This issue's pictorial archive fJhoto wasacco/llpanied by this letterji"Oln MargeEadie ot Hokitika.

It's not a very tough journey fromHokitika to the Franz Josei' Glaciernowadays, but for three adventuresomemen who drove the 92 miles by horselesscarriage liS years ago, it was a realadventure. The little Reo roadster - astriking contrast to today's comfortable,sleek limousines - took all the obstacles inits stride, battling over rough tracks andthrough rivers and watercourses, to giveSouth Westlanders a day of greatexc itemen t.

Who were they'?Messrs W J (Bill) Renton, his brother

Paul H Renton, (my grandfather and acheerful little mechanic called AustinHayman. On the 18 July 1911 these menset out from Hokitika on a cold winter'smorning to become the first motorists toreaGh Waiho safely. They thrilled thepeople of South Westland, many of whomhad never before seen an automobile and

they terrified many of the cattle and horseswho likewise hadn't seen such a machine.

Today, only the elderly residents of theWest Coast Gan recall the trip, but itsmemory is perpetuated in this classicphotograph, shoWing the gallant Iillle Reoroadster and irs oCGupants outside the FranzJoseI' Hotel. The driver and passengersmuffled up in all enveloping greatwats,headscarves, caps, and goggles in theirscreen less, roofless, buggy-like vehicle."They were very adventuresome sort ofboys," my late grandmother recalled.Another vehicle, owned by my grandfathershe used to say had a four stroke engine andit could certainly "speed it up" - 40 mphon the road from Hokitika to Ross.

The twin cylinder Reo Roadsters wereimported from the USA about 19 J0, andthe one pictured, owned by Bill Renton,made the first journey to the Franz losefGlacier. This trip took 12 hours - currentlya one and a half hour journey. All along theroute settlers and their families came out tosee the new fangled machine. The photo·graph shows a tow rope (indicating the

carriage was not entirely 'horseless') a toolbox On the running board, oil headlamps onthe scuttle bulkhead, and 'Genevieve' typemudguards at the rear. The Reo had "Gate"gears and a four stroke engine.

Arrangements Were made for rhe use ofhorses m various ri vel'S inG!udirlg the BigWanganui, and rhe Whararoa. The tow rope\\ia. artached and the horses pulled the Reoover various water obstacles. Puncrureswere numerous, and it had seven or eightbefore they reached the Waitaha River. Thepneumatic tyres were pumped up to 60lbspressure and there were no spares. Theythen reduced the pressure to 401bs. In spiteof aLl the punctures rhe little car reached theFranz JoseI' Hotel in good style at the endof the day.

Yours elGMarge Eadie

This record br(wker in one or {he last grca{frontiers is ({ /909-/0 /6hp model. Thebadge at the top of the radiator is anAuto/nobile Association emblem (Ed.)

-PRESIDENT'SMESSAGE CON E TS

FEATURES No. 219

Beaded Wheels

A driver and drover's dread. Tony Haycock and the 1929 Chevrolet Internationalsurrounded by national icons. We suspect the Chev's backend is cleaner than those ofthe sheep. Photo: Bruce Hutton.

23 News from the National Office

41 Marketplace

44 Swapmeets and Rtdlics

46 Obituaries

7 15th National Motorcycle Rally

14 50th Anniversary Rally Report

14 Mailbag

17 Idle Torque

4 50th Anniversary Rally - 27 50th Anniversary Book LaunchProgramme 28 Homestead Runs

6 Greetings 30 Along The Way8 Rally Routes 32 Mandeville

10 Rally Routes Continued 34 Prizegiving12 In & Around Addington 36 Under The Bonnet24 The Hillclimb 37 Final Dinner26 The Founders Bus Trip

38 Why Did They Fail? 60 Smedley - Part Two40 Tales From The 3rd National 62 Stop Press - Petrol Crisis

Model T Ford Rally

52 Zenith - Summit of Ambition

54 Eight Days To Auckland

58 Kiwis Abroad

Beaded Wheels is the voice of the Vintage Car movement in New Zealand and of the Clubswhose efforts are fostering and ever widening the interest of this movement and form rallyingpoint.~ for that ever increa.~lng band of enthusiasts. The fascination of age it.~eIf or revulsionfrom the flashy mediocrity of the pre.'lent day is drawing an increasing number of motoristsback to the individuality, solid worth, and functional elegance that was demanded by a morediscriminating generation and it is to these tllat this magazine is dedicated.

Publishel': Vintage Car Cl ut'> of NZ (Inc.) Historic Vehicle Authority for New Zealand.

ISSN 01 1:\-7506 Vol XXXXIl No. 219

Editorial Committee: Bruce Pidgeon (Chairman), Bob Scott, Paul Gieseler. Lindsay Wogan. JohnCoombe... Earl Preston. Barry Thomson.

Material for I>ublication: Report or restorations. events. road tests. historical and technical articles etcshould be forwarded to PO Box 2546 Christchurch. typcd or ne'illy printcd, double space on one side ofpaper only. No payment is made to contributors. The opinions or ~mtements expressed in letrers or articlesin Beaded Wheels are the author's own views and do not necessarily express the policy or views of theVintage Car Club of NZ (Inc.)

Advertising Address: Classified and Display Advertising 10: PO 13 x 1:\-140, Christchurch.Telepbone (03) 332-3531. Fax (03) 332-3531. Rate schedule available on request.

Back Issues: Available on request from PO Box 13-140. Christchurch.

Correspondence and Subscriptions: Beaded Wheel, subscriber, change of address to PO Box 13-140.Chrislchurch. Phone (03) 366-4461. Annual subscription (6 is,nes) $n.oo. Price includes GSTAustralian subscription (6 issues) aim1Hil NZ$42. seamail NZ$34.Other countries (6 issues) airmail NZ$62. seamail NZ$36.

Production: BcaeJed Wheels is typeset and printed by Wyatr & Wilson Prim Ltd. Christchurch.

Closing Date for Next Issue: Editorial Copy - 24th April 1996Advertisements - 10th May 1996

COVER PHOTO

COLUMNS

I cannot think of a better event than the50th Anniversary Rally. Most of us willonly have one shot at a 50th Birthday andwhat a celebration it was. To be associatedwith such a wondetful organisation as oursis both gratifying and of immense personalsatisfaction.

It was great to be able to greet and talkwith our founder members, particularlyDavid Mitchell and John Reeves who hadmade the journey from the UnitedKingdom. Equally welcome was theattendance of so many people fromoverseas as both entrants and supporters. Iknow by the enthusiasm they displayed andthe personal comments I received that theevent will always figure prominently intheir thoughts.

I must also make mention of thecontribution made by Lord Montagu whohandled the many interviews with themedia without complaint and I have nodoubt enhanced the profile of our club inthe minds of the New Zealand public.

All I can say is thank you to theorganisers and the many members whohelped in so many ways to bring this eventto such a successful conclusion.

At the March Executive meeting heldduring the rally, a report was presented bymanagement committee member lanDougherty recommending the club revertto an annual billing system to replace thecurrent cycle billing. This change, as wellas an increase in the annual subscription,was voted in by the executive. I amconfident this move will allow for a betterunderstanding by members of the club'sfinances, and will enable better budgetingand reporting to take place.

I have been mindful of the need to lookat our club's organisational structure forsome time. The management committeebelieve we have now reached a point wherethe size of our club requires a less cumber­some and more up to date constitution thatcan lead us into the next fifty years. It ishoped that a paper will be presented to theAnnual General Meeting this year fordebate.

During the rally 1 heard many un­favourable comments about the newun leaded premium petrol. The experiencesthat have been voiced by many NewZealanders as well as our club membershas prompted a response to Government onyour behalf.

When talking with Greg TerriIl, ourRally Director for the 2000 event to be heldin Hamilton, I realised that it was only fouryears away. Let us look forward to an eventto equal if not better the Anniversary Rally.Now there's a challenge for you and yourteam Greg!

Happy & Safe MotoringFrank Renwick

Jack Greaves, 1924 501 Fiat.

etween 26 February and 8March 1996 we saw the largestgathering of vintage and veterancars ever assembled in

Australasia. Entrants totalled 1546 and tothe best of our knowledge most entrantsarrived at some stage. The organisation ofthe rallies and social events was an in­credible exercise in logistics. The SouthIsland was "alive with the sound of vintagemotors" as cars crossed and criss-crossedthe various routes making for Christchurchon the appointed day. An amazing amountof interest was generated in small countrytowns and provincial centres as ralliesassembled, lunched, overnighted or drovethrough. School children lined routes, seniorcitizens poked and prodded, tourists wavedand were frequently photographed in or

A/an Orr. 1929 Packard633.

beside our vehicles. A wonderful responsefrom every part of the Island. The perfectweather conditions encouraged participantsand spectators to enjoy the scenery and theprocessions.

During the week in Christchurch RallyHeadquarters were constantly manned anddealt with hundreds of enquiries.Thousands of meals were served and thefinal wind-up dinner was a triumph oforganisation in serving over 3500 meals in arelaxed and infonnal style.

Entrants selected their rally route from achoice of 27 with 10 starting points. Duringthe days prior to Monday, 26 carsmeandered to their appointed bases and allgroups assembled to meet their routeleaders; back up vehicles and fellow entrantson the Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Days 1-5 were spent motoring, enjoying thescenery and hospitality of the countryside.Our shingle roads were a surprise for someoverseas entrants, as were our seeminglydeserted highways. The back-up vehicleswere called upon to herd the tail-enders ona few occasions. An amazingly few vehicleswere trailered to repair shops. The skillswhich had restored the cars were calledupon to keep the motors running and awonderful team spirit saw parts loaned,advice given and time generously shared.Truly an exhibition of good fellowship andgenerosity. There are some amazing tales tobe told of the efforts required to keep thevehicles motoring.

By 6pm on Friday I March, most of theentrants were accounted for and Addingtonraceway was alive with vehicles and folk: all

Rovers in rhe Clover.

clamouring for a space to rest their wearybones and tell their stories.

Saturday was officially a rest day but theMayor of Christchurch led the way as acontingent of our vehicles wended their waythrough the streets of the garden city in aparade to let the locals know they had hittown in case there was any doubt!! Theracing enthusiasts headed for the invitedhillclimb event on Banks Peninsular whichprovided some very keen competition.

Sunday was to have been our speed dayand public exhibition at Ruapuna Racewaybut unfortunately bad weather meant thecancellation of this event. Rally entrantswere treated to impromptu entertainment ­some interesting and very different talentswere revealed.

Monday was designated Homestead

Bud and Rosemary Grose. /929 Har/eyDavidson - puffed lip by the wind.

Runs and once more the rally vehicles tookto the roads of rural Canterbury on 15 routestaking in various Canterbury homesteads.

Scatter Rallies provided keen com­petition on the Tuesday, with localknowledge providing little or no advantage.It was pleasing to see this event won by afirst-time visitor to New Zealand.

Mandeville Domain was the venue forour Members Only day on Wednesday 6March. Approximately 1400 vehicles con­gregated for a picnic in the sun. A variedprogramme had been arranged, with anaerobatic display from light aircraft, swapmeet for the enthusiasts, and music from the50's Up Brass Band.

Thursdays One Make Runs were a highpoint for many of our participants. With 40options to choose from and many entrants

Richard Con/on, 1905 Darracq.

Vintage Video.

being eligible and interested in severalcategories, the day was a very full andsatisfying one. Congratulations to allmembers involved in this organisationalfeat for providing such a plethora ofopportunities.

Mention must be made of the entertain­ment provided nightly at the Addingtoncomplex. The variety of musicians, bandsand entertainers, provided opportunites forall participants to find something to theirtaste.

Friday saw events rapidly drawing to aclose. Our prizegiving filled the stands ofAddington Raceway with enthusiasticparticipants revelling in memories, wellaware they had been part of the largest everassembly of historic motor vehicles.

GreetingsI

I

The Fiat RegisterPeter and Elspeth Green have kindly

agreed to act as couriers for the accom­panying package which contains a smallmemento for the Vintage Car Club of NewZealand. This comes with the greeti.ngs andgood wi$hc~ of the Fiat Register for your1996 Rally in which a fair contingent ofRegister Members and their ladies areparticipating.

I would not venture to suggest to whatpurpose you or your Committee may wishto devote this small "pot"; perhaps as anaward in one of your Club events, perhapsjust to retain it, a token of goodwill fromthe Register. Whatever you decide, pleasebe assured that the Fiat Register as a club isvery appreciative of the kindne.. s andgenerosity of your organisation to all ourmembers who will be with you for the 1996event.

On u personal note, I can only regret thatmy wife and I could not make it 10 NewZealand this time. We shall certainly try tomake a visit at some time in the future.

YOUL' etc ..T.G. Harper,Treasurer and Membership

Correspondent, The Fiat Register

Old timer MaI'ktFour years ago I came over and followed

your rally around Palmerston NOI1h. It wasa mighty event surprising with ,.0 manyoldtimers I had never seen during onemeeting in Europe, So I published somevery enthusiastic reports in four or fivemagazines in Germany, France andCanada,

J am sorry not to be able to take part inyour 1996 Anniversary Rally which isstarting today. That's why Oldtimer-Markt,the largest monthly classic cars magazine(180,000 sold copies per month), is wishingyou best success and a lot of new friendsfor that rally by fax: Keep on driving as youdid before.

Yours etc.,Eberhard Kittler, Deputy EditorOldtimer-Markt

Motorsport Association of New ZealandInc.

On behalf of the Motorsport AssociationExecutive, Administration, competitorsand officials, we wish your organisation allthe best for your 50th Anniversarycelebrations.

With all the pressures for change facingus in our every day activities, it iswonderful to look from the outside atanother motoring organisation's activitiesand nOle the efficient way you have keptyour organisation focused onto its gonlsand activities aimed towards thepreservution of our vehicles of yesteryear.

We have enjoyed working with you all inthe past years and look forward to acontinuance of this over the next fifty years.

Once again, our very best on behalf ofour entire membership,

Yours etc"LW, Snellgrove,General Manager, Motorsport

Association of New Zealand Inc,

Electorate Office of the Hon. WinstonPeters, MP, Tauranga.

For this your 50th Anniversary - mybest wishes go out to you all, and also toyour friends who have come from Olierseas.I do understand how much toil goes intothese vintage cars (labour of love).

Good luck and a very safe journeyhome.

Regards,Winston Peters

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Friday 1 March saw most of the1546 rally vehicles arriving intoChristchurch from the 27 rallyroutes. The following photo-

graphs were captured along the way as theyheaded into Christchurch.

1. McHardys. 1956 Morgan 4/4.

2. John Kennedy. 1913 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.

3. 1915 Studebaker.

4. 1910 lHC AII/ohuggy.

5. 1926 Bull Nose Morris.

6. George Nells, 1927 Leyland Fire Engine.

7. Lyndsay Ayres. 1912 Ford Model T

8. Geoff Owen, 1927 41/, Litre Belltley.

9. 1930 Model A Roadster.

10. Robin Yates, 1947 Standard Flying Eight.

11. Frank alld Nick)' Renwick, 1920 Delage.

Photography Euan Sarginson.

-

~~l==::::~~====---IT~~ERt:ally

7 8

6

I. Michael Tay/or, 1922 Pockard.

2. 1936 Chel'rolel.

3. DOllald LoII'e. 1936 Triumph 2H.

4. lall Dougheriy. 1956 Aril'l 500.

5. Wendy Cameran, 1913 Sludebaker.

6. Bob Parker. Rile)' MPH replica.

7. Alby Noulllree. 1909 Hupmobile 20 Raceaboul.

8. 1941 Army IlIdiall.

