They go together like salt and pepper – and whatever they do, they do together. For this remarkable Parys couple, Arnold and Judy Charlton, every challenge is a challenge accepted.
Whether it be the precision-built wooden model ships of which they have completed nine and have another in process or the aeroplane they built together at the Parys Airfield in 1997. For this, they were awarded no fewer than four awards for home builds at a home build show. And then there was the sports car Arnold and Judy built in 2010, based on the Lotus 7, and the train layout they designed themselves with a German theme.
But not all Parys residents might know that Judy was the first woman to win a South African motor racing title way back in 1973 when she won the Formula Vee championship.
Judy in the Formula Vee in which she won the race in 1973.
In that year, she was acknowledged as Sportsman of the Year and Most Improved Driver in SA by SA Motorsport.
Judy started racing on the oval track in Vereeniging at the tender age of eight, racing under the name Judy Witter. She helped build the Witter Formula Vee, with her father, Joseph, who emigrated to SA in 1952. He was the owner of WW Motors in Vanderbijlpark, where Judy was born in 1954.
Although her father never had the chance to race himself, he was a keen motorsport enthusiast and Judy’s greatest fan, building most of her single-seaters, with her mom on her post at the race track as timekeeper.
Not surprisingly, Judy met Arnold at the racing track, with his brother, Dave Charlton, being a single-seater racer. Together, Judy and Arnold did several endurance races.
In those days, there were tracks all over the country, says Judy, but, sadly, few are left now.
From left are Dave, Judy, Arnold and little Michael Charlton. The photo was taken 40 years ago during a six-hour endurance race in Pietermaritzburg.
Racing was a men’s sport with women achievers not welcome. However, after her 1973 glory, Judy was invited to race in the curtain-raiser before the Formula Grand Prix in Monaco in 1974. There were 21 entrants – all women – all racing in Renault 5s. The 20-year-old Judy took seventh place.
In 1975, she took the third place in the SA champion-ships, racing in a Formula Ford. Later, she specialised in saloon car racing and, in 1977, became joint winner of the SA Group One championship with Sarel van der Merwe. She raced in a Datsun 140Y. Judy continued to race on and off until 1994, celebrating numerous highlights in her racing career over the years.
She taught herself how to drive and, believe it or not, both Arnold and Judy, as well as their sons, Michael and Jeff got their licences to fly a Piper 235 in 1994.
The Charlton couple are dental technicians by profession and had a laboratory in Vanderbijlpark.
They moved to Parys in 1996 and will have been married 45 years this year. With Arnold currently having challenges with his eye, which the couple hopes will be fixed in January, Judy is now patiently waiting for her building partner to recover so they can continue building their tenth model ship. In the meantime, she enjoys cooking and her veggie garden.
