RIP ROB BURNS

Mate, I only knew for a short time but you were a great help in all things van.And you were always the first to say g/day.You will be missed. This is the only song that was about cars,that I could find  so sorry if you don't like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk

Hard to believe. RIP mate.

After the way to early passing of my long time friend Robert today I will make the effort I should done ages ago to upload the the rest of the build
pics of his most favorite of all vans his beloved WB "sandman" . You will be highly missed my friend and loved by many including me, I feel proud
and honoured to have known you and been able to rebuild this van for you before your untimely passing, keep on driving up in the vanning heavens
and may you rest in peace and comfort in the knowing we will take care of those you left behind.
your good friend Ben GTS Injected love ya mate

God bless Robert and may he rest in peace.......


My condolences to TEESH ,SCOTTY & JOSH.
He was loved by many and will be missed by all

Ben you'll be glad to know that Rhino took him for some laps on the weekend in his beloved
WB Sandman and returned with the biggest smile you have ever seen.
Come next week Tumut will have never seen so many vans in town....

We all love you Rob and MV will truly miss you....

R.I.P Rob

Only met Rob on a few occasions in person and knew him as one of the original members of the sinbin.info forum before and during the formation of Majestic Vanners. He sure had a love for Vans and contributed to the support of Vanning over all the years we've known each other. Sometimes people are dealt a bad hand and for lack of a better term get ripped off with their time on this planet. Good on you Rob for your contribution and keep on Vannin' on the other side. Hope you hunt down a few other Vanners who have also past and you get to reminisce about the goods times.

Commiserations to all your family, friends and fellow Vanners who will sorely miss you.

Regards, Smooth

I am so shocked and so sad, but he is not fighting the brave battle any longer. sending love and hugs to teesh, scotty and josh, and tiggor too. I really thought he was doing well in his fight, and shocked he is now suddenly gone. i have been so slack on the forums in recent months and feel terrible to never have gotten the painting of checkmate done for him. or made it to a van in. it will be done Rob, for your family. rest in peace mate. some wonderful musicians up there to welcome you as you no doubt burn through heavens gate to the beat of a roaring v8. thankyou for being one of the good ones. i hate beer but am clinking a beer with you right now dude. "cheers"

I am finding it hard to put into words just how much Rob meant to me and how greatly he will be missed. It is touching to see how far reaching the loss is being felt. Even those that never met him are beginning to understand how great a man he was. One of those people found a poem that I want to share with you here. It is so fitting it goes a long way in trying to describe the man he was, and even more fittingly it is penned by a Scottish poet by the name of... Robert Burns.

An honest man here lies at rest,
The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm'd,
Few heads with knowledge so inform'd;
If there's another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.

'The friend of man' - Rob would do anything for his friends, you would always have his support and he would have your back no matter what. He was a great family man, an adoring husband and an amazing father who held family above all else.

'The friend of truth' - Rob was a straight shooter, he was never one to be backwards coming forwards. He would never shy away from telling you exactly what he thought, and this was something I admired him for. He always spoke the truth, and while he may have put a few people offside in doing so, he was respected for his opinion and you always knew where you stood with him.

'The friend of age' - Rob had a great respect for the older vanners that came before him, and no one had the overview of the history of vanning that he did. He was in constant contact with the legends of the scene and went a long way to reuniting past vanners with their friends from the past, tracking down missing show vans, and collecting as much history on the Australian van scene as he could. The Vanning Legends Reunions, setting up the Majestic Vanners Vanning Legends Hall of Fame, and the Australian Vanning Museum are evidence of this.

'and a guide to youth' - Rob loved nothing more than seeing younger people getting into vanning and always went out of his way to encourage them to get involved. His enthusiasm was infectious and he would give a lot of his time to teach some of the history of the scene to new comers. I know he did with me and it was amazing how much you can soak in and remember.
'Few hearts like his, with virtue warm'd' - Rob had a massive heart and love for everyone. He always said Majestic Vanners wasn't just a club, it was a family, and truer words could not be spoken, everyone who has attended a Van-In would have experienced 'the vibe' around the event.

'Few heads with knowledge so inform'd' - Rob's knowledge of Street Machine and in particular Vanning History is unsurpassed. No one has the details like he had stored inside his head. You could ask him about anything and he would be sure to know the answer. He also had excellent mechanical knowledge and if you had an issue he would be sure to point you in the right direction.

'If there's another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none he made the best of this.'

Rob was not a religious man, but if there is another world we can rest assured he is no longer in pain, and has joined those vanning legends that have gone before him, and joins his heroes like Peter Brock.

If there is none, he sure did make the most of his time here, and we are all richer for having known him.

R.I.P Robert Burns, it was an honour to know you, and an honour to serve as your Vice President in this great club that is your legacy, Majestic Vanners Australia.

safe travels mate,a part of you lives on in serendipity, your wheels, your flares and most of all the passion,
vanning has lost a great man but you will live on in our hearts forever mate, cheers.

loved sitting around the fire at the last van-in and agreeing with everything we talked about.
definitely a straight shooter and i love that you weren't a 'fence sitter'.
you WILL be missed rob.
r.i.p.

The loss of a person I considered my unofficial older brother.

I met Rob through the thing that has brought us all here. I was 17, a year fresh into the real world after school. Started an electrical apprenticeship and needed a tool carrier. Brought myself a panel van after growing up around and in them. Attended the 2006 van Nationals and caught wind of a web site with a forum on it. I joined the forum and before to long I turned up to my first BBQ with many well know vanners from NSW in attendance.

I get introduced to a couple of what at the time seemed like pretty intimidating blokes, the cool kids as it seemed. Their names Rob Burns and Rhino. Didnt say much to them at that BBQ but was envious of this bloke from Tumut that had this Ex show van Checkmate.