PhOlogml'hy EUQlI Sargill.wJII.

& AroulJIn

13. Wil/.\·lOn WingJield. IY 15 Model T Ford.

Y. IY07 De IJion Boulon.

ID. Brian Tipler. 1942 Indian.

11. Peler HoldawlI.\'. 1912 Wolseley.

12. Briall Newberry, 1915 Chevrolel "BabyGrand".

3. Peler HlIrdv. 1913 Model 79 OverlandRlIcealmUl. .'

I. lOll Cooke. IYJJ Wolseley Homel Specilll.

2. At!dinKIOII - volwllinons viII/liKe.

7. BlIrrie Granl, 1930 Cmlillac V 16.

Ph%Kraphy Denise McMil/on

4. DlIvit! P/illlmer. IY54 VW.

5. Geof!'Golden (AlIs.) lInd mare. 1926Auslin 12/4.

6. 1911 Renanll Charabanc - AncklandBranch.

8. Harley Davidson.

u)l Addington

'Ii

Dear Sir,The Banks Peninsula Branch would like

to take this opportunity, through BeadedWheels, to thank all those who volunteeredtheir services as marshals, timekeepers.scrutineers etc for the 50th AnniversaryRally Hillclimb and Pomeroy Trophyevents.

Unfortunately the weather was not withus contributin!:! to a diminished field for thehillclimb and the cancellation of thePomeroy Trophy to the regret and dis­appointment of all concerned.

We appreciate the many voluntaryhours of organisation and behind thescenes work by many Club members andothers too numerous to thank personally.

To all the competitors who missed outon the Pom, a reminder that the BanksPeninsula Branch will hold its 19thPomeroy Trophy event in November ­entry forms from the Branch Secretary.

Yours etc.,Banks Peninsula Branch Committee

Dear Sir,Lost dUling the 50th Anniversary Rally,

Baxters and Becks School Road in theGeraldine and 5t Bathans districts, any50th Rally enlrunt who happens acrossthese roads in their travels please contactthe Rally Committee as they disappearedafter the tours were checked.

I would like to tbank all the people whochecked all these rally routes after I dreamtthem up and to Leslie for making sense ofmy written notes.

Trevor Lightfoot

Dear SirOn the One Make picnic run day _ we

picked up, from their mOlel, John and BessRiley, two of the Canadian supportersgroup from Vancouver, and enjoyed theircompany tbrough the clay.

John has fully restored to a very highstandard a 1913 Cadi lIac Tourer and a1908 Northern Twin cylinder.

He said he had been to many meetsshows and rallies on the American conti­nent including H.ershey. Never had he seensuch a di verse, wide ranging beautifullyrestored collection of vehicles as weregathered at our 50th Anniversary BirthdayRally. Quite an accolade to the team whomade it possible.

Thanks a million.Yours etc.,RB Scott

Dear Sir,To the rally director. I wish to express my

thanks and congratulations to you and tourteam for the wonderful 50th AnniversaryRally so recently and reluctantly concluded.

It was a fabulous motoring adventurewhich succeeded and indeed exceeded ourhigh hopes.

My visitjng English friends were alsodelighted with the programme and varietyof events and were frankly surprised at lhehuge range of vehicles and the high state ofrestoration. They were also impressed withthe adventurous way in which all werecampaigned.

Again, my tbanks and congratulations toyou all.

Yours etc.,Eric Wright (Mem.)

--.

Deal" Sir,I am writing to you to ask i I' you can

help me to find out what may have hap­pened to an old car which I was a partowner of - the others having long. beendead.

The car was an Australian Six and wassold to a few medical students in Duncdinin c.1946/47 for £75 1

I have a photo of it taken in the Squarein Christchurch in February 1946 - if Iremember correctly.

Yours ete ..Mr Colville

Dear Sir.Maurice Hendry's article on Stutz cars

in New Zealand certainly brings back avivid memory for me.

As a teenager in Ashburton around 1948in my usual quest for Model T Fords and/orparts I visited a motor engineering work­shop in West Street, Ashburton oneSaturday. There I watched for about onehour the proprietor. James Curie. assistedby Eric Burrows, truck a beautiful Stutzsedan. The method was a wood .. awthrough the roof followed by choppingaround the rear guards and body with anaxe. The removed portion of the body wasin the back yard there for a year or so.

From memory the Stutl truck was des­tined for a farm at Willowby or Eiffelton.As I am not certain of the name I will notsubmit one.

Since seeing Mike Crum's Stutz on theTV programme travelling the SkippersRoad I have always assumed that his wasthat car, recovered and rebuilt as a coupe.This assumption of mine is obviously­\vrong.

WH (Bill) Miller now of Auckland butformerly of Ashburton and the person whointroduced me to the club more than fortyyears ago will most certainly remember thetwo names I have mentioned and mayrecall the vehicle and perhaps throw somelight on the origin and fate of what was amagnificent vehicle.

Yours etc.,Martin A Weir

/1~Cfl..l£Ji..f~;<,(" (/),./"".

MaiBag

The editorial comJnillee reserve the right topublish, edit or refuse publication of any itemsubmilled as comment.The views expressed herein are those of Ihe authorsand do not necessarily express the policy or viewsor Ihe Vintage Car Cluh of New Zealand (Inc.) orthe puhlishers.

J-is'tf//I' ,}.= 11",-/1 (,!

:5 3.,4/ ~ --r- /.~ S~~" /''r''"('(- /1

Dear Sir,I recently received a copy of "Beaded

Wheels" from a friend resident in NewZealand which made interesting reading.

Perhaps you or some of your memberscould assist me to locate a cylinder head fora Jensen 541 R Cl carburettors). The exist­ing head is badly cracked and cannot berepaired and is, in fact, a Westlake headwhich is obviously going to be difficult tofind.

However, the cylinder head from a 4litre Austin Sherline engine is compatibleand can be readily used and this is in factwhat I am looking for,

I enclose a rough sketch indicatingdimensions.

Would you therefore be so good as topublish this note in a future edition of"Beaded Wheels" and also pass it on to asuitable Australian publication.

Yours etc.,Cal'l ForssmanII Blesbokridge[rene, South Africa 1675

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VCC BranchReports

Please confine your national reports toapproximately 200 words'

Ashburton: Bob Ching

I attended the Economy Run and theAnnual Rally. Both of these events havinggood support, with the economy run takingus to Ban'hill for afternoon tea and then backto the point of departure. The instructions forthis were relatively simple. but somehowgremlins got into them and half of us endedup going the long way there. The route homewas much easier with no gremlins to causeproblems.

The Annual Rally was to take us up toStavely for a barbecue lunch. One of thehighlights of the day was being able to havea good look at Clem McL1chlan's NewPick. A very nice car indeed. but Clemsuffered a minor set back on the day withthe bottom seam in the radiator letting go.Clem was asked to enter in concours, butwould have nothing to do with it. Just aswell our Judges are of a sneaky nature andsurprised him by rewarding him with theappropriate awards for a job well done.

Cecil Allot was not so lucky with hisWillys Jeep, owing to the lack of oil pressure,he aborted his run and opted to finish in hismodern. He was awarded the Hard Lucktrophy. I have since spoken to him and itwould appear that the oil gauge was at fault,better luck next time Cecil. For those of youwho are interested there is a full listing ofawards in the February issue of Blow Out.

Another new restoration has just come tolight for the big rally. Club stalwart OllieHurst has just completed his 1932 Ford V8Coupe Hard Top. Although I have not eye­balled this machine myself, his wifeHeather tells me that it's looking prettyneat. The outside paint work is finished intwo tone, Black mudguards, Leaf Brownbody and Cream wheel rims, the inside is ofa matching colour to the main body.

That's all folks, until next time, happymotoring.

Banks Peninsula: Ivor MacVelo

Our January Noggin and Natter was heldin rural surroundings at the Ellesmere Armsat Tai Tapu prompting a grand turnout ofvintage cars helped by Branch Chairman,Gavin Bain, offering a pint to anyone who

arrived in suitabk transport. The eveningwas enlivened by our welcoming EarlPreston into our branch. Earl has trans­ferred from Canterbury Branch with hisveteran Overland and Chevrolet Four"Safal; Wagon".

Our February noggin saw a number ofoverseas visitors join us from the UlsterVintage Sports Car Club.

Our sympathies go out to Warner Maugerand family on the death of Warner's mother.

Branch member Roger Green passedaway in January after a battle againstcancer. Roger's last big motoring adven­ture was the A.A.A. Expedition with PhilJeeves in the Hupmobile, a trip he reaJJyenjoyed. To Penny and the family weextend our deepest sympathy.

The only rally since the last report wasour annual Veteran Rally, which I believewas a great success, however not beingpresent and not having heard any reports Ican't comment.

President Frank (Renwick) drove thee.O. Delage to the Veteran Rally dinner andimpressed all with the splendid restoration.Jim Riley's new tweaked motor lasted four­teen miles before bearing shell troublescaused a seizure. The old motor has goneback in temporarily.

Congratulations to Mike Pidgeon andLouise RusseIl on the birth of theirdaughter Meg.

Bay of Plenty: Jocelyn Winwood

Well now that the "big event" is over forthe 33 local vehicles which participatcd, lifeshould regain some semblance ofnormality!

Our December run took the shape of aChristmas Parade of members and cars ­bedecked with balloons, streamers etc .. ­through the streets of Tauranga. Ending atMaurie and Val Nottle's home, ourChristmas party/pot luck dinner was heldand despite the inclement weather spiritswere far from dampened. Highlight of theday was the unveiling of another IvanAllen masterpiece - the 1913 DG 4 cylRenault Roadster.

Christmas Parade, a few of the participants atthe start, Kulim Park. Taurallga.

The change of venue for ourAnniversary Weekend Rally proved a pop­ular choice. Held in great weather, the 46entrants were treated to some spectacularscenery around the roads in the Papamoahills, Paengaroa, and beach resorts ofMaketu and Little Waihi Beach. Winnerswere: V & V - Joe and Norma Marsden(BOP); PV - Jillian Hayton (Waikato) andRae Decke (BOP); PWV and overall-Ivanand Allison Stevens (Waikato).

Arriving in 23 cars of various vintage

over 50 teddies of all shapes. sizes. agesand description attended (along with theirMums and Dads) a Teddy Bears' Picnic atKuljm Park on February 6. A lot of fun washad by all and a barbecue tea capped off areally great picnic.

Bay (~( Plel1lY VCC Teddy Bears' Picnic,6 February, /996. Kulill1 Park. Taurallga.

By way of new members the Branch hasgained the following cars: 1937 ChryslerStandard 6 sedan, 1928 Essex 6 two doorsedan, 1926 Ford Model T tourer, 1948Morris 8 Series E Sedan, 1935 Morris 8two seater tourer, 1930 Model A sedan,1926 Model T tourer (yes two!) 1912Renault, 1929 Austin 7, 1928 Chevrolet,1955 EIP Vauxhall Velox.

Eastern Bay of Plenty: Lorolei Pollard

Yes, despite the silence Our Branch isstill very active, and the last few monthshave been busy.

In September, I was luck enough toattend my first National A.G.M. asChairperson with Treasurer Tom Neeclhamas stand by if needed. I found it a rewardinglearning experience and one that can onlybe of benefit.

During October, member Va1 Gibbons,her son Thomas and her trusty MorrisMinor took ten of our vehicles on a homeand gardens tour in the Te Puke area. Alsoincluded in the trip was a visit to acollection of Morris Minors of various ages,sadly out in the elements. October was themonth we came of age, though some wouldargue we should have been a lot older. Asol~r original members had been in sub­branches of both Bay of Plenty and Rotoruaand had also gone into recess at one stage,it was decided to celebrate our 21 st from thedate we became a Branch in our own right.An impressive key, made by member ColinValentine. and duly signcd by the 90 per­sons present, is now a lasting reminder.

Some sixteen vehicles headed forGisborne, on November 3, to be hosted bythat Branch in our yearly exchange trip.This has been our largest convoy, and inconsideration of the "modern motorists" onthe high-way our cars went off in threegroups and met up nearer Gisborne. Asalways it was an excellent weekend. Apicnic run was held on the 26 to LakeOkataina. It was a first for new membersMaryanne and Geoff Pierce in their 1940Dodge and at that time they had been proudowners of it for just 4 days.

Two Christmas parades receivedsupport from the members which is alwaysappreciated, and is a way of keeping afocus on the vehicles. The Chairman's runheld on 10 December saw 21 cars turn outfor a short drive, gymkhana and pot luck

tea and barbecue. Kath and Maurice Mahyin their J928 Model A Ford won thegymkhana, Mervyn Rust 1957 Wolseley,2nd and John Steiner 1957 Vauxhall Velox3rd.

The first outing this year covered part ofthe area used in last years East Coast Rallyand was well attended.

Though it was decided to keep our EastCoast Rally low-key this year, we weredelighted with a total of 28 entries.Considering the 50th Anniversary was onlya couple of weeks off we were hoping forbetween 15-20 cars, so exceeded our expec­tations. A two hour run over Matata,Manawahe and Edgecumbe areas, followedby a pie, pea and pud meal, ending withprizegiving completed the day. As the prizelist is a little long [enclose the first placingsonly: I st Vintage, Annette and BobTownsend (Rotorua); Ist Post-vintage,Sylvia and John Sisson (Eastern Bay ofPlenty); Ist Post-war, Shona and CliffWickham (Rotorua); Ist Commercial,Leslie Watchorn and Coral Wormll.

We welcome newcomers Toni and TonyPalairet with their 1962 Austin Healey, aswell as Maryanne and Geoff Piercementioned earlier. May you all enjoy manyhappy vintage motoring years.

Safe and happy motoring to all.

Gore: Ivan van de Water

In the Gore area. like the rest of NewZealand, there is an amazing amount ofenthusiasm, hard work and enjoyment ofour hobby taking place. As I write beforethe "Main Event" our Southland roads arealready being graced with the sIght of manyfine beautifully restored cars of all shapes,sizes and ages readying themselves andcrews for the busy weeks ahead. You canfeel the excitment in the air, after months ofpreparation, drivers and passengers are offon a great motoring holiday. Locally wehave 18 cars participating, all heading offwithout a speck of dust and with crews allresplendent in the new green club shirts.Our group had a barbecue afternoonrecently to get them into the spirit, and nodoubt a "shakedown" of proceedings. Wewish all the entrants and our Gore branchmembers the very best and are sure they willhave a great time.

In January, the Edendale Crank-up dayattracted our keen members who enjoyed agood day out with all the fun of the fair intrue country spirit, with many static displaysand vintage equipment including tractionengines.

Other branch news, Starr McDougall andhis team organised a very good annualFestival Rally in February with over 50entries. A great turnout on a good day, leav­ing Gore travelling south to Mataura, outtowards the coast and back throughEdendale to a checkpoint on the way back tothe clubrooms for the after match function.Thank you Starr.

Hawkes Bay: Wayne Clark

February 10 at the Hawkes Bay RacingCentre, the Branch Annual Swap Meet took

place. No doubt several bits and pieceschanged hands along with some of our hardearned wages.

Fifty vehicles departed Hastings from8.30am on February 17 for the "Art Deco"Rally including 12 out of town entrants.The route ran via Havelock North, Fernhill,Puketapu where they met close to Napier atabout 11.30, before moving into the centralcity as one group.

Alan Wakefield won the motorcycleprize in which there were six entrants. Rexand Leone Kitching from Upper Hutt wonbest Vintage with their 1930 Model ARoadster, Craig Hickson, best Post Vintagewith his MG SA, Brian and Val Russellwith their 1931 Armstrong Siddeley werethe best in the eyes of the entrants to takethe prize there and Don Copas with hisAustin York took the novelty prize. Ibelieve a certain Chev Truck was used as aplatform to promote "Hoards of Fords" Iask you!

