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PETER TREBILCO (TREBS)
Whilst on a caravanning holiday in France in the late
1990’s we met John Pike from the Solent Austin 7 Club who told us all about his
Austin Sevens and Peter showed an inter-est. No sooner had we returned home than
John phoned Peter to say they were advertising bits of an Austin Seven in a
Classic Car Weekly for £650 and asked if he was inter-ested in a project. That
chance meeting in France changed our lives.
Over the next few years, I believe, using the precision
learnt from ex-celling at Technical Drawing at school, along with tinkering with
cars as a boy with his dad, Peter restored our 1936 Ruby perfectly, with a lot
of help from Phil Whitter and the late Dave Tanner. I remember him disappearing
off to Beaulieu Autojumble and The National Austin Seven Ral-ly armed with his
long list of parts he required. No sooner than the bright blue “Dame” was on the
road in 2002 we were off to Berlin where we took part in the unforgettable 750
Motor Club EuroTour, driving through Brussels, Cologne and Epernay. An amazing
trip!
Returning home from Berlin, I mentioned to Pe-ter “I like
the Ruby but it would be rather nice to have a soft top Austin Seven”. As if by
magic, Bob Birkett happened to be selling his Four-Seat Ruby Tourer AAL -
another project! Peter set about restoring it meticulously back to its for-mer
glory and won the best restored car at Beaulieu that year.
Peter joined the Dorset Austin 7 Club Committee and we
took on running the raffle together for nine years and he also took on the role
of Club Family News Coordinator and Vice-Chairman. He helped raise £10,000 for
Macmillan Caring Locally using his Barclay’s ‘Hat’ to double the amount raised
at the Christmas raffle that he organised over the years.
Not only were we fortunate to complete three fantastic
and memorable Austin Seven 750 Motor Club EuroTours (Berlin, The Grapes and
Gateaux Run and the Alpine Amble) but the unforgettable trips to Gibraltar, six
Yorkshire Experiences, three TOTIE (The Only Tour Is Essex), Windmills and
Waterways in Norfolk, Outer Hebrides Trip with the Scottish Austin 7 Club,
Viking Tour to Denmark with the Essex Club and several Dutch Molentocht events–
this allowed us to have fun with other Austin Seven Clubs across Britain and
worldwide..
Peter always enjoyed our own DA7C holidays to France,
Spain, Holland, Coast to Coast, Isle of Wight, Devon, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland,
Guernsey and Jersey, along with supporting club runs, outings and events and
often provided a write up for the club magazine. He liked attending The National
Aus-tin Seven Rally at Beaulieu every year and going to Warwick and Moreton on
the Marsh for the big Austin Seven celebrations.
Peter and I enjoyed organising local Sunday Runs and
Evening Runs together - always trying to take us down the smallest lanes
possible and occasion-ally stopping off in the middle of nowhere for mulled wine
and mince pies.
Peter will always be remembered as the club’s great
entertainer helping me with Shelly’s Disco at Christmas at the Tyrrells Ford and
at the many Cas-tleman Corkscrew Rallies where he also sang and played his
guitar around the campfire with his unique renditions of the songs we all know -
It’s a long way to Tipperary, When the Saints, My Old Man’s a Dustman, Streets
of London which we could sing along to using the Dorset Austin 7 Club Song-book
he compiled. I remember a local New Forest picnic run he took his guitar and
entertained us after our picnic and of course there was Des and Bridgette’s
Treadwheel Farm and The National Austin 7 Rally at Beaulieu on a Saturday night
for a few years. Peter also branched out by taking his guitar (using up valuable
space in the back of the car!) on Austin Seven holidays to the Outer Hebrides,
Yorkshire and Denmark – providing fun for fellow Austineers.
We had the most incredible Austin Seven Adventures taking
us to places we would never have gone otherwise. One that springs to mind was
the Rallye Mare Balticum (Wismar) when in 2004 we were invited along with two
other Austin Sevens to attend a Music and Culture Austin Seven/Mercedes event,
staying in a magnificent schloss (castle), up near Hamburg. I have never met so
many mayors or had so many drinks receptions -we were treated like Royals – it
was a magnificent trip, we were so lucky to go…!!
Peter loved woodwork – and for the club he would just
‘rustle’ up a car ramp for use on club nights or design and make a wooden plaque
that was on the door of the Elm Tree for many years. He helped me make the many
DVDs for the club holidays and runs and be-came the Quiz Master for a couple of
years as well as helping Gary with the skittles nights, before he became ill.
Peter had a great sense of humour and always made me
laugh especially when we were lost somewhere in the Austin Seven and he would
get his old brass compass out for directions (the scout in him) or just simply
follow the sun.
Peter was a fun, clever, helpful, kind, selfless
gentleman and a wonderful husband, father and friend –and it is for those
reasons I was determined to honour his memory by driving his Austin Seven to his
funeral. On Tuesday evening, after the funeral, Ringwood Town Football Club held
a minute’s silence in memory of Peter
In the words of the Reverend at Peter’s funeral, “I
didn’t know Peter, and looking at the gathering here today, I think it was my
loss.” How lucky we all were to spend time with him.
Michele Trebilco