Ron Brown

[Andy Garlick]

It is my sad duty to inform the group of the sad death of one of my oldest Morgan friends , Ron Brown , who died on Monday from a suspected heart attack.
Being red/green colour blind Ron was unable to get a racing licence and settled down to the pursuit of hill climbing in the 1970s in his 1958 +4 , SDW 287.
Many of the group he competed against are no longer around the competitive Morgan scene but included Martin Wyatt, Bill Holt, Graham Turner, Dave Walters, Andy Duncan and David Rutherford.
His car was originally raced by Hugh Wilmore in the 1950s and appeared on programmes alongside the name of Chris Lawrence. His car has been laid up since the 1980s and his son Andrew is now starting on a rebuild.
A gifted engineer and a talented mechanic Ron was just the sort of companion a racer needed and I was extremely grateful to him for accompanying me many races in the UK and to the Nurburgring and Zandvoort in the 1970s. Many of the parts on my old +4 were fabricated by Ron , because he did not like the conventional solution, and the car was the better for it.
After my smash at the Nurburgring Ron insisted on my driving his car at the Bentley Drivers Club races in order to "get me back into the saddle" quickly. He was not even worried when it came back with body damage following an assualt by an errant Lotus 11 (which came off second best)
He is succeeded by his widow Katie, his son Andrew, and his daughter Suzy. I don't have any funeral details yet as they were not finalised as of last night.
Please be careful out there, I have now lost my brother and Ron in less than 2 weeks to heart problems.
Andy

[Mary Lindsay]

Andy, that is sad news indeed.

I remember Ron at numerous race meetings and 6 hour relays. He was always ready with a smile and a clever solution.

Time for a trip down memory lane...
The first photograph shows Andy Garlick apparently trying to fit an exhaust pipe to his Mog while Ron, on the left, patiently looks on. It was a very cold day in December 1976 at Brands and the racing line round Druids in the photograph shows where it isn't icy as Brian Yates tiptoes round behind John Lindsay.

[Andy Garlick]

Mary
Thank you for the kind words , Ron will be sorely missed indeed.
I remember that meeting well for several reasons.
I think I was taking the exhaust off rather than re-fitting it because I used to run the car on a short side pipe at that time.
I seem to recall that the programme had Brian listed as "Brain" Yates , which we found quite amusing at the time.
I remember there being so much ice on the circuit that even the smalest deviation off line in the corners was pretty much lethal, you had to do the passing on the straights under braking, and then tiptoe around the corners , esppecially Paddock Bend.
However perhaps the most important reason was that was the first meeting which Jo attended, and she was quite impressed with the Morgans.

Happier days
Andy

[Chris Acklam]

Great pictures Mary.

I notice that they had clearly upgraded their safety measures at Brands from 1967 when there was just grass, advertising hoardings and earth banks at the outside of Paddock. Putting railway sleepers in was clearly designed as a safety measure to protect ... the earth banks. :-O

[Andy Garlick]

Just in case anyone is intending to go
Ron's funeral is on Friday May 1st at 13.00
The service is at
The Chapel
West End
Penclawdd
Swansea
The committal will follow and the wake will be at Katie (his widow) place
The Manse
same address as above)
Dave Parker and I will represent the Morgan side of Ron's life.

Family flowers only but if people wish to remember him, a small donation to the Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.

Regards
Andy