The next day many of the entrants wereat the Gatsby picnic for another enjoyableday while some were chauffeuringJapanese students to Esk Valley.

Finally while some are still cruising thesouth or relaxing after being home aftersome long mileage, truck and trailers willbe onto the Annual Rubbish Bag pil­grimage delivering kleensaks about theHastings district.

Happy motoring.

Manawatu: Dallas Denby

Len Haycock's New Years Day run wasa popular day out for many Manawatumembers. First stop was a ceramic shopand from there to a beautiful private gardenfor lunch under the trees. A stroll throughthe gardens was a treat with so much timeand effort going into making a magnificentdisplay.

The Ruahine Ramble on the 18 Februarywas another trial run for some of the birth­day rally cars. There were 21 entries andthe route left the clubrooms to go a shortdistance then over an unpatrolled railwaycrossing. The club captain hid in the longgrass to make sure the cars stopped. Somedidn't and were penalised 20 points.Around Aokautere to Opiki and back toPalmerston North to the straight line navi­gation. The lunch stop was near a fast foodoutlet with many entrants taking advantageof a fast lunch. The afternoon run wentover the Pahiatua Track where a very cor­rect but tricky set of instructions had someentrants fooled. But not all, because DonDennis and crew won in the veteran Buick.They incurred no penalty points and wereIst overall. The PV section had 2 winners:Les Allbon in his Standard and BrianSpaggs in his Riley. Afternoon tea andprize giving was held at the c1ubrooms.

:\larlborough: Men Atkinson

The annual open day at Brayshaw Parkwas well attended despite early morningrain. The Whimp Trophy event was held inconjunction with the restored vehicle dis­play and partly restored vehicles were alsoon show.

A full day run to lancy Gilbert's home­stead at Kekerengu was organised byDavid Bruce at the end of January. Sixteenvehicles took part in this event, which alsoincorporated the popular vote run.

An afternoon tea was held on FebruaryII to introduce local entrants on the 50thRally. This gatheling also served as a testfor February 26 when upwards of 300Rally entrants on seven of the rally routeswill be passing Brayshaw Park at the startof the 50th Rally.

Thirty members from Gisborne Branchpaid a weekend visit to Blenheim onFebruary 17-18 and were entertained byMarlborough Branch members to supper atour Clubrooms on the Sunday night.

North Otago:Gerald (B.S.A.) Lynch.BIosse

Since [ wrote last, a lot has beenhappening here in North Otago. TheWindsor Rally was held on the 25November and the weather was beautiful.The 38 competitors travelled south fromOamaru through Kakanui then throughbeautiful countryside and ended up forlunch and field tests at the Scout Camp atWaianakarua. As this day clashed with theVictorian Feast here in Oamaru the partici­pants were asked to join the festivities andmost were in time to watch the NewZealand Penny Farthing races in the historyarea.

Our Christmas meeting was held at theR.S.A. and our guest speaker was MarianneSmith who spoke of the time she spent as awalker on the Great Cavalcade fromMiddlemarch to Naseby.

February 3 was our Fish and Chip run inwhich 8 bikes and 7 cars took part. Thisyear we drove down the coast road toPalmerston. There we were met by 5motorcyclist from Dunedin. Mark from thePost Mark restaurant looked after us well.On this outing we were pleased to see RayWilson with his newly restored Mon'ieLow Light.

As I am writing the 50th is under way.We have 8 starters and as wc are a smallbranch that's a big turn out.

On the restoration scene as I havementioned Ray Wilson has his Morrie upand running.

Derick Atkinson has all but completedhis 1928 Oldsmobile F28 Sedan. This wasto be a two year restoration which took ten- sound familiar - after years of hunting Ihave found my B.S.A. M20 and thanks toBeaded Wheels Wanted ads I now have aset of girders forks and tool bag to com­plete the bike.

Happy motoring.

North Shore: Bob Ballantyne

Some of our local members have justrun out of time to finish their restorationsfor the 50th Anniversary Rally which is sosad after many years of planning.

I often wonder how the factory managedto assemble cars so quickly, mind youeverything was new with much more space.

But hang in there as the finishedrestoration will still be very enjoyable todri ve later.

Dianne Fowke has amU1ged a group dis­count for approximately 50 members toattend the middle weekend, to partake inthe Rally events flying down on Friday andback on Sunday.

All the best.

Otago: Oily Laytham

On 2 December a dozen vehicles repre­sented the Branch at the Portobello A & PSociety Summer Show where they paradedwhile a knowledgeable commentatordescribed each vehicle and gave a pottedhistory of it.

The Christmas barbecue took a slightlydifferent form in that the run ended at theclubrooms for the meal. Held in con­junction with the Post Vintage Car Club, itwas well attended and enjoyed.

The first event for the new year was theJackson Memorial Peninsula Run whichattracted nearly thirty entries in perfectweather. The winner was Ron Harper andwife Dulcie in their Rugby coupe.

Next was the forty second VeteranBrighton Rally held on Saturday 10February on a fine day. A field of twentyfaced the starter for a run over part of theOtago Peninsula before going on toBrighton Domain for the tield tests. Abarbecue lunch at a member's countryresidence concluded the rally while adinner and prize giving was held in theevening.

Results: Under 4 cylinders, R. Mahan1907 International, under 21 hp, C. Winter1900 Wolseley. Cars over 21 hp T.Devereux 1917 Dodge. Field Trial G.Mehrtens 1906 Cadillac. Concours T.Devereux 1917 Dodge. Motorcycles: Fixeddrive W. Veitch 1910 King Dick. Variablespeed M. Dewar 1913 Sunbeam. Field TestM, Dewar. Concours W. Veitch.

In preparation for the 50th AnniversaryRally, a get together will be held on theSunday preceding the start for entrants tomeet one another and for the local leader tomeet entrants, too. It will be quite a bigweekend at the c1ubrooms with an enter­tainment evening on the Friday as well.

A run for PV and PWV is planned forSunday 31 March, entitled The Bays Run.It will conclude at Aramoana near themouth of Otago Harbour.

Rotorua: Ooug Green

Twelve cars went out to Reporoa to theMaxwells beautiful gardens for a picniclunch and a wander around. We met upwith the Taupo members and traded storieson the 50th Anniversary Rally and how thecars were coming together etc.

We all wished Frank (Frank who? ecl.) aquick recovery as he was off to hospital fora quadruple bypass. He is back up andabout now and ready for the trip south. Ashe put it the "op" slowed him up a bit but"I am going south come hell or highwater", and south he will go!

Our chairmans run took us through thebeautiful South Waikato area of Atiamuru,Moki, Poihipi and down to Taupo and thegreat boating spot of Kinloch where wehad a picnic again with Taupo members

and 27 cars. After lunch we had a look atLes Hayter and his hubcaps also Les' DeSoto, back to its former glory right down tonew hubcaps.

We all left Taupo and just strolled alongback to Rotorua. A great day it was too.

My thanks go out to Keith and DawnCarr for finding a spot like that and for theorganising etc. And thanks to Les foropening his shop up to let us look around.

Our AGM is just about due and ourbranch will be looking for a few replace­ments as some have been on committee forquite a long time and are looking for abreak.

South Canterbury: Dave Warlow

A record number of members' vehiclesturned out for the Timaru Street Paradewhich started south of the city, through themain shopping area, down the Port Loopand ended on Caroline Bay where every­one enjoyed a natter and a look around theacti vities.

On New Years Day a large number ofmembers travelled to Fairlie (some werecamping there) to take part in the streetparade with the Fairlie Vintage MachineryClub. The day was a scorcher and refresh­ments and barbecue were enjoyed after­wards.

In January some of us travelled to theAshburton Branch Annual Rally whichtoured through the town and adjacent roadsand eventually ended up at the Anglicanand Methodist Camp at Staveley.

February saw a number of us travel toWaimate for the Waimate Branch'sWallaby Run which was a very interestingtour through the rolling hill country southof Waimate and back to Seddon Squarewhere field tests took place and memberswere able to look at the busking festivalbeing held there.

Al these rallies and parades there havebeen a large number of new restorationsappearing in preparation for the 50thAnniversary Rally which will be over bythe time this is published, no doubt therewill be a lot of stories to be told then.

Southland: 8ruce Millar

The deadline for this edition is right onthe eve of our departure for the 'Big one'and I know the excitement level is at an alltime high for the tifty five Southland mem­bers leaving on the rally next week.

As usual despite the best intentions andplanning there are still the last minutepreparations being made and maybe even atrace of panic in some garages. But neverfear we'll be there!

We are expecting that about 220 carsand motorcycles will leave various pointsaround Invercargill next Monday morningfollowing a weekend of "meet and greet'that our Branch is planning with barbecueson both Saturday and Sunday nights. Nodoubt it will be a typical Southland sum­mer weekend!

Bill Obers has made a significant contri­bution to increase local awareness of therally by writing a series of articles in thelocal South land Express on many of the

Southland entrants over the past severalweeks.

Our main event, the Southlancl Rallywas held on Saturday 3 February with agood attendance of I 12 entrants. Threegood routes had been chosen throughsouthern areas of Southland to converge onWyndham, an eastern Southland township,for lunch & field tests. There were one ortwo incidents along the way. the most seri­ous being a broken fan blade on Patron RayLindsay's faithful Model T and one name­less entrant taking a detour through Bluff!!- to get to Wyndham?? Yes. that's what wesaid too'

The overall winner was Warren King inhis 1939 Morris 8 and the winning motorcyclist was Ray McCulloch on his 191 IKing Dick.

No use saying anymore - roll on toChristchurch.

Cheers.

Taranaki: Eric Terrill

With the 50th Anniversary Rally comingup it seems to be having an effect on thenumber of entries at Rallies during Januaryand February. No doubt a lot of effort isgoing into finishing off restorations andpreparation of cars and bikes. This is evidentin our branch and the end result is some fineworkmanship that has gone into the entries!i'om Taranaki. This branch was representedat the Wanganui Burma Rally in January byseveral of our members with Des andPhyllis Cornwall taking the top place in their1939 Austin 8, while Bryan Spragg and lanBlealJey in the Riley were placed Ist equalat the Manawatu Ruahine Ramble inFebruary.

As this is being written out, thoughts goto this years Mini- Vin Rally, an annualevent held at Waitara and ably organisedby Colin Johnston and members of hisfamily. More on this in the next issue.

Two cars new to Taranaki roads willappear very soon. Bryan Morris ofNormanby has acquired a 1916 BrassRadiator Model T Ford Speedster and ishoping to convert it back to a tourer.

Brian Gernhoefer of Eltham is puttingthe finishing touches to his 1939 Series "E"Morris. This is something different withthe chassis and running gear from Englandwhile the body was built by the RuskinMotor Body works in Australia. It appearsthat it was for military use and even had amounting for a machine gun although thisis not obvious in the restoration. Nothingmatches up with other models. There areno trafficators and even the instrumentdash panel is an odd size.

By the time that this issue is publishedthe big rally in Christchurch will havebecome history and no doubt we will hearall sorts of stories of the adventures of ourfriends. We wish them well.

Taupo: Jack Hindess

There was a good turnout of 14 vehiclesfor our October run organised by Keith andVal Moore. It was a test run for a numberof vehicles that will be participating in the50th Anniversary Rally. So it was after-

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Several car~ ·ert on display at theAnnual Mata 'ana ,chool Gala. We arealways willing to ~,it a worthy cause.There is always a huge auction held there.Our Chairman got a good motor-mower for$12 and I got one for $4!

The Pohi regatta was another enjoyableouting for our Branch with about 10 carsmaking the trip. Cars from Whangarei andDargaville swelled the number to 23. GarryMcCormack of TV "Heartland" fame wascovering the event as part of a programmeon the Kaipara Harbour, so we might geton TV.

A gymkhana was held at Ron and BevPearce's "Puddle Farm", daughter Jennwith her horse and buggy, a V.12 Jag andseven vintage cars were put through theirpaces with the slippery grass making forsome spectacular driving. The ladiesshowed their skills after lunch. An enjoy­able time in the sunshine.

Several members are making lastminute preparations for their long tripdown to the 50th Anniversary celebrations.George and Alma Henson's beautifullyrestored 1938 Dodge will be cutting itsteeth on this trip.

Wanganui: Fay Chamberlain

Wanganui Branch did the communityproud over the summer holidays. Cars wererequired for all occasions including the"Wanganui in Bloom" main street paradewhere we dressed our cars in masses offlowers, and even Palmers Garden Showsent TV I up to photograph us. Waverleytoo, hosted around 25 of our cars in theirChristmas Parade (with free sausage sizzlethrown in after')

At the time of writing this there'sanother in the pipeline too - the "younger"vehicles get their turn in the main streetparade for vehicles (and people dressed) tocelebrate Friday night shopping in thefifties and sixties. lan Chamberlain's Mk IZephyr Convertible should be rather appro­priate sporting the fluffy dice, flags, and animported Auckland Elvis Presley "look-a­like" on the back!

Castlecliff Beach was the focus of atten­tion on January 6 as our Chairman GeraldWeekes flagged off the 21 veteran cars ontheir "Coast to Coast" Tour. Having the TVthere was exciting too!

The Burma Rally proved a success onceagain, with the overall winners this yearbeing Mr and Mrs Des Cornwall. Sincethen, we've had a fun gymkhana afternoon,with the winners this time being Tom andSue Day.

Restoration of the Year went to AlanBates with his 1913 Royal RubyMotorcycle and Jim CUiTick took the prizefor the car section with his shiny black1951 Morris Minor.

Clubnight attendance is growing- we've had to order another dozen chairs'Good, eh?

vintage machinery used to launch andretrieve the fishing fleet. Finally a barbecuein the evening coupled with fine weathermade for a wonderful run. A big thank youto Annette and Graham Clark for theirorgallising.

Twenty-eight vehicles from our Branchare attending the Christchurch Rally.Twenty-four of these vehicles gathered atour clubrooms on Sunday for a photosession and final get together before ourdeparture down south.

The Rex Porter Memorial Rally is beingheld on 22 to 24 March. Friday night is anog and natter at the clubrooms. Saturdaythe rally with dinner at the end of the day.Sunday a cuppa and farewell. Entries close14 March to Mrs T. Pritchard, 14McMaster St, Greytown.

Waikato: Jillian Hayton

The holiday season in Waikato got offto a good start with many of our membersjoining in the festive spirit at the PirongiaRaces on Boxing Day.

Our Vintage Venture in mid Januaryhad a turnout of around 30 vehicles (thiswas up on last year but we would still liketo see more entrants from other branchesventuring out) and this was a great day.Our event started at our ClubroOIllS, inCambridge and then proceeded out throughour lovely countryside, on roads that werenew to a lot of us even though we've livedin the region for years. The lunch stop wasat the Okoroire Campground - a pretty spotset amongst the trees and fortunately theweather was also just as perfect. Our runhome took us back through the Horahoraarea and finally back to the clubroomswhere the event was topped off by abarbecue dinner.

At the end of January the WaikatoBranch travelled en force over the "hill" tothe BOP Anniversary Rally which asalways turned out to be an excellent event.It was the last chance for some to makesure their vehicles were up to scratchbefore heading off down South. Ourgenerous hosts put on a great day ofmotoring followed by an equally enjoyabledinner and prizegiving (made even more soby giving us a few prizes to take home!)

Our annual gymkhana day was held onWaitangi Day. There were two events totest the driver's skills and one to test their(blind) faith in their navigator, all this cou­pled with a run out to Pirongia and back tothe clubrooms so that vehicles could bejudged for the Concours and Restoration ofthe Year. We are all now waiting with bait­ed breath until prize-giving night to seewho has come out tops.