As time went on I talked to those two intimidating cool kids and got to know them. Next thing you know Rob is asking me if I was interested in forming a panel van 'club' on the phone.

Soon after another BBQ and a whole heap of guys having discussions over a name Rob had come up with 'Majestic Vanners Australia'.

Now there has been plenty of great times and plenty of the opposite with people Rob would describe as 'Carnies', 'smart like tractor' or 'cant put brains in a fence post'. Rob certainly had a way with words, he reassured me 'its ok for people to hate you... F&^K EM!'

As time went on our friendship turned away from just vans and cars. We started to become unofficial family, we would bounce ideas, problems and solutions off each other. Give each other a hand when needed. Rob had taken me around a number of times to his Mum's for Sunday lunch. Gave me the opportunity to be God parent to Josh 'Poppet' Burns. Introduced me into liking more and more 80's music. Was always there for me when needed.

Rob was there through my real growing years of life, have shared many good times and learnt a lot from him. Given me one of the hardest lessons of all, don't take life for granted. When the opportunity isn't there, you need to make it or it will be to loss for ever.

I'm still numb of his recent passing and he will leave a lasting impression on me for the rest of my time.

Love you like a brother Rob, keep on stirring them from the other side.
Jon

This should be a sticky,so its there for all to see in the future.

Having met you nearly 20yrs ago at Wagga Wagga Scale Model Show at Tarcutta Street. ( The Original.) Admiring what each other had built quickly led us to chatting. As the years went by looked forward to our catch ups more and more. It wasn't long before Rob was running his own show at Tumut which quickly drew all likeminded modellers together for what was to become a four day annual weekend which we all looked forward to.

  We would always travel up early on the Friday and spend the afternoon, evening with Rob, Teesh and the boys. Would often find ourselves talking till 1am about plastics, toranas and vans. Our three common passions.
  Knowing we had a big day ahead of us, the big show day, Angelique and myself would make an effort to leave and find ourselves on the front porch chatting for another hour.
  Over the years Rob would generously donate thousands generated by the show to CanAssist. The weekends at Rob's Tumut Show a regular dedicated group of modellers became known as the Plastic Maffia! Rob making sure at the end of a show he would round us up for a mug shot before we left.

  2009 bought this rusty pile of dents. Chatting to Rob about it was quickly informed WB. 'Best Van Ever!' He started in on me straight away about getting involved with the club. Not really being a club person, I quietly went about building the Van, constantly chatting with Rob as it was being built. The Van was finally finished in 2013. Burnsy at me ' Mate! You've gotta come to the Van In! ' ' You don't understand you've gotta come.'
  After attending our first Van In 2013, Burnsy introducing us around to all the crew, it soon occurred to me he had created the same atmosphere at the Van Club as he had shown us all the years before with the Tumut Model Show - such was the man's ability to draw people together. He grew on you!

  Many years and many miles have gone by, attending events with which Burnsy had been involved or just hooking up the caravan and rolling past his place for a weekend giving him $hit about the 'sunbird' tail lights in his Van.
   So many laughs, so many 'early' hours and so many good times. Be eternally greatful for what you have done for us.
 

     My Maffia Mate and My Vanning Bro.
     Will love ya always and miss ya so!

     Van On Joe!

we should have a perpetual trophy at the van-in named after rob.
maybe the 'spirit of fallen vanners'  or 'club person of the year'would be appropriate?
again, rest in peace rob.

RIP Brother (Rob),

What a shock..... I only knew you for a short while " But" felt like a life time. Always great to talk to you on the phone OR in person.
What you didn't know about cars.... it wasn't worth knowing
You will be sadley missed throughout the Van/Car sense.

Our deepest condolences go to Teesh & the two boy's.......

Going to miss you in the "WB SANDMAN" Mate & Watching the Grand Final together..... GO HAWKS Brother.


Sam & Caz

Here is a 3D image shot over the bonnet of Neil and Cherone's Angry Bird of Sam (Sam62) sharing a thought at Rob's funeral in Tumut last Friday 06/05/2016
It was a nice turn out for the funeral with (my count of 25 Vans) along with Torana's, Monaro's and neat Falcon's and Commodores etc. The church overflowed with mourner's.

Get your 3D anaglyph glasses on Red (left eye) Blue (right eye) magenta/cyan.



Regards, Smooth

Beautiful words Guys.


For those who couldn't make it and for those that did, this is what I wrote and read out at Rob's Funeral.  It was a Great Honour and Privilege.

I can't say anything better than has already been said but I reckon Rob would have been chuffed at the turnout for his funeral.

This is a tailgate off a Black Sandman that both Rob and I owned a couple of times, the Mambo print sums up Rob as well hey.

R.I.P. mate.

It's already a year since the passing of our great mate and founding member of this club Robert Burns.
There will be a memorial run to Tumut with Teesh's blessing, Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of April.
We will be attending the cemetery Friday afternoon. Saturday we will cruise out to Brandy Mary's Park below the Dam at Tumut.
A kick of the footy with Scott and Josh and a BBQ lunch. Saturday night dinner out as a group with location to be confirmed.

Please let us know if you are or would like to attend so that we can confirm numbers.
Van On Joe.

A Beautiful Tribute.

Such Great Memories!

Rob would be impressed with that.
Sadly missed. I bet he's still Vanning in another place.

Regards, Smooth

For a bit of a wrap up and some pics from the memorial run in Tumut on the weekend, follow the link;

https://majesticvanners.forumotion.com/t4425-rob-burns-memorial-weekend-tumut-28-30th-april-2017

Regards,
Karl.