Nine Toranas set off from McDonalds on to the M4 and up to the mountains on a cool and sunny morning. We had our two newest Toranas – Alan in his LC, and Sandy & Susan in their LJ – both on their first STC Run.

We had a nice easy run up the Great Western Highway to Katoomba, then headed to the old race track known as Catalina Park. Some people had never been there before, some of us oldies have not seen the track for thirty years, but used to be regulars in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Michael Muller, having raced there, had some good and bad memories to tell – Bob Jane rolling the Mustang over the fence, Ian Geoghegan rolling the Lotus Cortina at Dunlop Corner, and the many rollovers at Craven A Corner.

It is a shame to see the circuit in such poor condition. The old rallycross circuit had it’s run-off on the front straight which is still there, but not much else. Some of the original lettering could still be seen on the fence at Craven A bend, the tunnel of love was still complete to the start/finish line, with the old BP Cor Sign still there.

After walking the circuit with the frost and black ice, and taking plenty of photos and movies, we headed back to the cars and off to the picnic area for a welcome sausage sandwich and a drink. The sun was shining brightly but it was still cold. We left about 3pm for the trip home, but the traffic was very heavy due to all the roadworks. Les had an electrical problem on the way home and had to pull over, but Ken & Daniel helped out.

Thanks again to all those members in their Toranas and Peter in his ute for a great run.

David Ball.

After a long and tiring day, all went well. Katoomba was pretty cold in the shade and only a little better in the sun. I awoke at 4.30am and polished the bonnet and roof of the car (previous owner left polish on it and it dried out from the sun with black marks all over it), and packed it up for an 8.00am start. We met at the M4 McDonalds and left at approx 9.00am, headed up the Great Western Hwy picking up Peter on the way, and arrived at Katoomba at about 10.30am.

We went for a walking lap around Catalina Park race track (would loved to have seen the races in their day) and dodged all the over grown weeds and fallen trees for a lap that took 50 minutes. It has some very interesting corners, hills and dips on and off camber. Some of our members were there when all the action took place and it really brought back some memories. One member was there when Bob Jane rolled his Camaro over the fence right in front of him, and another day when a driver was killed.

We then went into Katoomba and found a park where we set up our 2 little BBQ’s and had some gourmet snags for lunch. Traffic on the way back made it a little long with Les’s car breaking down due to overheating his electronic dizzy module. We had to leave him as we had the three kids and they were getting restless, but some of the other guys helped out and waited for it to cool enough to get going again. (Thanks to those who stopped to help Les out, and to Daniel for following Les to his destination to make sure he made it there safely). A quick call to Les when we arrived home found him back on the road on his way home with no further problems encountered. All in all it was a good day had by everyone, thanks to all who attended.

Sandy Ferrier.