You will all have recovered sufficientlyfrom your travels to that southern islandand have no excuse for not coming to theDouble 50 on June 1-3 so we expect to seeyou all here for what is bound to be aninteresting run.

noc n tea \ lilh Lhl.: Moores on the banks ofLake Whakamaru, and a very goodafternoon tea it was.

It was lady drivers, for the Betty andGeorge Foote Memorial Run in November.The men navigated and believe it or not, noone got lost. We had an afternoon tea andgymkhana at Kinloch, but when all thepoints were added up - the leaders won ­don't they always.

Wairarapa: Evelyn Chisholm

1996 started off with our first club nightattended by 55 members, the guestspeakers were from New Zealand MotorDistributors Wellington Ltd, the subject ofcourse being tyres. A very interestingnight. It is gratifying to see our clubfunctions being so well supported pmticu­larly as many members are still busy withlast minute preparations for Christchurch.

Those who attended the weekendCoastal Run at Ngawi had a great time.Successful fishing in the bay, golf andbeach walks with time taken to inspect the

Wellsford: J. Jorgensen

I must apologise for nllSslllg the lastissue with my report. The Far North Tourin November attracted twelve cars from theWellsford Branch in a total of around 70.As usual, a well organised weekend overall types of roads in varied condition. Wecovered 430 miles all told.

Several local outings have been wellsupported. A large crowd was present forthe Warkworth Christmas parade. About10 vintage cars paraded in sequence of age.The Christmas lights on a large NorfolkPine were turned on as a finale.

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News from the National Office

-

Rallies and Swap Meets

Please explain further!Lets take Canterbury branch as an

example, presently their subscriptions fallclue at the end of February. When these

From my involvement with the 50thAnniversary, I certainly got a real taste ofwhat the Vintage Car Club is all about andthoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a greatopportunity to meet members who camefrom all over New Zealand and abroad.

A Thankyo\l from Lord MontaguThe following letter was received from

Lord Montagu:Dear Frank,Having jusl gOI home, I feel I musl write

and congratlllate you on the superh rallywhich yOIl al1d your team provided .f{n· usall. It was wonder/i.tilo be driving on NewZealand roads oll.ce again and drinking inIhe superh scenery.

I consider it ({ great privilege 10 haveheen invited to allend your splendid reillyand will certainly do my best to he with youall in Ihe year 2000.

"The Early Years" VideoOrders for this video can be made

through the National office. The COSI is$25 plus postage - (NZ $5, Aust $10.50,America $12, Europe $14.50).

NORTH ISLAND CLUB CAPTAINBruce HUllon, long standing North

Island Club Captain has indicated to theManagement Committee that he will bestanding down at the end of this term.North Island Branches should give con­sideration to this vacancy on theManagement Committee.

Regards,Julie Cairns

FAX Toll-Free for catalog

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50th Anniversary Book - "50 Years"The Leather Limited Edition are now

sold out. An additional 500 have beenordered of the Anniversary Edition andorders are being snapped up fast. Pleaseget your order in so as nOl to bedisappointed.

May4May 4May 5May 5May 5May 11May 11-12

April 6April 6-7April 13April 14April 14April 14April 20April 20April 21-22April 25April 25Aplil27April 27-28April 27-28April 28April 28

members pay their subscriptions, they arefinancial from I March through to the endof February. the following year. TheNational Office is required to break downthe portion which relates to the yearI March-31 March and the balance runsinto the next financial year (ie: I April-28February). I am sure you are all starting tounderstand how complicated this canbecome when the branches are spread outovcr 10 months with members paying atdifferent times and there are 35 branches.

To prepare us for the change to oneannual billing, all members will beinvoiced as soon as possible with theportion that is payable to bring them up to31 March 1997. As an example, let's pickon Canterbury agaLn. The members of thisbranch have paid up until 28 February1997. Their invoice will be for the portionfrom I March 1997 till 31 March 1997.

The second vote was to have an increaseon the National Levies of $5. This will beaccounted for when the invoices are sentout.

The National Office and ManagementCommittee would like this change tohappen as fast as possible, and therefore itwould be appreciated if members couldassist by sending in their payments as soonas possible. A new membership card willbe issued which will be valid up until 31March 1997.

Please contact myself or your BranchSecretary should you have any furtherenquiries.

Swap MeetingSwap MeetingPV and PWV RallyPV and PWV RallyHomestead and Lady DriversSwap MeetDon Dugmore Memorial MIC

MIC Eddie Sim Memorial RallyMotorcyclc RallyArrowtown Autumn FestivalClub Captains RunPV and PWV Annual RallyCommercial RallyPV and PWV Annual RallySwap MeetingAutumn Motorcycle Rally2nd Jack Crump Field TestsShiny Parts AuctionSwap MeetingSpeed WeekendMaunga Moana RallyAnniversary RallyTBA Speed Weekend

AshburronHaweraSouth CanterburyManawatuNorth OtagoWellsfordNorthland

AucklandWaikatoCentral OtagoWairarapaAucklandNorthlandCanterburyGoreWanganuiNorth OtagoAucklandNorth ShoreWaitemataTaranakiNorth ShoreWaitemata

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALLMEMBERS

The Executive uttended a meeting onfifth March and two issues of importancewere voted on and passed.

The first was that the subscription'Cycle Billing' systcm presently beingused by every brnnch is to return to oneannual billing month.

So what does this mean?Presently each branch has been

allocnted a month in which their membersare due t'O pay their subscriptions.

The Vintage Car Club of NZ Incfinancial year runs from I April through tothe 31 March. The proper accountancy pro­cedure requirc the monies which relate tothe following year be proportionedcorrectly and carried forward appropriately.This has not only been a complicated andrime consuming job but can also not becompleted 100% accurately.

The Living Springs hill climbevent saw drizzly rain for theearly part of the morning. Eventhat did not dampen the allitude

of the enthusiasts who blazed their way upthe one kilometre sealed hill climb on theirquest for a creditable time.

Banks Peninsula branch members hadorganised the scrutineering, parking, timekeeping, flag marshals, and all the factorsneeded for a successful days motorsport.

The hill was climbed on foot by thedrivers to closely inspect the surface of theroad and the various twists and turns. Thespectators also had to climb the hill on theother side of the wire fence to find theirfavourite viewing position.

After dri ver' s briefing, practice wasunderway with each car off the linesearching to find the best gear for each partof the hill.

The competitors were divided into sixclasses, and as the times were written updrivers were quick to find someone similarbut faster than their last time with whom todo bailie on the next run.

Having completet! each run the cars wereparked at the top of the hill ant! travelledback t!own the hill in convoy to reat!y them­sel ves for another assault.

At the ent! of the day the times showedthe real enthusiasm of the drivers and theincident free event recorded the skill ofevery competitor who after five runs up thehill had any possible cobwebs well andtruly blown out of the exhaust pipe.

For hillclimb results please refer page 31

I. Russell Ega/l, 1946 MGTe.

2. Leoll Wille, 1930 Brook/alld.\' Ri/e\'.

3. Bob Turn/m//, 1907 S'izaire Nam/ill.

4. Ma/co/m MC1\!/i//IIII, 1953 Rails/el' RilL')'.

5, Cordoll Rout/edge, 1929 Au.itill 7 SpcI'iu/.

6. Eoill Youllg c/wts 10 Russe// Egall alld GmyPike.

7. Warner Mouger-1953 SliIlllolI Special'Cropdllsler',

S. Geoff OIVI'II, 11)2641/., Belll/I'y.

I), DOli White, 1909 Sizoire Naudill.

10, The Spiril Of Ecslasy a/I over Iheirfaces.

11. Peler A/den/ice, 1926 Morgw[ Aero,

12. Craig Pidgeoll, /956 Cooper 500.

Photography Euall Sargillsoll

'Founders' Bus-

Trip-

"I

& Dinn.er

Back. Ii!ft 10 ri ,11/: Andy Anderson, C/em McLachlan, Frank Renwick, George Gwenlock.Il1sel: Jim Donali!. Fronl: Rob Shand, John Reeves, David Milchell.

Selwyn Jackson was noticed to be missing somewhat shocked to see the recently mar-and. earchers sent to find him. His Bentley riee! Frisken's using a double sleeping bag.SI was found outside the Leeston Police (Ah, the innocence of youth I) Anotherstation out of fuel but full of supper. This youngster On this event was Gerald 'Jiggs'was quietly transferred to the other car Alexander who had a Rover ( with straightwhich took it back to the hotel and sOon to pipes. He incurred the wruth of Rob Sha~d,be well fed VV A members I in parricular, by backing his car up to an

Heading south to the Lakeside area a open doorway and waking those inside withbrief halt was made at Coes Ford. then as the blast of its exhau.'ts. Rob Shandnow a popular picnic spot and rally venue. recalled arrivin u late ro one event andAfter a bit of searching ancl discussion the putting his sleep~lg bag in the first availablesite of the first ouring (in I946?) was found, . pot. In the morning the reason for hisout by the sea at Taul11utu. Clem uncomfortable night proved to be coal heapMcLachlan related some incidents of rhis he had tried [0 sleep on'event which included some grass track Across the Waimak Gorge bridge, withraces. His car proved quicke~ after the its magnificent views. and on to Oxfordfront tyres had been replaced with solid which Andy Anderson recalled did not gettreads. Frank Blandford recalled being visited by the VV A or VVC, maybebawled out by Rob Shand over the loud hecau.'e it had an inordinately large numberhailer for being in the way. He and his of churches' Thought was given to visitingbrother owned the OM now in the Ashworths Bush near Waipara, the site ofpossession of Pet.er Shaskey. some early hill climbs but it would have

Lunch was served at the Leeston Hotel meant a late return to Christchurch. Inste.adand a group photo taken at the same spot as the bus headed down Tram Road where a50 years ago. After lunch the next stop was brief stop was made at the cairn marking theSheffield, the destination of several 'West area where Bob Burn and Russell WrightCanterbury Excursions'. First to the hotel set the world motorcycle speed record infor a much needed drink and fUl1her discus- 1955. On the way back to Christchurch asion as to which old house was used as short visit was made to Cutler Park, theaccommodation on those early trips. More Canterbury branch clubrooms, which somememory searching and discussion decided of the older members had not seen. Tomthat the house was about lOOm from the Clements related the history of its originspresent hotel and a photo in the bar showed and development.it to have been the previous hotel building Goodbyes were said on retllrn to thewhich by the 1950' s was near derelict. but Carlton Hotel.still a suitable abode for some keen youngvintage motorists. Some of the groupremembered that the room they slept in hadno outer wall. John Palmer and WarnerMauger recalled the 1951 excursion as theirfirst VCC event. This event began with anight trial including a run through EyrewellForest. John Palmer and his youngerbrother Richard were in their mother's newFord Prefect, in which they had the cheek topass Rex Frisken in his vintage Bentley. Hetook exception to this and rapidly repassedthe upstart" youngsters in their 'modern'.John Palmer, then abour 19, recalled being Revisiting Ihe studenl association rooms.

Compiled by Mark DawberAs part of the VCC 50th Anniversary

Rally, Rob Shand and Andrew Andersonar.ranged a bus trip for the founding andearly members to visit Some of their oldhaunts and reminise. Most of the foundermembers present at the rally were on board,as well as some of the "younger" memberswho joined a little later as teenagers whenthe founders were a little older ( i.e. in theirearly 20's). Your intrepid reporter wentalong for the ride to find out what some ofthem got up to in their younger dayslI

The bus left from the Carlton Hotel - afavourite early watering hole - and stoppedfirst at the house now known as "Not JustBears" at 137 Victoria St. In the early daysof the club this was the home of JohnReeves (he was in fact born there in j 926).A number of early meetings and socialfunctions were held there. Next stop wasthe Dux de Lux Restaurant. Previously theStudent Association building of theCanterbury University on the corner ofCashel and Montreal Streets. A walkthrough the building sparked commentsfrom those who hadn't heen there for manyyears as to how little it had changed.

A quick look next at the garage at theback of Parlane St. where the StantonBrothers huilt their race l:ars (the 'crop­duster' and the BSA Special) and then toMilton St where memories were revived ofthe 'one lung' Cadillac which resided at theold Rawlings soapworks. This car was lentto members for oCl:asional use, (includingpublicity for the first Wigram ral:e, and theCentennial parade in 1950). It is nOwowned by Warner Mauger. The house inKitson Terrace owned at one time by TonyBruges was the next stop. Some earlymeetings were held in the room attic abovethe garage. Tony was the enthusiastic driverof the Vauxhall 30/98 now owned by JackNewell. A wild ride across town. wasrecalled, when Tony first acquired it whichfinished amongst some shrubbery in agarden in Dyers Pass Road after the turninto Kitson Tce was missed.

Passing the Cracroft-Wi Ison homesteadin Cashmere, Rob Shand remembered thathis first vintage car, a Model T owned withAndy Ande~'son was garaged there.Learning to drive it he did his best to knockdown the hayharn, colouring his opinion ofModel T Fords' Adjacent to Cashmere isWorsleys Spur, the site of some early hillclimbs. In those days it was an almostimpassable 'goat track'. It is now a sealed,but still steep road, and was used as a hillclimb venue by the Banks Peninsula Branchin the late 1980's.

Passing Springston South hall the'incident of the Supper' came to the mindsof several on board. Apparently some of themembers were at a dance there, when dur­ing the evening before supper was served,there was a power failure and everbodywent home. The members adjourned ro theLeeston Hotel where they were staying.

Booli. Launch- -- - --

-

Friday the Ist March saw the entry intoChristchurch for all the entrants who hadbeen enjoying the 29 Monte Carlo stylerally routes around the South Island andone of the first official functions on theProgramme was the launching of the bookwritten to cover the first 50 years of ourClub.

There was not a spare seat available inthe large Lindores Concert Hall as theMaster of Ceremonies Peter Fry asked thePresident Frank Renwick to introduce thefounder members of our Club who throughtheir foresight and enthusiasm sowed theseeds for the cl ubs success.

Bruce Pidgeon as Chairman of the 50thAnniversary Book Committee thankedeach of the committee members for overtwo years of meetings and hard work, andintroduced them to the entrants. Unfortu­nately unable to attend were Gavin Bainand Leith Newell, the latter with husbandJack were at the time towing in anothcrcompetitor behind their Vauxhall from theRakaia Gorge to Christchurch. Bruce

introduced Mollie Anderson as Editor whogave the background to her role and thehopes that the efforts would be appreciatedby entrnnts and members of the club.

The Deputy Manager of Sun AllianceMr Alan Bradley spoke on behalf of themajor sponsors and the link with the cluband their company as insurers of ourvehicles.

President Frank presented leather boundcopies of the book to the Founders. LordMontagu, Alan Bradley, Life MembersElizabeth Nagle-Turnbull and Sir LeonardSouthward, Past Presidents, ancl the BookCommittee.

Bruce Pidgeon presented copies toFrank Renwick as current President, toJohn Coomber as National Secretary for theVintage Car Club, and C1ym Inns as RallyDirector. John Hasti10w proposed a toast tothe book and the future of the V.c.c.

Entrants were then able [0 mingle,conver. e with others and [0 make their wayto the distribution area to receive their owncopy of the 50th Anniversary Book.

Lord IHontagll ami NZ VCC President FmIlkRellwick at Ihe 50th Anniversary Book launch.

It is of interest to record that the initialprinting sold out during the rally, and that afurther print run is underway for whichorders are currently being accepted.

