
