Wheels

Dennis had always been fascinated by wheels. When he was about eight years old, he built a  trolley ( box car) from discarded wood, pram axles and wheels. All that was needed—a steep hill. Other boys joined in with their trolleys and they raced. No brakes!

Although Dennis’s mother Gwen imagined her son as becoming a doctor, she must have realised this wasn’t going to happen when he entered into an apprenticeship in auto mechanics and began building a rear engine racing car.

He then proceeded to race in hill climbs and sprints. Farmers allowed racing on back roads. One condition—if you go through a fence—you fix it.

Picture from the Wellington Evening Post

A year after finishing his apprenticeship, in 1967, Dennis packed up his tools and racing car and immigrated to Canada. He was twenty-

one.

Dennis soon realised that the world of racing has as much to do with marketing as racing. He moved onto other things. One of those things was building a camper for his 1968 Ford truck.

It served as accommodation during our honeymoon.

We lived in it at the Nakusp campground until finding a place to rent. It was also handy for picking fruit. Notice the cow waiting patiently for me toss her an apple.