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official rally

Many people have already purchased photographs of theirvehicles. If you haven't yet purchased callus first to check

that we have a photograph of your vehicle. If you havepurchased and would like reprints, send us your name,

address, the number and type of photograph wanted (framedfor $10 or laminated for $15) and the number on the back ofthe original or the lower right corner of the laminations. Wewill send the photographs with an invoice for the prints plus

$2 postage & packaging.

LINTON PHOTOGRAPHY, PO Box 8367, ChristchurchPhone 0-3-374 6880, Fax 0-3-374 6850

Story by Mat'y Craythorne

Q: What do ostriches, lodies' nightiesond waterwheels have in comnlon ~

A: All were spotted during the VlntageCar Club's Fiftieth Anniversary RallyHomestead runs on Monday 4 March 1996.

Based on one of the most popular eventson the Canterbury Branch Calendar (as withmany other branches), homestea! runs gaveparticipants the chance to view historichomes around Canterbury, lem'n some historyand see more of the Canterbury countryside.Starting mainly from Christchurch schools,rally participants followed tifteen differentroutes organized by Canterbury Branchmembers under the overall control of Fay andAndrew McClintock.

From Macdonald Downs in the north.Homebush to the west, the Purau andThomas homesteads on Banks Peninsula,sixteen homesteads were visited in all witheach route viewing two to three of them. Atplaces, several of the fifteen routes crossed,no doubt causing interesting discussionsbetween some navigators and drivers.

The old vehicles provided severalschools with some excitemenl (not tomention time off). Some entrants gavechildren rides in their cars. A hit withManning Intermediate waS Angelique, theCharabanc owned and run by AucklandBranch. German entrant Dieter Ritter in his1912 Mercedes Benz had several willingschool boy helpers to push start his vehicle.Other schools that had been advised of theevent welcomed and cheered vehicles asthey passed them en route. As CanterburyBranch chairman Marilyn McKinlayremarked, for some children from countryschools travelling with their parents, the sizeof some Christchurch primary schools wasan eye-opening experience for them also.

Overheard by one participant was aremark by a young boy at Halswell School.

His teacher was impressing on the pupilsthat this was a special rally to commcmo­rate the Club's fiftieth anniversary, and thatparticpants had come from all over theworld to take part. The boy's eyes widened,and putting up his hand he asked "Even asfar as In vercargi 1l'J"

While some members from up Northmay believe the South to be a far away andremote place. Stipe Bnrich and crew fromAuckland were heard praising the bcauty ofthe Mainland. Also impressed were visitorsfrom British Colombia in Canada, whowhi le unable to bring the 1941 Dodge and195 I Pontiae aems, the Pacific enjoyedtravelling with the vintage vehicles to seethe historic homes.

ome participants w reable to see additional points ot' inter-est. One of these wa, a guided tour ofan ostrich frum, including viewing newlyhatched chicks. An impression was made onAnn (an anonymous Canterbury member)of the new' that attempts by the ostriches tomake 'uch chicks were routine at five timesa day. At Orlon Bradley Park, visitors couldview a waterwhcel which operated a nearbysaw mill. whlle routes 14 and 15 visited theRangiora museum.

Lunches at many arcas w r provided bycommunity g-roups who w leamed theopportll1lity to become involved. Countryand community m:wspapers had advisedreaders of the impending rum" and branch

sofficers wcre inundated with ques­

tions on venues and times by countryc1w Uer. keen to see the vehicles pass by.

With mol' than a hundred marshals fromal l rbury branch at work throughout Ihe

day. lhe scale 01" this evenl is clear.En"lish visitors commcnted on the

number 01" weatherboard homes that arc nota cOl11mon sighl in their Cllunlry. SOllle 01"these huge woodcn buildings drew muchcomment rcgarding th complexity andscop 01" thir painting requirements.

The Gregorys of Oanlaru mot()rin~ a1(14 Hianchi looked the part dressed inperiocl costume. Other clothing 01" 110te wasthe assorted llnclcrwear pt·cssccl into serviceas wipers 01" various suns spottecl by the

Mackenzie crew from Queenstown duringthe rallies. This iocluded a lady's nightgown.singlet. . underpants and pyjamas. -

Mishaps were I"ew and scveral COI11­mented on how sl1100thly the runs went. Oneback up crew however were unsellled as asolitary car with no oWl1ers in si~ht

remained silling after all others had left thestarling point. As it happened. the occupantshad bad a last minute dash to town to lind areplacement part.

Overall, the most common remark wasthat the homestead runs provided a great dav01" vintage motoring, am] a chanl'e to view :1piece of Canterbury\ heritage nol alwaysopen to the public.

I. Homebllsh homeslead. Coalgale.Pholo 1,'lIan S"rgillsoll.

2. Olllside Ihe old slable.I·, 11011' aIIl11selllll, al HOIlIeIJIIsh. PhOloEllall Sargillsoll.

3. MocDOIJlI!d DU\\'/I.\'. Pholo BrucePiclgev/l.

4. 1CJ25 L<llIclle.l'/er 40hl) cl/ hOll/eall/ollg,l'l IlIe Rrallclellr, I'hvlo,'vhra Rr{)\!'/I,

5, Hill U/(/lI/hC'l'lai/l olltside hi.\'hVII/e. l\!feculowbollk. Phvlo l\!for\'Crm'lllOrne. .

6, Vill/(/ges VI/ view 01 MeculowlJCIllkPholcJ MC/ri' Cravllwl'//(',

2

I

rAlong TI'le Way

-

Expre:sions of pleasure and enjoymentby the crews of the 200 car and motorcycleentries who travelled this route outweighedthe few who, mainly due to mechanicalproblems, dislike the dust everywhere, thewashboard road and length of time on the"ball bearings".

It was a unique experience that is a NewZealand special mutoring challenge. IanDuugherty on his 1956 Ariel Sports arrivedearly al the cxit point, 1.10pm completelywrapped in dust and exhilarated by theexperience. "Fantastic" he said. Mind you.he hasn't ridden Molesworth and theRainbow since the National MotorcycleRally in Nelson, last March 1995.

Rae and Lyn Fairweather in their newlyrestored Hutchkiss painted white did notappear dusty but the crew" A cockpit fullof dust, you could barely read theinstruments with their thick coating of grey.Lyn had the right arab style head gear tocombat the dust-sand storms. LauriePool man in his MG was also among thiselite group. Aero screens were not verysatisfactory. Alisun Moore and RussellKear in their Austin Sevens (Ulster andcopy) were nut spared. Ronnie and HazelBarr from Northern Ireland in TR3 came toa halt enroutc when the accelerator linkagevibrated apart. Repairing pieces were found

En ruute to Blenheim to start therally we were travelling southfrom Turangi up the PuketarataHill with a passing lane 011 the

right and clear visibility for two or threemiles behind us. At about eleven am amotor bike drove straight into the back ofthe Sunbeam causing very extensive dam­age to the degree that the car wiJl need to betotally rebuilt.

The biker was seriously injured and airlifted to Rotorua Hospital.

From eye witness reports there werethree bikes, travelling as part of a group uften, abreast travelling up the hill. Two werein the passing lane and the third in theinside lane which just drove straight intothe back of the car.

We had our car transported to Turangiand as we decided to continue the rally Icaught the bus tu Auckland, collected our1951 light 15 Citroen and we made it toBlenheim in time to start on Monday morn­ing.

We have really enjoyed the sectionwhieh has gut us to Christchurch and arelooking forward to the events of the nextweek.

Yours etcKeith and Barbara WinstoneRally No 551

Moleswurth Meander

Above Leji: COllld a bOIl/le! really.fly oflw1I1oticed of/ly to be reltlrned to the distrallghtdriver by the police 200 killS later.

Leji: Irish travellers Ronnie and Hazel Barr inIhe Triumph TR3, taken al the exit of!v!olesworth.

... With the odd mishap ...

Class One - Light Veteran and Vintage Class FOllr - Post WarNo. Driver Vehicle Time No. Driver Vehicle TimeI Bob Turnbull 1907 Sizaire-Naudin NZ 107.15 33 Russel Egan 1946 MG TC NZ 62.23106 Don White 1909 Sizaire-Naudin NZ 155.00 34 Ralph Watson 1949 BSA Special NZ 49.854 Garry Turner 1924 Riley Redwing NZ 57.81 35 Gary Pike 1951 MG TO NZ 57.005 Peter Alderdice 1926 Morgan Aero NZ 60.03 36 Michael Johnson 1953 Fraser Nash UK 42.516 Gordon Routledge 1929 Austin Seven Spl NZ 44.03 38 Roger Munns 1954 Buick 90S NZ 42.05

39 Peter Kissell 1955 Triumph TR2 NZ 50.93Class Two - Heavy Veteran and Vintage 40 A1ex McLennan 1958 Austin Healy NZ 44.93No. Driver Vehicle Time 41 Brian Metcalfe 1959 Triumph TR3A UK 41.9012 .Julian Ghosh 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 UK 46.3913 Leslie Murray 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 UK 49.03 Motorcycles14 Peter Garland 1926 Vauxhall 30-98 UK 57.52 No. Driver Vehicle Time16 Allan Winn 1928 Bentley 3 Litre UK 55.28 45 Ian Dougherty 1956 Ariel VHA NZ 45.7518 Oliver Midgley 1930 Ford Special NZ 55.95 47 Dennis Skilton 1958 BSA Road Rocket UK 44.1119 David Lane 1930 Studebaker 8 NZ 69.68

Demonstration ClassClass Three - Post Vintage No. Driver Vehicle TimeNo. Driver Vehicle Time 49 .Jack Newell J924 Vauxhall 30-98 NZ 52.7622 Lawrence Pool man 1932 MG C Type NZ 48.85 SO Bruce Pidgeon 1924 Bugatti Type 13 NZ 60.0323 David Banks 1932 Vauxhall Cadet NZ 63.97 5 I .Jack Knight 1925 OM Superba UK 80.1630 Ray Rowe 1938 Lincoln Zephyr NZ 53.66 52 Geoff Owen 1926 Bentley 3-4.5 NZ 47.17

102 Leon Witte 1930 Riley Brook.lands NZ 55.55103 Malcolm McMiJlan 1953 Ransley Riley NZ 44.73104 Warner Mauger 1953 Stanton Special NZ 4062105 Craig Pidgeon 1956 Cooper 500 NZ 39.65

\~

\

.' .-.:". ,''..

.. .And ingenuity revealed ...

From pages 24/25 Hillclimb Results

in the kit. Ralph and Betty Blyde in their1912 Ford T Roadster came through cleanand unfazed, as did Peter Croft in his 12-50Ducks back Alvis. Not so Bob Beardsley,as he and Ellis Shiers appeared to be wear­ing everyone else's dust.

The most Shattering mishap of the daymust have been Herb and Julie Fox's 1911T Roadster collapsing a front wheel 6 milesfrom the Molesworth Homestead. Brokenspokes and wooden Felloe, the lot. Kiwiingenuity prevailed and hours of fettlinghad a replacement made from an old gigwheel and a steel FelJoe of nearly the rightdiameter that happened to be lying around.

The FM's arrived in Hanmer at 9.30pmunfazed, even after a puncture on the climbup to .Jacks Pass in the dark. Tuesday thediffy was out looking for Gremlins, butthat's another story.

Brakes were tested to the full. DonHunter in the Wolseley Wasp shed a frontguard and came down the hill on the hand­brake only.

The big 1924 Studebaker Special Six ofChris Slater stopped at the intersection withsmoke wafting gently out of its "rearwheels only" brakes. Brian Black burnt theLinings on the bands of his 1916 TRaceabout. .I ulian Ghosh of England hadthoroughly enjoyed the trip and was smilingwith satisfaction, after the back blocks blatin his 1926 Vauxhall 30-98.

The length and steepness dropping downfrom .Jack's Pass to Hemmer surprised manydrivers.

Bob Scott

Above right: lulie l/nd Hab Fox - "I think lilymobile phone is purr/i,(:t." IYI I lVlodel T Ford.Claude the cat (nestled in the drivers seat)Cl/me along .till' the ride.

Right: The rebuilt wheel 14' Herb l/nd lulie Fox.

Far RiRht: Kiwi ingenuity.

I. Real'illg I ..hal \l'e have SO\\lIl. Nally("ars lilled like a jillnmed/il'ld alMalldeville DOlllOill, 1)110/0 C'ollnesyof Sk\'I("Urks !'hawgraphy.

2. Fmm ji-unr: Willys. 194<) Ford V8.1<)57 Va 11.>:110 11. 1912 ('adillac.

3. Tilling-S!t:vens funllable FireEllgille. Wamer Mal/ger.

4. Briall Black, 1906 Vllie.

5, 1910 NalilJ/lOllndiwlOl'ulis 500race car.

6, Dale 0111011. 1904 Darra q.

7. Malldel'ille - 50's lip Brass Balld,

8, ./ohll SOIlI!J\\Iard. 1936 Sqllire.

9, Roger Hill. 1912 Rellallll.

/0. ./01111 Wilkill, 1913 AII.l'lill.

11. GraelJll' Cooke. 1959 A(ra ROl/1eoGil/liella.

Ph%graph" Ellul1 Sargil1solJ all(/Hmce Pidgeul1.

Prize

I. Brilll/ Black receives his (/w(/rd/i"Ol1/ Clyntluns lInd lim DOl/aId.

2. Christcllllrch Mayor Vicky BI/ck presentslolw Pallller with his DVE.

3. AI/drew Auderson and Frank Remvick CII/ theiced cake.

4. The Rallv COlllmillee lire thaI/ked h)' RallvDirector· CI)'I/t Inns. ..

5. Notiol/al President Frank Remvick accepts {/silvertmy/rol1l Gmellll! Cmig 01/ bellaltolSun Allial/ce.

6. Amlrell' Auderson delivers a thoughtprovoking speech to the el/trallts.

'i

I

Driving Tests

lan Johnston. ChristchurchFord A Pickup

Gcorr Wan·en. Leeslon195 I Fordson

1906 Unic London Taxi1929 Dodge Senior1934 Rover1952 Jowell Jupiter1920 Indian1920 Model T Delivery Van

I il

Culin Roberts. DunedinAustin 12/4

Paul Bennetl. Christchurch1953 Singer

Wilfred Miller. Alcxandra1953 Alvis

Rhvs Junes. ChristchurchAustin Big7

GreS" McKcnzic. Dunedin

193 Buick

Trevor Birchal!. Aockland1nl; Packard

Broce Robson. West Mehon1925 Vauxhall 14/40

John McLachlan. Lceston1913 Cadillac

Culin Pcarcc. Clinlon191 I Sunbeam

John McLachlan. Leeston1907 Cadillac

Gcor2e GrilTith. Nelson!921-Harlcy D"viclslln

Murray Hamilton. Duncdin1949 Scoll

Tim Palmer. Christchurch1914 Triumph

Brian BlackJohn CallesonRichard ToplissMartin HowmanWilliam VeitchBryan McConachie

CuncoursVeteranVintagePost 'VinlagePost WarMotorcyclesCommercials

Tillle: Tri,,1Veteran MotorcyclesClass I Peler Barnell. Chrislchurch

1911 ZcnithVintage: MotorcyclesClass '2 Lois Binnie. Australia

1lJ27 TriulllphPV and PWV Moton:yc!esClass.l Leo Fowkr. Auckland

1942 IndianVeteran C"rs I 2 3 and 4 cyl up to IOOOccClass 4 John Palmer. Chrislchurch

1911 RenaultVcteran Cars 4 cyls or mort' IOOO-3500ccClass 5 Rex Camemn. Christchurch

1913 StudcbakcrVerer,lIl C"rs .,500cc or moreClass 6 Ro~er Smith. Ashbunon

1%9EMFVintage Cars up to 2000ccCI"s,;"'7 Richard Unkles. Australia

50lS FiatVintage Cars 200 I to 3S00ccClass1l Bruce Robson. West Mehon

1925 Vauxhall 14/40Vintage Cars over 3500ccClass 9 SIeve Trotl. t'W Plymouth

1930 ChryslcrPost Vintage Cars to 2000ccClass 10 Rhys Jones. Christchurch

Austin Bin 7Pust Vintage Cars to over 5OO0ccClass I1 Rex Gadsby, Rotorua

1939 ChevrolelPust "Var Cars up to 2000ccClass 12 Paul Benncll. Chrislchurch

1953 SingerPost War Cars over 2000ccClass 13 Greg McDowel!. South land

1952/\lvisVeteran COlluncreialClass 14 NilVintage: ConunercialClass 15 Ray Blade. Chrislchurch

Ford A PickupPV and PWV CommercialClass 16 Peler Blom. Auck.land

1955 Ford Thames

Above: A standing ovation jfJr CI)'nt andLorraine 111.11..1'.

entrants, supporters, book committee,helpers, marshals. sponsors, variousorganisations who assisted, branches fortheir work. ream leaders, backups and to allothers who assisted.

