by Roland Townley
Perhaps you saw this picture of Russell and his lovely wife Cathy (along with their new MINI Cooper S) in our April, 2010 newsletter. While chatting with Russell we discovered that we had much in common. For one thing, back in the day we were both running around Montgomery in a powder blue 1959 TR3As and yet our paths never crossed. How unusual is that? It was Russell’s first car. He bought it used in 1965. We also became interested in astronomy at about the same time. But, Russell took it much further. He was a charter member of the Auburn Astronomical Society and has served at different times as president, vice president, Astrofiles editor, (the society’s e-newsletter), and as Webmaster of the AAS Website.
Russell is now retired from AT&T in Montgomery where he was employed as an electronic technician in a digital switching office. He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in ’63 and attended Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo) and also John Patterson Technical School where he studied Electronics. He was also in the 
U.S. Air Force Air National Guard doing Ground Radio Maintenance. After active service in the National Guard he went to work for Western Electric in the Auburn area. It was here that he met and married Cathy. They lived in Phenix City for a couple of y e a r s where she was a public school music teacher. They have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren. The car 
pictured was his GT6 MK I that he traded his TR3A for. He carried away his new bride in this car in 1970. He owned this car from 1968 to 1972.
Russell owns some very nice telescopes and enjoys outdoor “star parties” with members of his astronomy club. Below is a self portrait of him and one of his telescopes taken in the light of a first-quarter moon. Look closely and you will see star trails that occurred during the exposure due to Earth’s rotation. The red line (if you can see it) is caused by a plane passing during the exposure.
We are very fortunate to have Russell and Cathy in our club and look forward to seeing them often at future club events. If you haven’t met these fine folks, please make it a point to introduce yourself at one of our many gatherings.
Post Script:
In addition to the nice article above that Roland wrote, I’d like to add a little about myself and my passion for British cars.
My fascination with sports cars began early. At age 3, I had my first race car shirt. My first car was a 1959 Triumph, TR3A. I paid $625 for it in June of 1965. I did most of the mechanical repairs myself — out of necessity. It was fun to drive but caused me a lot grief with the Lucas electrical system and missing teeth in the flywheel ring gear. I had to take it to Pinson one Sat
urday to have several spokes in the wheels replaced and the wheels trued. It had front disc brakes and radial tires years before American cars. It had an electric overdrive in 2nd through 4th gears making it a virtual 7-speed transmission. The hand-crank made valve adjustment a snap. It was usually fairly weather proof until the day I was driving back home from my active duty stint in the USAF. I ran into a deluge in Mobile. The water poured in via the clutch & brake master cylinder linkages and soaked my feet. Oil was also getting past the rear main seal and onto the clutch and the linkage to the SUs would disengage when I was having too much fun. As soon as I saved enough money I upgraded to a new 1968 Triumph GT-6 Mark I. This was a good car. I did have one scary event when the wheel hub splines stripped and the front left wheel fell off. I was going over a speed bump at less then 5 MPH. Whew! But, alas it didn’t have air conditioning and I got pretty sweaty in the summer. I sold it in 1972 with 75,000 miles.
Other interests include maintenance on our seven mechanical clocks, family history research, Old Federal Road & Creek Indian War history, a never ending quest motoring over curvy, hilly, tree-lined roads in search of the perfect BBQ joint, and keeping my 1952 vintage Lionel O-27 gauge electric train running for the grand kids.
When it was suggested that I was thinking too much about the MINI, I had it checked out. Sure enough, I tested positive for MINI on the Brain. And here we are, motoring along the Root Canal in the GT6.
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Influences and Inspirations:
- Bug-eye Sprite in the 2300 block of E. 3rd St
- Billy Hagan King, Mechanical Drawing teacher at Lee H.S.; Triumph TR3 (small mouth)
- MGTF that sat across the street from our house at 2411 E. 4th St. for a few weeks
- Larry Spires’ 1958 Corvette, co-worker at H. L. Green grocery department
- Austin Healey 100-6, BN4, customer at the A&P on Highland Ave.
- Bob Hewes, fraternity brother; MGA (my 1st ride in a British sports car, 1964)
- Ronnie Howell, fraternity brother; TR3 (small mouth)
- Jim Rohr, former fraternity brother, racing his Mini Cooper at Sharp Field SCCA, 1968
SCCA Races:
In the mid-late ’60s I attended, or participated as a corner worker, at several area SCCA races. My first race as a spectator was in the spring of 1966 at the Bainbridge GA airport course. For the first time, I saw MGs, Triumphs, Lotuses, Jaguars, Morgans, Healeys, Minis, Alphas, Porsche 356s and RSKs with the Sebring exhaust with rags in the tail pipe to prevent valve warping and smelled the aroma of castor oil from the engines. Formula Vees, formula Fords, and sports racers rounded out these exotic cars. It was my good fortune that in June of 1966, the Central Alabama Region of the SCCA in cooperation with the Montgomery Jaycees, hosted its first of several SCCA sanctioned races. The location was at the old Montgomery Industrial Terminal, better known by its earlier name, “The H&R Point” – the “holding and reconsignment” point that handled domestic and overseas movements of men and supplies during World War II. The course also incorporated closed-off stretches of Airbase Blvd. and Hayneville Rd. Here are the races I worked — rotating through the duties of communications, flagging, fire & safety.
| Date | Reg/Nat | Location |
| 06/18-19/1966 | Regional | Montgomery AL H&R Point |
| 08/13-14/1966 | National | Montgomery AL H&R Point |
| 09/24-25/1966 | National | Bainbridge GA Airport |
| 06/17-18/1967 | Regional | Montgomery AL H&R Point |
| 10/19-20/1968 | Regional | Tuskegee AL Sharpe Field airport |
| 03/15-16/1969 | Regional | Tuskegee AL Sharpe Field airport |
Here are links to newspaper clippings, rosters, event programs, etc.from those heady days:
[Newspaper clippings] of the Races at the H&R Point
[June, 1966 Commisioners’ Cup Program] at the H&R Point
[March 1969 Commissioners’ Cup Program] at Sharpe Field in Tuskegee
H&R Point Commissioners’ Cup Races [Course Map]
Let’s Motor,
Russell
