Delivered by Rob Bradford at the service on 12 Sep 2016

John was what I would call a busy man and was a perfect example of the old saying, that if you want something done just give it to a busy man. Everything he turned his attention to got the Full Monty and we were beneficiaries of his technical curiosity, superb organisational skills and dedication.
John instigated some technical advancements that have benefited hundreds and possibly thousands of enthusiasts all over the world. His TR has more fuses and flashing lights in it that all the others put together.

One of John’s dedicated followers commented to me that he was known only as MR BUCK by most of his friends and that one never asked MR BUCK for an opinion because you were going to get it anyway.

John began his interest in Triumphs when he purchased his first, he was one of the first people to own a Triumph Herald in Qld.
After a meeting with an old college mate Phil Venton during John’s days at Taylor Instrument they happened to be discussing cars when it became apparent that John was interested in owning a sports car and was planning to purchase an MGA.
Phil retorted “ you don’t want to get involved with that rubbish, I have a TR3 in bits which you can have for $150.00”

John apparently bought the car for Judy, so he could do it up for them to put the golf clubs in and go touring! (Optimism at it’s best.) I gather a lot of stuff was bought FOR JUDY over the years.

Apparently, one day John was pulled over in his TR and thought he was done for speeding but it turned out that it was just Don Mash wanting John to form a car club together with Eric Burgaty, and Phil Strong as a precursor to the formation of the current TSOA in QLD in early 1974.

It came naturally for John to organise activities for the car club including regular camping weekends on Stradbroke Island, all aided by John’s vast array of petrol driven camping aids, and progressive dinners where John would not allow any departures until all the beer was consumed. That probably explains why late one night when all these mad half tanked TRs were travelling between courses, un-expectantly came across a group of Mormons who had to take to the bush in disarray to avoid meeting their maker.

John enjoyed some serious Rallying with Phil Strong who has fond memories of John as a navigator at great speed sliding sideways across the 4 lanes of the Toowoomba highway at midnight, holding on so tightly to the panic bar, his knuckles were white and he couldn’t speak (obviously a pre-requisite for a navigator).

After meeting Alan Mitchell during a Triumph national meeting he also became an inaugural member in the formation of the TR register along with his great friends Geoff and Bob Fast and so began many years of motivation and sharing his passion with his new group.

John worked tirelessly on creating an environment and activities for the TR Register which appealed to both the blokes and their partners. He spent many hours developing programmes and ringing every one up encouraging them to participate.
At that time there were many TRs in various forms of disrepair hidden away in sheds, so John’s talent for nurturing and encouragement instigated a swarm of new restorations, ours included and the Register just went from strength to strength with record attendances, culminating in a very successful Concours held in the convention centre in Brisbane.

A member quite recently hit a Roo in his TR and purchased John’s original 3A front apron which had been stored by Ted Davies for 30 years. On calling up John he was told that John’s memory was gone so he was surprised when told about the 2 little defects under the head lights which on investigation turned out to be spot on.

Finally I think this tribute says it all...

A tribute to Bucky Beaver: From Alan Mitchell

John Buck was a stalwart for Triumph TRs in Brisbane firstly with TSOA and later with the TR Register. His infectious enthusiasm and wit was always inspirational. The bigger the challenge the more he rose to it. Having known him and interacting with him for about 35 years, it was always fun to joke with him.

I went on many tours with the Bucks over the years, including the well named Fast Buck tour Starting in Toowoomba and in South Australia where there were so many smorgasbords, he said “we are not doing this in Brisbane next year, too much food”.

He was the spiritual leader of the TR fraternity in QLD and was always able to rally the locals to the call. He just had the touch and personality to reach people for whatever the task.

He said many times to me what a lucky man he was to marry Judy.