Everybody played a part to make it all abit of fun.

Trust you all had a safe journey home.Clynt Inns. (on behalf of Rally

Organisation)

Above: Graeme Craig, MarJ.:etin/i Mano/ier-SunAlliance, and Frank Renwick draw the winner ofthe Sun Alliance mv,\·tery weekend rqfj7e.Winners: David and Meg Ryan. Tauranga.

Automobile Draw Winners:

/sI Prize $350 BASIS voncher!VII' SA England, Nelson.

2nd ond 3rd Prize. One year subscription to 'theAutomobile'

Brian Kirby, Chch, John Wallis, Chch.

A big Thanks to all for a successfulEvent. Thc big one is over with just themopping up to do. CommemorativeMedallions not collected will be sent to you.

If you did not collect your book pleaselet me know so I can post it to you. Thesame applies if you helped out in any wayincluding marshalling for a reasonablelength of time, I will post you a smallmomento. All these requests should beaddressed to P 0 Box 13502 Christchurch.

A list of prize winners is elsewhere inthis issue. We congratulate them. We thankUniversal Metal Polishers for the trophiespresented to the Veteran and VintageConcours winners. A kind offer of a hardluck prize was made by Life Member SirLeonard Southward. Unfornll1ately because

of the many hard luck stories we were notable to accept and place this. Sir Len

also expressed his good wishes toall entrants and to the success of

the event. Thanks go from theRally Committee to all

u e o et

JellScm 54!R

!.O("()1!l(Jhi/r

IY07 Rofls Ro'CI.'

DJ"" ..".-"nl... 1.1 •••. .-." v:.J ..J.,. •.•

19!IJ ,141('-}1('/1

3 Liu'C IJenrl('\'

Fi aI Din er

\~I

On Friday March 8 a laJgc limber ofntrants ,md friendq gathered in the m i 1

~ladiul1l at dding10n Raceway for theclosing ceremony and reenlalion oftrophies. Christchu.rch Mayor Vicky Buckthanked the organis rs for a vi'onder fulr,llly and she was very keen wc organise apublic procession of cars each year alongthe lines of the one which proceeded fromHagley Park the previous Saturday. Sheconferred lhe VE (Order of the VintageEnthusiast) on John Palmer in recognitionof the privilege of allowing her to drive hisveteran 2 cylinder Renault at lhe head ofthe parade.

Following the closing e r mon 'complimentary h r wine and f uit juicwas enjoyed by s veral lhousand people\/hile portions of t 50th Anni ersarybirthday cake were distributed. High spiritswere evident aIm ngsl the crowd in antici­pation of the final dinner. It was a beautifulwarm evening and tile first dinner sittingtimed for 5pm IVas late st,u·Ling tended tocoincide \ iith the 6prn sessiun. This slowedthe progress dinner but all stood gooclhumoured in the ljueues. Th pres,ure ontile caterers was starting to tell b th time

MOTORCRA LV

WELLINGTON 1997

24 to 26 J nu ry 1997, he date and ven ue for the I -lh

National Rally have now been decided. TheI SI weekend in January I YlJ7 is the dateand the rally is to be held in asterton.based at lhe olway Park Motor Lodgecomplex at the south of the town.

The organising committee looked atseveral venue, fmm Foxton in the north.south to Wellington ami DV r theRimutakas to find a~,ite that would providethe best and safest rally routes, a goodoperational base incorporating social andaccommodation facilities.

After much consideration and debate aunanimous decision to hold the rally at thi.venue was made. The committee is

the fi aI :sitting got uncle W<l'. ~ i h somecl lay While large roasL were etumedbri Il, to oven:. The fnod W<l. excel! nt\ ith a wide variety and er it must g toTwigg rs for their fin effort. Followingthe main Ulur,e, din'rs had th' opportuni­ty to ,trelchlheir legs and view many of lhevehicles a, they walked to the secondvenue for a wonderful dese t of fruit salad.pa vlova and cream. Many mar elled at thesquare metrc sized melt-in-the-moulhpavlovas which kept appearing on thetabl s e ery few minutes.

Following coffee and tea, band: played111 each of the venues with a function fortraclitional dancers in the kiosk. A highlightof the evening for many was th longawaitcu arri val of the 1925 odel T FordPolice Van re ·toreu and driven by BarryThomson. his 'chide wa missed by theroute 26 entraT1ts and linE rt nately due tounforeseen delays wa, not available at thepublic display or Mancleville. Throughoutthe evening the gathered throng eredelighld by tile sirens and bells of this oldbeauty and its ultimate appearance seemedto epitomise" do or die, better lalc: thannever spirit" of our wonderful mo el1lenl.

.:onfident of beinh allle t run a lirst clasevent covering some of the hest rally rour'savailable in New Z alam!.

Pr Iiminary ProgrammeFriday U Jaltuary.

Registration at rally headquarlers.Noggin and a(ler in th\· ning

Sahlrday 2 Ja/luary.Briefing and rally.Local tour for supporters who ar not

involved in riding.Social Gathering.

SU/lday 26 JaT/l/ary.Gymkhana ike show.Rally dinner and prizegiving.

MOllday 27 Janual'y.After rally tour departs.

Accommodation200 beds will be available (l tbe rally

site. Close by are numernu, moteL and alarge camping ground facility. Delail. ofphone numbers and cc sts will be providedas these hecome a ailable.

fter raJly tourThis will depart on ol1day 27 January

011 visiti g the venll next momll1", Iwas an aze I to finJ no InlC of tI e wcek·sevents as racecourse smfT prepou·ed for theevening meeting. As I gal cl around with nfeeling of nostalgia. I wou! J see the tell­tale signs of oil marks throughout thegrounds. hey wiIJ fad • but not so thememories.

John Conmher

an I be ill the fnml 01 (I loop, starting atMasterlOn truvelling north through the backCl un!ry as far <Ls Tallfamanui , then return­ing III Wellin.gton via th> Wairarapa on

[iday 31 Januur·y This will mean theSouth Island entrant.· can depart the tourauJ board the ferry ..

Pi 'ton lorageWe arc planning 10 arrang . torage of

ehid .. and tf'iJers i, Picton to helpreduce costs for South Island entrants. Anindicati e COlit of $8.00 per day for a carand t '. il r can be expected, TrallsporL. iCrequired can be arranged from theW Ilington Port lo the RaIl sit~.

All of the, hove details will be expand­eel Lip 11 i future issues of Beaded Wheelsbut you 'an hegin your planning now thatthe dares and venue have been announced.

Further information can be provided bye ntacting:

The Rally Secretary,PO Box 43 J09

ainuiomata.Look forwardt ) sing you all in 1997 1

P. S. At the time of writing the commit­tee have received the first ~ntry for therall , and it has come all the way from theUSA In additjoL1 two enquiries have alsobeen eei\'cd from Australia.

Why Did They Fail?Story by Douglas Wood

'the A/I.~lin 7 chassis displayed (1/ /he /929 Olympic M%r Show.

three inche,s longer in the wheelbase and 10inches overall, though it had a fabric body(then a questionable asset) whereas theSeven was alloy - both bodies were onwooden frames.

But how wrong we were, as Austin salescontinued with the major portion of themarket and their organisation was alwaysto the fore with publicity to prove theSeven's worth. There were non-stop engineruns at record speeds between Wellingtonand Auck.land, a winter trip to the far North(normally unthinkable), fuel economystunts, driving to the top of RangitotoIsland, record setting at Mungere race trackin an Ulster, track racing in an ex-factorysingle seater and so on. There was athriving Austin Seven Owners Club whichheld monthly rallies and outings, and Fleetsales earned a special bonus. Publicit)' waslavish for visiting Austin Seven Round-the­World motorists.

On the road from memory there was nota great deal of difference in performancebetween the tWo cars, the extra engine

The /929 Morris Minor OHC chassis.

The Minor was streets ahead of the Sevenin equipment. It had bumpers front andrear, a good instrument panel with a properoil pressure gauge, and a dash lamp. Theradiator having a good thermometer withan ornamental pair of wings to boot. Thelighting system included separate sidelamps and there was a proper Klaxon stylehorn. In detail the Minor was ahead - thepetrol tank was 40% bigger and incorp­Ol'ated a reserve tap, the tool kit wassuperior, the steering column was plated,there was a tailpipe to the exhaust, and thehandbook was a masterpiece.

All this for the same price of the AustinSeven saloon - one hundred and thil1y fivepounds in the U.K. The Minor was quite animpressive little car at its launching, thebody lines being much better than theSeven with its short bonnet and lowradiator. I was working at the Ford dealer­ship at the time and the talk was that Austindominance was threatened and that Fordwould have to follow suit. The Minor cer­tainly looked to be much better value being

The pages of automobile history andvehicle design contain scores of examplesof cars which had every promise of be­coming commercially successful but whicheventually failed to measure up to theirdesigners' intentions. Particularly is this soin the so-called vintage years, in that periodwhen rhe eccentricities of the veteran erilhad been discarded, and when designs wereaimed at mass markets. Lost causes someof them may have been, born of small andpossibly under-funded makers, but these"no hopers" were not confined to onecountry or one continent; North Americamust have spawned the best part of ahundred.

What causes apparently sound designsto fail in an uncrowded market when theyare the product of a well established firmwith a good sales organisation? Where didthey go wrong? As an example take thecase of the J929 O.H.C. Morris Minorwhich, until it emerged as the worthyMorris Eight, was never a class leader.

Announced in October J928 for theOlympia Show, the Minor was in com­petition mainly with the Austin Seven andthe Triumph Super 7, though the latter,sturdily built car that it was, never mademuch of a dent in the Austin sales chart.Comparisons are odious (and sometimesodorous we are told) but nevertheless theMinor chassis was way ahead of the Sevensand at its announcement it looked to be awinner. In 1923 Herbert Austin set out toreplace the motorcycle and side car astransport for Mr Average Man. and withthe Seven he succeeded, despite the uncon­ventionality of its chassis. The basic layoutcontinued until 1938 and with many peopleit is still popular.

But the Minor was built as a half sizeregular car; it had parallel chassis rails,dropped between the axles, with four halfelliptic road springs, whereas the Sevenhad an A frame suspended on an assort­ment of springs, resulting in some oddgeometry with the rise and fall of the rearaxle (also unconventional in design), sothat the pot joint on the divided drive shafthad to cope with movement in three dimen­sions. Both cars had cable brakes, but theMinor's were superior in layout and effect.The hand brake lever was flimsy by com­parison with the Minor's and theTriumph's, both of which had independenttransmission parking brakes. The Minorhad Armstrong single acting shockabsorbers: those on rhe Seven were largelyornamental - most owners were unaware oftheir existence. The Minor's 898ec O.H.C.engine with S.U. carburettor should havebeen its strong point, but we know that oilleak and noise problems led to its fairlyearly replacement with a side valve unit.

capacity of the Minor being absorbed by itsgreater weight which gave the car animpression of great stability. The Minorhad better braking, especially in the wet.the Seven being most unpredictable in thewet under sudden braking. The Minor wasnoisier mechanically, but the Seven'sengine starting mechanism situated as itwas in the driving compartment waspositively archaic. The Minor conveyed afeeling of superiority over the Seven whenseated behind the wheel, the view over thebonnet being impressive, and the Minor'sgear lever was right at hand whereas youreached forward to engage gears on theSeven. And the engineering design of theMinor's hand brake lever was streets ahead.

But the Austin was more fun to drive.especially when one became accustomed toits peculiarities. Both cars were better inthis respect than the Triumph, which washeavier, slower, and higher revving (butwhat lovely brakes l ). With the eventualadvent of the Morris Eight all this changed.and Morris fairly leapt into the lead untilwar put a stop to all rivalry. But Austinshave had the last word, as we know from

the number and demand for vintage Sevensin both hemispheres. Some models com­mand premium prices. and the chassis havebecome the basis of many extremely rapidSpecials, though some are more specialthan others. For this the builders haveexcellent precepts, both Murray Jamiesonand Issigonis, to name but two, racedAustin Seven Specials which bore littleresemblance to the prototype. and MorrisMotors were no better with the R Type MG.

I suppose the demise of the promisinga.H.c. Morris Minor all boils down tocustomer preference, for which there isoften little accounting. Forty years ago,when the Vintage movement was justbecoming atiractive, there was little if anyinterest in Sevens, when they were readilyavailable for a song. All this has changed.But few people want a Minor. even if they<U'e about'. [n a recent issue of a popularperiodical devoted to Vintage cars therewere twenty one Sevens advertised for saleand four Minors. only one of which wasa.H.c.

Where does the answer lie?

The Rise and rall or lh Climber 1919­1924

[ picked this item at random as an exam­ple of a typical American '"also ran".

In late 1919 three Arkansaurian entre­preneurs decided to follow a market trendto produce and sell motor cars. They hadaccess to some finance, acquired land andbuilt a plant at Little Rock and proceeded toassemble a range of four and six cylindercars under the brand name of Cl imber. Theyused Herschell-Spillman engines and all theusual proprietory lines. By the spring of1920 they had ten dealers, mostly inArkansas selling attractive and perfectlyconventional cars at competitive prices. By1923 they were broke. What went wrong?Firstly there was internal dissention - twodirectors pulled out. Secondly, partsordered were slow to arrive (a world wideproblem of the times). Thirdly, to overcomethesc shortages they foolishly tried to makesome or lhe essentials themselves, forwhich operations they were not equipped.Fourthly. and most importantly, they werefinanciaJly underfunded. In the end theshareholders were extremely lucky to get88.4% of their claims.

UNIVERSAL METAL POLISUEKS

t~l~L;';'~/;'~ •* Aaron Lodge Holiday Park

• MOTELS offers a selection of• TOURIST FLATS accommodation at• CABINS reasonable tariff. Your

resident proprietors• VAN PARK Margaret & Lindsay McLeod• TENT SITES invite you to a relaxing stay.

162 KAIKORAI VALLEY ROADDUNEDIN

PHONE/FAX (03) 476-4725* V.C.C. Members

PETER WOODEND (SPARES)P.O. Box 157, Takanini, Auckland

TellFax: (09) 298-3393

RUBBER FORRUBillS

including: screenand boot seals,glass tracking,

piping, runningboard covers, mats, pads, grommets,

bufTers, plugs, etc.

a wide range or spares and accessories rl'ommy Mail Order Catalogues for Austin 7hp,

Big 7, 8hp and 10/4 pre-'47

~1923-39

~ REPLACEMENTPARTS

Aaron lodgeMOTEL AND HOliDAY PARK. DUNEDIN.

