"Oppy" and Malvern Star

"Oppy" and Malvern Star
[ Up ] [ Opperman the Cyclist ] [ "Oppy" and Malvern Star ] [ Opperman on retirement ]

In 1921 Hubert Opperman then a promising young cyclist entered the Cycle Trader's 80 mile event and, after and eventful final sprint finished third. He takes up the story in his autobiography "Pedals, Politics and People":

"I was delighted to know that my prize was a 10 pound Sports model Malvern Star. This through the levitation of sport was to be transformed into a magic carpet of world-wide travel and competitions. Through it I met Bruce Small, at a most opportune moment of my life.

I was 17, balanced on the verge of head-turning, favourable sporting reviews, unanticipated monetary returns, living away from my parents and commencing to feel the independence demanded by training' traveling and racing, from a normal family routine. One was at a crucial milepost of life, when a sound mature guidance was desirable and invaluable. Bruce had just taken over Tom Finnegan's suburban bicycle shop. Finnegan had won the Austral Wheel race in 1898 from a quite helpful start of 270 yards when it featured like today's Melbourne Cup. He was a shrewd Irishman who figured that a repetition of a gift start, a major prize and a big betting coup would be as rare in his future as a 4-leaf clover. He decided to cash-in on his reputation and protect his money with a bicycle business in Malvern. In 1920 he was, through the effluxion of time, equally ready to slip off the commercial saddle at the very moment Bruce Small was seeking one to sit on. Bruce had been selling cycle accessories for Finlay Bros. in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, and returning record figures on his country rounds. A percentage bonus raised him above the manager's salary. Panic adjustments to lower levels angered him into seeking more profitable outlets for his acumen and energy.

With money borrowed from a trusting and discerning mother, who mortgaged a house purchased from the meager savings of a Salvation Army Officer's salary, he settled for Finnegan's Malvern Star business. He began at once to display the same intensity, and exhibit the same instinct for constructive merchandising and financial commonsense, which flows from the minds, of some men even as the swing of a golf club or the stride of a marathon runner is inherent in the muscles of others. He sold me on himself, and Malvern Star, during a deal which included trading the Glenroy, being fitted out with an entirely new machine, and giving me cash for the Sports model.

From that day we developed an affinity and mutual confidence woven inextricably into our sporting pattern as was Deschamps with Carpentier and Rickard and Dempsey, and a personal commercial relationship so close to him and his brothers, Frank and Ralph, it was often erroneously accepted by many as a family one."

From "Pedals Politics and People" Sir Hubert Opperman

A full time job

In 1922 Hubert Opperman was still employed by the Navigation Department as a clerk but was actively pursuing a cycling career in all his spare time. He takes up the story in his autobiography "Pedals, Politics and People":

"Around this exciting period my junior clerkship began to interfere with my cycling. My leave credits were running out and a request for a few days deduction from the next vacation to ride the Launceston to Hobart was turned down. Apart from leave concessions, public service regulations of the day concerning outside monetary returns were most stringent. Money earned in any other activity was regarded as a bar sinister on its financial escutcheon - and I had been as busy as Howard Hughes in covering up. I was aided and abetted by McConville, his unruly Irish spirit responding to the challenge, as my name began to appear more frequently in the sporting results. A Senior Clerk would invariably say to McConville on Monday morning, "I see where Hubert has won another race - it must have been worth a, lot of money," to which McConville would have a ready retort such as, "Oh no, he only races for trophies; I asked him to bring in his gold watch but it is being engraved." When I did win a medal or cup we made sure it was placed prominently on a desk.

This camouflaging of cash returns, however, could not continue indefinitely. When I informed Bruce Small of the refusal of leave he proposed after a long and serious discussion that I should join Malvern Star.. He was emphatic that it was not a created position. His brother Frank was seriously ill and while I would be allowed reasonable training time I would also be expected to earn the proposed salary which at three pounds ten shillings was 50% higher than my Government stipend. But I still had to face Grandma. Above all others I did not wish to cause her anxiety regarding my future. She ran true to her affectionate, precise nature and following a long evening test of my desire and her will power she asked to meet Bruce. There was an instant respect and liking and without demur she withdrew any further resistance and gave the project her blessing. So I completed my four years on the Government payroll and began my new alliance of business and bicycles. It was a break on a cordial note. I left with a travelling bag, a speech by John K. Davis, good wishes, a cherished reference and the slight stomach pit chill which every civil servant must surely know when he leaves the guardianship of the Government for the tooth-and-claw world of commerce. I leaned on the tiny consolation if it was too cold outside I could return minus seniority within 12 months. But my luck was in seven league boots for the Glenferrie Road and Gardenvale shops were to proliferate like service stations in a later era. I was paced by a future commercial magnate and no athlete has ever been towed by a faster leader. Our interests were identical. I sought success on the wheel he sought spectacular returns for Malvern Star.

From "Pedals Politics and People" Sir Hubert Opperman

Resignation as a Director

In 1960 Hubert Opperman had been a Member of the Australian Federal Parliament for 11 years and was on the verge of being appointed a Minister. He remained a Director of General Accessories which, with the retirement of Bruce Small, was now owned by Electronic Enterprises run by Sir Arthur Warner. Ministers in the Australian Parliament are not permitted to hold Directorships that would place them in a "conflict of interest". Opperman takes up the story in his autobiography "Pedals, Politics and People":

"When Bruce Small severed all connection with Electronic Industries and commenced his Gold Coast career, I became the last of the original directors. While still Whip, Warner, then the Victorian Minister for Railways, asked me to lunch and proposed that I should, as a director, and at the appropriate time, lobby John McEwen (then Minister for Trade and Deputy Prime Minister) for import licenses. While I had no reservations about taking constituents' representations to the highest authority, I would have entered a bear pit more willingly than McEwen's office, seeking commercial favours from political nepotism….

Sentimentally, I valued the directorship with its cycling associations and its need for advice. I immediately telephoned Bruce in Queensland, whose sensible and practical outlook was to accept director's fees for my other worthy services, and to resign at once if the unethical encroached upon them. Shortly afterwards, my Ministerial appointment was made and, following Federal tradition, I at once resigned my directorship."

From "Pedals Politics and People" Sir Hubert Opperman

Sir Hubert Opperman remained associated with the name Malvern Star throughout his long life. "Oppy" and Malvern Star were inseparable in the mind of Australians and he remained a loyal ambassador for the brand.

Ó Rolf Lunsmann, 2000 How you can help Feedback

Opperman meets Bruce Small

A full time job

Resignation as a Director