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George Begg RIP

Started by Vicuna , Apr 23 2007 05:23

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Vicuna

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 05:23

George's long battle with cancer ended last night - about 7.30 Australian time.

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#2 mctshirt

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 05:44

That's a shame...though I never saw it personally his contribution to motorsport has left a well documented legacy.

RIP Mr Begg

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#3 Catalina Park

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 07:54

George Begg's book on Burt Munro is a great read. It is rare for an engineer to be able to put things into words the way George did.

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#4 Levin68

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 11:39

George in later years, happily working on new parts for motorcycle engines from AJS 7Rs, Matchless G50s and Manx Nortons, the passions of his youth. His quest to compete in the Manx Grand Prix, where he met his wife, is a great tale.

New Zealand motor racing was all the better for his gritty determination and practical engineering. No wonder he and Burt Munro had so much in common.

Posted Image

The site is not in the best shape, but it tells some of his story. He generously gave me permission to extract material from his self-published book, When the engine roars.http://www.angelfire...begg_intro.html

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#5 Duncan Fox

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 20:46

I had heard George had taken a turn for the worse. The sad news was conveyed to me at my shop yesterday by another ex 68/9 team member Frank (the gopher) Zimmerman .

Its at a time like this that I feel that the encourgement and help we all gave George as he put together his McLaren book was so worthwhile.

He may be gone but he certainly will not be forgotten around here.

Thankyou to every body who helped and participated in the Begg reunion down south earlier this year , which George I understand managed to attend. It turned out to be a great send off .

My condolances to his wife Freda .

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#6 Huw Jadvantich

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Posted 23 April 2007 - 22:25

I guess the event in his honour at Invercargill must have given him an element of closure after battling the cancer for so long. Goodbye to another great Kiwi.

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#7 Michael Clark

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Posted 24 April 2007 - 02:48

Originally posted by Duncan Fox

George I understand managed to attend. It turned out to be a great send off .

Duncan he more than managed to attend - he was superb.

I spent over an hour with him on stage in a 'one on one' and he was outstanding.

So good in fact that people later doubted he was as sick as they'd been told.

I did an interview with last May for an upcoming documentary and he wasn't expecting to make Christmas.

Not only did he build cars in a far flung part of NZ, that in turn is in a far flung part of the world, he was such a funny man.

I believe the funeral will be in Christchurch next Monday or Tuesday - all a matter of getting him on a plane back from Queensland.

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#8 Ray Bell

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Posted 24 April 2007 - 12:41

I had the privilege of speaking to him a couple of times about his Begg book...

It is indeed a good thing that he recorded so much of his life's work in this way.