--:

CALL 64BUCHAN STREET

Phone: DENNIS GOOCH. (03) 366-4092, 21 MALDON ST.SYDENHAM, CHRISTCHURCH

,,"COLLECTOR OF ANTIQUE SPARK PLUGS: VCC MEMBER.

I

.~....

I ~& ':i-~... ALL TYPES OF POLISHING WORK UNDERTAKEN.'/' / SPECIALISTS IN POLISHING OF VINTAGE AND

, CLASSIC CAR PARTS, AND ANTIQUE BRASSWARE.

• PLASTIC RADIATORS

• AIR CONDENSERS

• PETROL TANKS

• CLEAN CUTS

• OIL TANKS

• HEATERS

CHRISTCHURCHRADIATORSASK FOR Nick, Tim, Chris or Winston

PHONE 366-0181

LYE

xcitement reigned as Model Ts,from far and wide, began con­verging on Drivers MotorLodge, Drury, on that hot

Friday afternoon and evening whcn entrantswere given their Rally packs (full of trea­sures, thanks to our many sponsors), and avery short welcoming speech by JohnReeve the Rally Chairman.

Next morning, when the heat had turnedto drizzly steam, all the T's were assembledon the forecourt of the (generous) DruryMOBIL Service Station and people congre­gated around to marvel at the wonderfulvariety of Model T's and great numberplates. Mm"shalls hurried hither and yon try­ing to get cars in line for a respectable photoand orderly departure but I feel they gave upand were happy to see all the T's headingoff to Pukekohe Ford' For this visit weparked in the forecourt amongst the verylatest' Just to show how well the Fords have(lasted) progressed over the years! We wereserved a cup of coffee and given a speechon "Advantages of Modern Cars", (theprices were frightening I) before we woundup the cranks and headed, in lovely sun­shine, over the lush Pukekohe Hills toGlenbrook for a box lunch and a sponsoredGlenbrook steam tmin ride put on speciallyfor us' We had great pleasur in sharing this"treat" with youngsters from the localHealth Camp and foster homes and evensome elderly folk from Pukekohe. It washere that we had the best photo opportuni­ties. Steam and T's go real well together'Fun was had by all, even to the rail shedvisit and a cooling drink or chac bomb!

After such a busy hot day it was great torelax in a private garden, ill the shelter ofmany trees, surrounded by all our lovelyT's. The AGM was very soon over then thedelicious barbecue was laid on and folk sat

continued on page 50

and

Fords "Ancien I

and Modern" (11

Pukekohe Ford.

Rally slarl al MOBfL garaKe\l'ilh Scar/ell McKen:cie

- "Palience ill Ihe driz.:cle!"

ebruary 2-5~ 1996

Rod McKen7.ie (ClubPres.) and "Sullercup"al Glenbrook Rail.

Story }y Vel"Ua Bush

Photographs hy Jenny Coop& Verna Bush

r;?l;LES FROM THE 3RD NATIONAL

MOD R

1

\\I

EARLY TQ MIDGET. All metal bodymade out of a Chev bonnet. 1952 FordPrefect, all there. Ideal first restoration, Ifinterested write to 115 Cameron Rd, TePuke or Phone (07) 573-5427. Mem.

PISTONS PISTONS PISTONSPISTONS

FOR VETERAN, VJNTAGE, CLASSIC &ODDBALL ENGINES.

We can supply piston sets for most makes& models. All piston sets come completewith rings & gudgeons. We have over 700

listings at competitive prices.MS Coombes Lld

344 St Asaph St, ChristchurchPh (03)366.7463, fax (03)366.7642

ROVER P5 19603 Ltr in restorable conditionplus two engines, wheels, door panels, instru­ments, gearbox. value approx $1200 wouldswap for motorcycle English preferred cashadjustment. Phone (06) 357-4796.

1966 DAIMLER 250 VS Original car, fourowners. Automatic with leather upholsteryand walnut dash. Stainless steel exhaust sys­tem. All rust removed.. Paintwork touchedup, 120,000 miles. $14,000. Call for furtherdetails Invercargill (03) 217-8416. Mem.

MORRIS 8 PARTS. Bonnet, radiator, grille,spoked wheels, bumpers. Also Ford V8 hub­cap. All stored in Napier, offers wanted.Phone Steve Simkin (06) 843-4397 work, (06)844-6396 home, (025) 849-100 mobile.

DODGE DD 1930 Complete car but needsrestoration. Spare motor and other mechanicalparts. Spare axles fir and some spare bodypans. Open to offers. Phone (03) 545-0072.

1938 NASH 6 SEDANS One car practicallyintact and one dismantled plus owners hand­book, spare motors and other mechanicalparts. A good restoration project. $1,600 ono.Phone Brian Auld (03) 216-7782. Mem.

STEERING BOX (parentage unkown) has asummer/winter charge rate switch attachedbeneath the horn button in the centre of thesteering wheel. Slot 4 or early Rover differen­tial. Phone Ted Condon (04) 568-5794.

3 Issues(per issue)

$270.00$140.00$90.00$50.00

Casual

$330.00$180.00$110.00$60.00

PLACE

VINTAGE TRUNKS as seen in Issue 201,page 17. Leather trim, waterproof, stock sizeor made to your measurements. Phone Allanon (06)843.8088 to discuss your require­ments. Allan Jones Joinery, Napier.Member.

DODGE BROTHERS kick plates $65 each.Dodge hood bows and clamps $750, wirewheels 8-24" ash $300 each. 12-22" ash $250,hubs $200 each. Buick 19" 6 std $300 each.Chrysler 5 stud wire 16" $300 each. Wanted:Buick 16" 5 stud 5/16 thick spoke and Buick1934-35 series 50 mechanicals, Phone (07)571-8283. Mem.

OLDSMOBILE SEDAN 1938. New chrome,paint, tyres, woodgraining, plus imported rub­ber parts. Needs glass and upholstery to finish.$9,000 ono. Phone (06) 368-5198.

M

Full PageHalf PageHorizontal Quarter PageI Column x 80mmPrice on application for covers and four colour processAll display rates quoted exclude G.S.T. and are for finished camera ready artworksupplied. Artwork can be arranged at an extra charge.Deadline for copy 10th of month preceding publication.Beaded Wheels will consider articles of a technical nature for inclusion in its editorialspace. Beaded Wheels however regrets that it is not able to olTer editorial space foradvertisements nor for the promotion of products.DcaJcd Wheels llll.lkc:-> every d'forl 10 ensure 110 mislc'lding daims ilTC m.lllt.' hy advcrliscrs. responsibility GlnnOl Ix al:L-cpICd by UC<JdcdWhl.i:ls or Ihe Vintage Car Clun of New Zealand lor Ihe fitilurc of any prudUl':1 or service 10 give Sillisf'II:liol1. Indul'ion of;a producl orscr\'il~ should not hi: (nnstmcd as t'ndorscrncl1I of it hy TkmkJ Wheels or hy IIK~ Villlagc Car Cluo.No liahility can be accepted for llUIl-appcanmcc ut' advcrtisClll~l1lS and the lext of all advcrtisements is subject 10 Ihe approval of the edilOr\Vhl) rcServc~ Ihe right (0 refu...'.: allY advertisement... which me Ilot COlllPiltihlc with Ihc aims. ohjccti\'cs. mId sl;lIldanls of Beaded Wheels orIhe Vintage en Club of New Zealand.In an'ordancc with Ihe IlnH'isiolls or Ihe Human RighL~ Commis..o;;ioo Act 1977 Beaded Wheels will 001 publish ~1JI)' adverlisementwhich judicille.... or could reasonably he underslood HS indicalinJ,!; an intention to discrimiuHle b)" rea.son of se:", m,lrilal stalus.religious or ethic'll beliefs. A(h'crtisers should take all C~lrc in draJling a(h'crlisl'lTIenls ilS thc~' could be held liabh... as well as: thermlgaL.inc nod the Club.

CLASSIFIED RATESDue 10 space limitation, classified advertisers should refrain from the use of dashes, spaces,logos, blank lines and centering.The 65 word limit includes contact details.Advertisers requiring ads longer than the standard 65 words, or who require typography orspace, must apply display rates.The advertising department reserves the right to edit or return classifieds not meeting the cri­teria.Non Member: $14.00 for first 40 words or part thereof, thereafter 15 cents per word to amaximum of 65 words per advertisement.Member of Vintage Car Club Inc: $12.00 for first 40 words or part thereof, thereafter 15cents per word to a maximum of 65 words per advertisement. Members must be financialand state their branch.Boxed Ad: $8.00 extra.Photo Ad in Box: $20.00 extra, enclose a clear photograph or slide and a S.A.E. if returnrequired.Above rates apply for each advertisement. Advertisements should be typed or clearlyprinted.ENCLOSE PA YMENTSend to: Advertising. P.O. Box 13-140, Christchurch, to arrive not later than 10th of monthpreceding publication.DISPLA Y RATES

FOR SALE

MAGNETO'S REWINDS, PARTS ANDSERVICE, all types, units bought and sold.Contact Chris Slater, Coil WindingServices, Hupenui RD, Grey town.WAIRARAPA. Ph/Fax (06) 304-9466 or(025) 433-834.

AUSTIN SEVEN SPECIAL 1929.Pressure fed engine with big crank, twinSLJ's, three speed close ratio gearbox, righthand gear change. Eighty mph performancewith superb handling and braking to match.Excellent all round touring/competition car.With some spares including new cabinblower. $16,500. Phone (09) 576-9399.

ESSEX COUPE 1929. Restored. Rallied toPalmerston North. Comfortable driving car.Has had very little work since then. Somespares available $15,000 ono. To view con­tact Bob Hartley, Coach Road, Geraldine.Phone (03) 693-9353. Mem.

1924 AUSTIN 12/4 CLlFTON TOURERFor sale by tender. Immaculate. Lots ofspares. Little used since restoration. Highestor any tender not necessarily accepted.Tenders close 3 May, 1996. Phone (03) 693­8057 or Fax (D3) 693-9598.

FORDSON PETROL TRACTOR, circa 1928drop headlight model, rubber tyres,PTO.Offers. Phone John Pothan (D6) 844-4707.Mem.

TRIUMPH MOTORBIKE. 1953 3TA. (Series21) Totally overhauled. Matching numbers.Sweet runner, looks good. $3,2DO. PhoneFrank, (06) 343-2531.

AUTOMOTIVE WOODGRAINING.When restoring your car there is only oneway to restore your metal window frames &dashboard: metal woodgraining. For infor­mation and free quotes contact AlanMarkby. Ph (03)445.D988 or write to 1IBoyne Place. Cromwell. Mem.

1935/6 AUSTIN 10/4 L1CHFlELD.Excellent condition, older restoration, newtyres and battery, reg. and woI', some parts.$6,000. Phone (04) 476-4195.

AUSTIN A4D DEVON TRUCK 1949. Floorchange model. Very good Mechanically.Needs some work on door pillars and twotyres for new WOF. Reg until Sept 96. Willaccept any reasonable offer. Phone (06) 322­8133 Hunterville. Mem.

HUBCAPS - IF YOU HAVE a hubcapproblem contact me. I have produced skinpressings for most cars between 1930 and1940. These are top quality replicas. Nomatter how rare tbe make of vehicle it ispossible to reproduce as original. For furtherinformation phone Les Hayter (07)378.9230or 025.485.994 or write to 19 Isobel Sl.Taupo. Mem.

1938 AUSTIN 'BIG 7'. original condition.This car plus a trailer load of spares andanother ' Big 7' rolling body is garaged inNapier. All of the above is offered at $1,500delivered anywhere in the North Island.Phone Steve Simkin (D6) 843-4397 work,(06) 844-6396 home, (025) 849-100 mobile.

PACKARD SIX 1939. Tidy condition insideand out. $13.500. Phone (07) 308-0169. Mem.

HOOD BOWS AND IRONS for Model TFord Roadster 1926-1927. Good condition,$450 or swap for hood bows and irons forModel T Ford Tourer 1926. Phone (03) 338­391;9.

CLASSIC AND VINTAGE COMMER­CIALS Magazines. For further informationon this very interesting and informativemagazine subscription, send a stampedaddressed envelope to Allan Wilson, 707Buller Street. Hastings

1939 VAUXHALL 12, Stored in shed asoriginal. Easy to restore (complete), tyressound. $6DD. Phone (03) 308-2298.

1943 CHEV MAPLE LEAF 3T $950. Chassisand motor done, cab rough. Not assembled allpanels exc cond. Spare doors/dash etc. Phone(03) 337-1127 or may be viewed atWaddington phone (03) 318-3808.

DODGE 4 TOURER, 1923 Partly-restored,main jobs to finish arc paint and upholstery.Lots of spare parts. Price $8,500 ono. Phone(09) 579-9063 (bus.) or (09) 267-1266(evenings).

1930 MODEL A PICKUP TRUCKUnassembled. Chassis sandblasted and paint­ed. Front guards, bonnet acid dipped andprimed. Motor rebored and valve grind. Gearbox and diff. rebuilt clutch, rear guards, head­lamps etc. Original Well side in good order.Sell at cost as one lot to fund new project.$2,750. Phone (07) 889-7956 ah.

CHEVROLET IMPERIAL 1935 long wheelbase 7 seater. Two known to exist from 36built. In need of full restoration. Reasonableprice to someone prepared to restore a veryrare Chev. Phone (03) 313-6721. Mem.

SWAP Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub and fit­tings. Corbin and Bonniksen speedos. Harleyand Indian magnetos, acetylene head and taillights. 7" and 8" Lucas and Miller headlamps.Lucas H52 headlamp plus many hard-to-getparts. Wanted. Pre-war AJS R7 OHC partscam box, cam, rockers, anything. 1927 AJSparts. 1930' s Rudge parts. Ariel heavyweightgirders. Norm and Lynda Maddock, KaiparaFlats Rd. RD I, Warkworth. Phone(09) 422-5714. Mem.

1939 CHEVROLET TUDOR MASTER85 Rcstorcd '79, excellent condition. Recon.motor 5,000 miles ago, original interior ingreat order. Runs and drives well, RivermistGrey. Drive it and enjoy it. $12,000.PhonelFax (03) 208-6085 bus. phone (03)208-9849 pvte. Mem.

VALVE BLANKS, exhaust quality, 5116,I 1/32 & 3/8 stems. [deal for matchingVintage & Classic engine valves at a rcalis­tic pricc. Also, valves can be machined tofinished sizes if required. Contact GeorgeCalder, 307 Hoon Hay Road, Christchurch.Ph (03)338.5372. Mem.

SUNBEAM RAPIER 19G2 SERIES 3A.Restored condition. Eye catching navy withsilver trim. Often admired classic car.Realistic price at $7500 ono. Phone (03) 689­7544. Waimate.

UK THOROUGHBRED & CLASSIC CARSiVIAGAZINES Volumes 3-6 (Nov '75-0ct'78) 48 mags, excellent condition, $100 or$25 per volume, phone (04) 232-9943, Tawa.

FREE CATALOGUE OF AUTOMOBI.LIAfor the aulo enthusiast. catalogue of metalsigns. wall plaques, model cars, keyrings,mascots and other items of interest to autoenthusiasts. Eastpoints Automobilia. POBox 1272. Palmerston North, Phone (06)358-2823.

1934 PLYMOUTH PD DELUXE SEDANDismantled, with much of the panel workalready done. Many duplicate mechanicalparts, ie two motors, two diffs, two frontends. Plus fi vc x 600/16 whitewall tyres.$4,500. Glyn Clements Phone (06) 844-9720,Napier.

