John Sergel Motors, one of dozens of yards down Addington road in Christchurch. John was part of the Sergel family that owned Southwell School in Hamilton, so not short of a bob. He was a good friend of mine at school in the 50's, probably because we were both hopeless at sport....John because he had had polio as a child and his body wasn't up to active sport, and me just because I hated the fact that it was compulsory. I couldn't see the point of running round a paddock in the middle of winter, getting cold and muddy, chasing a football! Johns polio didn't count either, you had to have spina bifida to get out of games!!!! John did have special dispensation to drive a car to school on a daily basis, the only day boy at that time to do so. His mother had bought him a new Standard 10 which he always drove with great gusto, an attribute that stood him in good stead when he later competed in the tough world of rallying. He competed in a number of International events...Heatway etc, and also in rallysprints.....Ashley Forest and others, and his name appears in the results tables of the time. On the odd occasion when we could skip sport after school, John would drive out the school gates in his car and I would follow on foot. We would meet at a prearranged spot down the road out of sight of the school, where I would get into the car and duck-down low so as I couldn't be seen, and we would head out into the country to find a good shingle road, of which there were plenty then, and John would practice rally driving while I 'navigated'!!!!!!! The thing I remember about John's driving was that he always had his left hand tucked under his leg on the seat, and just whipped it out for gearchanging and other more difficult tasks. His hand and arm may have been affected by the polio, but I always marvelled at his one handed car control!! I visited John some years later when he had his yard and he didn't seem to be too pleased to see me....this after what I had thought had been a good friendship at school. I later found out that he had been doing some dodgy deals, I have no idea what, but he obviously thought I knew all about it and was distinctly cagey . John was always very dismissive of circuit racing drivers. He decided that rally drivers were much more skilled....I was inclined to agree, but I conceded they are very different skills. When I think of John I remember what Timo Makinen said after one of the Monte's.......'you have to have a big VILLING to VIN. Amen to that.