1938 CHEVROLET COUPE. Excellentcondition anu running order. very reliable.Paint work good conuition, eolour green,has own ycar number plate. $16,000. Phone(06) 758-7973.

CHEVROLET SEDAN 1954. One familyowner. Used as taxi until 1961. Originalcondition. Driveable. Last registered 1992.Blue flame motor. Neeus body and chromerepairs. Easy restoration. $4,000. Phone (en)385-6153.

ENGINE VALVES for vintage and classicengines 1912-R6 over 5,000 valves in stock.Ajax, Austin, Bean, Bedford, Borgward.Buiek, Chevrolet, Citroen, Continental,Daimler, Desoto, Dodge, Essex, Ferguson.Ford, GMC, Graham, HiUman, Honua,Hudson, IHC, Jowetl, Leyland, Mazcla,McCormick-Deering, Morris, 1v1G. Nissan.Olusll1obile, Perkins. Plymouth, Renault,Riley, Singcr, Skoda, Stewart, Sunbeam.Thornycrol"t, Vanguard, Volkswagen.Willys plus more. Enquiries to McchanicalRestorations and Vintage Spares (1980) POBox 15, Fordell. Phone/Fax (06) 342-7713.

1954 ARIEL SQUARE FOUR. Four pipealloy engine. Maroon paint finish. Very tidymodel. Little work required to bring up toconcours condition. Contact Rod Coleman,phone (06) 345-6023 Wanganui.

1924 MAXWELL TOURER Vcry goodcondition. Some spares available. Highest orany tender not necessarily acceptcd. PO Box49. Maungatapere, Northland. Phone (09)434-7474.

DISMANTLING (Some vehicles complete).1938 VauxhalJ H, 1954 Austin A30, 1938Chevrulet, Vanguarus Ph 1,J1,1I1, 1951/2Austin A40, 1948 Vauxhall, 1960 Vanguards/w, 1960 DKW, 1934/5 Austin 10, 1967Morris FGK 30. 1046 Morris S/E, 1952 Ford10. 1936 Buick 40. 1951 Humber Hawke,1938 Dodge, 1959 Vanguard Sportsman, 1951Morris Oxford, 1958 Morris Oxford. 1962Leyland 15, Chevrolets 1949,51,52. Phone(06) 342-7713 Wanganui

ENGINE VAL YES for vintage and classicengines 1912-86 over 5,000 in stock.Auburn. BMC, Bradford, Cadillac,Chrylser, Commer, David-Brown, Datsuo,Dennis. Erskine, Fargo, Fiat, Fordson, Gray,Graham-Paige, Holden, Humber.Hupmobile, Jaguar. Landrover, La Salle.Maxwcll, Massey Harris, Mitsubish.i, Nash,Oaklanu, Overland. Peugeot, Pontiac, Reo,Rover. Rugby, Simca, Standard,Stuuebaker. Triumph, Toyota, Vauxhall,Whippet, Wolseley plus more. Enquiries toMechanical Restorations and VintageSpares (1980) PO Box 15, FOI·dell.Phone/Fax (06) 342-77l3.

L925 AUSTIN 12/4 ROADSTER Verygood conuition. Some spares available.Highest or any tender not necessarilyaccepted. PO Box 49. Mauogatapere,Norlhland. Phone (09) 434-7474.

INTERNATIONAL Cl 1935 Completerebuild 1993, fully recon. engine. new timberwell side, very nice cond. Reg. and WOF,$11,000. Phone (03) 313-6721. Mem.

1vlERCEDES BENZ 190 "Roundie" 1957f HII' door saloon. Original condition and dri­veable. Had warrant until June last year. Oncfamily owner for 30 years. Has original radio,heaters and towbar. Needs rust repairs andpainting. Easy restoration $3,000 ono. Phone(06) 755-1291. Mem.

VACUUM ADV f\NCE UNITS OVER­HAULED, all types. High quality finish,same day service available. Repairs to LucasDistributors undertaken, including re­bushing and centrifugal advance recalibra­tion. New and used parts in stock. All workguaranteed for 12 months. Enquiries toQuality Rebuilus, 5 Fenhall St. Christchurch8004. Ph/fax Barry Emms 03.342.5677.Mem.

_M(C6UJNNE.S~)~. . 1l\""~)F~,~~J I[\JI6 llD

~I\I' ~~ J,,"i~VI I V)1I.\ _.~'I! _l Specialist dealer in

VINTAGEClASSICS

COLLECTABLES

WN 568 5500AlH WN 565 1726

Roy McGuinncssWe can sell your car!

"THE CASTLE"374 ]ackson Street,Pewne, WellingtOn

STUDEBAKER 1957 CHAMPION. Fullyrestored fi ve years ago, runs well three speedwith overdrive, flat six cylinder. Driveanywhere $8,800 Phone (03) 314-3763.

SINGER PORLOCK 1929 8hp, Boat TailSports. Overhead cam engine, wire wheels.All mechanicals complete. Requires body fin­ishing. Patterns and specifications available.Some spares. registration on hold with LandTransport. $3,500. Phone (06) 755-1291.Mem.

ELECTROPLATING SPECIALIST innickel. gold and silver. One off jobs andsmall parts, reasonable prices. Phone (09)431-2550.

TRAVELLING TO USA OR CANADA?Researching an unusual or rare car? The sec­ond edition of ''Tour Book for Antique CarBuffs" is for you. It includes detailed listingsof 263 car museums, IH4 wreckers, plus ucal­el'S, restorers, restaurants. plant tours, fire andmotorcycle museums and much more. $25post paid from Garth Moore, PO Box 6159,Christchurch

SWAP FOR A FORD MODEL A Roadstel'requiring restoration, My rare 1930 Hillman14 saloon requiring re-storation. Some workdone but I'd prefer to put my effort into themodel I spent my honeymoon in.Phone Ron(04) 564-4532.

AUSTIN L951 SHEERLlNE. Originalcondition runs well, many spare parts$3,500 Phone (03) 3l4-3763.

NEW RELEASE 1996 Engine stock l.islnow available. 58 pages with over 6,000stock lines for 1912-1988 engines. Bearings.pistons, liners,gudgeon pins & brushes, ringsets, gaskets. valves & guides, cam follow­ers, valve springs, oil pumps & kits, ringgears, camshaft gears, cran.kshaft gears &pulleys, timing chains - guides & tensioners.Price $5.00 inc postage. Enquiries toMechanical Restorations & Vintage Spares(1980), PO Box 15. Fordell Phone/fax (06)342-7713.

VINTAGE 7/9 HARLEY PARTS to buy orcan swap Scout forks, Excelsior saclelle 20'sHD single rear guard, car box SA hand petrolpump circa 1916-20) complete, pair of 'A'headlamps 1929. Write to 8 Cadenza Place,Takanini, Auckland or phone (09) 299-880 I.

VETERAN NSU CAR, parts of information.Especially need motor ancl gearbox for1913/14 modcl 5/15. Contact: Len AlIisonPhone (03) 202-7799, Russell Carter (06)878-9977 and leave a message for Arnold.

SCHEBLER CARBURETTOR MOD. U­I required. Please phone collect DonaldEvans, Christchurch (03) 366-9862 or Fax(03) 366-9796. Mem.

PLEASE HELP! Needed to fi.nish off lotalrestoration of 1937 Dodge MC series 1/2 tonpick-up: one steering wheel and horn button;two dash gauges, speedo. oil, temp, amp. fuel;two headlights to front cowling mounts orcomplete units. Any pictures or informationon Wellside. Would appreciate any contact.Please phone (03) 76~-5900 day, (03) 762­6866 evening or PO Box 448, Greymouth

FOUR 23 x 600 or 650 tyres to use duringrestoration. Bald or otherwise would be fine.One only would help. Tony Devereux Box5427, Dunedin, call collect (03) 481-1903.Mem.

PANTHER 1947 Model 70, 350cc. BurmanH20 gearbox complete or parts and completeexhaust system. Any information at all appre­ciated. Contact Ivan Stevens, 13a Ellicott Rd,Hamilton. Phone (07) 846-1005. Mem.

VETERAN MOTORCYCLE Project/partswanled. Earlier than 1910. Anything consid­ered. Could trade vintage or P.V. motorcycleif required. All replies answcred. Pleasephone or writc; Peter Barnett, 5 MapplelonAve, Christchurch 5 or phone (03) 359-7552.Mem.

VETERAN self generating headlamp toreplace stoJen item. Any make or modelconsidered. Please phone Gavin Bain (03)365-5206 or write to PO Box 22642,Cru·istchurch.

INDIAN 741 B. Running bike or in pieces.Anything considered. Please contact TimLocker, PO Box 121, Warrington, Otago.Phone 03 465-7898.

ERSKINE 1928 Parts required. Cylinderhead, carburettor and whcels. Please phonecollect Donald Evans, Christchurch (03) 366­9862 or Fax (03) 366-9796. Mem.

PHOENIX ENGINE OR REMAINSCIRCA 1913, 4 cylinder fixed head.Aluminium cast crankcase with dishedbrackets bolt directly to chassis frame, threebolts each side. Cast aluminium water jack­et side plate on right sidc has Phoenix nameon it. Any leads to other Phoenix partsappreciated. Write or phone R. McWha,Grey St, Muchison, (03) 523-9663. Mcm.

Classified closing datefor June/July Issue is

10 May 1996

VETERAN AMERICAN motor cycle speedoand American acetylene generator for motorcycle. Prefer Solar brand. Please phone orwrite to Joseph McClintock, 70 Hoon HayRoad, Christchurch. Phone (03) 338-4049.

MORRIS MINOR 1929-1931 OHC Parts.Anything might be useful but especially needfriction shock absorbers, windscreen, bonnetcatches, locking mechanisms for sliding win­dows, side lights, calOl'meter and enamel radi­ator badge. Phone (04) 384-6946 Bus, (04)387-7490 Hm. David Burns.

PISTONS for Vintagc & Classic enginesavailable for many models eg Austin, Buick,De Soto, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Commer,Daimler, Dodge, Essex, Fiat, Ford, HiUman,Hudson, Humber, Hupmobile, International,Jaguar, Plymouth, MG, Morris, Nash,Oldsmobile, Riley, Rover, Singer. Standard,Studebaker, Triumph. Vauxhall, Willys.Wolseley. Advise model, year, oversizerequired & dimensions of original pistonsfor identification. Enquiries to GeorgeCalder, 307 Hoon Hay Road, Christchurch.Ph (03)338.5372. Mem.

WANTEDINDIAN 4 cylinder motorcycle, parts or liter­ature wanted by genuine collector. Phone (03)548-9661, collect. Mem.

ONE OR MORE new Firestone 4.75-5.00 x19 tyres. GOI'don Vogtherr, 404 TomoanaRoad, Hastings. Phone (06) 878-2448. Fax(06) 876-5589.

CONTlNENTAL LlGHT 6. Cylinder head orcomplete motor required. Please phone collectDonald Evans, Christchurch (03) 366-9862 orFax (03) 366-9796. Mem.

3 Conlbsh Place,FeUding. New Zealand.

(6) 323-3995A/Hr. (6) 323-3868

Member of Manawatu V.C.C.H.C.C.A. (NZ)

Vern Jensen

VINTAGE WOOD PROBLEMS? For allyour vintage wood work requirements, I canreproduce your cars wood work from origi­nal parts, patterns and photos. Model Aparts made to order, also Mon'is TravellerVan Kits. N Rhodes, Furniture ofDistinction, Purakau Rd, Marton. Ph(06)327.6164.

MODEL 'A' PARTS FOR SALE. Assortedmechanical pans. Front ends, diffs, chassis,gearbox in good order with new bearings.Model 'A' woodwork, floorboards, bodyblocks, Roadster Pickup, deck woodworkand interior woodwork. (Pickups only.)Phone (03)388.8086 evenings.

WOODEN WHEELS made for yourmetalwork. Steam bent felloes, any shapespokes. New beaded rims available in somesizes.

AOTEAROA WOODEN WHEELS

ATTENTION ADVERTISERS: Pleaserefer to information in the 'Marketplace'column regarding costs and word limita­tions. You may fax advertisements but pay­ment must follow before the closing dale. Itis recommended that the original copy isincluded with the payment.

HOOD IRONS, PARTS, REPAIRS, one-offsets. Abo lock seam tubes for USA vintageand veteran cars or specials, since 1977.Write with SAE to Garland Saunders, HoodIron Specialties, 3 Buxton Rd, Wanganui.

OLDFIELD PRODUC'TSIMPORTERS AND MANUFACTITRERS OF

~PJ<;RIOV SPEED EQUIPMENT

Ul26-1934PH (03) 388-8086 / FAX (03) 3AA-1316

p.a. BOX 15114CHRISTCID1RCH :>JEW ZEAL\l\,)

1928 CHRYSLER 4 SEDAN In original con­dition, just needs tidying up for Warrant andRegistration. Upholstery in excellent condi­tion, runs and rides well. Has been stored forthe last three years. $10,000 ono. Phone (06)765-5465 evenings.

SOUVENIRS - 50TH ANNIVERSARY Thefollowing items are still heJd in stock andprices have been sJashed. T-shirts - $10.00(M,L,XL,XXL), polo shirts $15.00(S,M,.L,XL), embroidered patches - $6.00,ties - $ J8.00. Further discounts for bulkorders. $5.00 P&P must be included with eachorder. Contact Hamish Pidgeon 47 FendaltonRd, Christchurch or (03) 348-4149 (bus).

~===========:!Jl.EJ

Closing dates forJune/July Issue

No. 220.Editorial COpy ­

24 April

Advertisements ­10 May

ESTABLISHED 1950

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If your VETERAN, VINTAGE or POST VINTAGEengine needs attention we can help.

From a small job to a complete rebuild.

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~Model "A" & "T"

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TEL/FAX (03) 323-8132MOBILE (025) 322-041

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Model "A" Ford shock absorbersand accessories.

SPECIAL: APRIL/MAY 1996

See inside back cover this issue for details

Business Premises & Store61 Disraeli Street, Christchurch

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Post To:Freepost 1757, Vintage Car Club Of NZ (Inc), PO Box 13-140, Christchurch,Fax (03) 366-0273

Expiry Date _

Address

Anniversary Edition

An additional 500 Anniversary Editions have been printed to meet demands.Price includes packaging, distribution and GST within New Zealand.

Postal

Payment

Card No.

Overseas freightBook Rate

ORDER FORM

The 50th Anniuersary Book

colour pl'JotoWOpflS depictinf} the

couered A4 ~ized l)()ok is ouer 200

Club of New Lculoncl.

paoes um1 with IJlucklwllire Clnd

first 50 ~jeors 0/ the Vintoqe Cur

Roger Green died on the 29 Januaryaft-er an 18 month battle with cancer. Rogerwas a member of the Wellington branch formany years before retiring to Christchurchand joining Banks Peninsula. On aNational level he served the club as a mem­ber of the Beaded Wheels editorial com­mittee.

Roger had RiJey cars from the earlydays including 9hp and 12/6 Kestrel. rnmore recent years he completed therestoration of a Brooklands replica andpurchased a 1937 15/6 Kestrel which heraLlied cxtensively. During his retirement

Norm Findlay who passed away on theeve of the Vintage Car Club's 50thAnniversary Rally joined the WanganuiBranch in 1958 and with his 1925 and 1927Morris Cow!ey's became a foundationMember of the Hawke's Bay Branch 111

1959.Norm served a year as Secretary in

1961. Work pressure prevented furthercommitmcnts to Branch office. After serv­ing his time as a boilermaker he worked onvarious welding jobs before becoming awelding overseer for thc M.O.W. He

Roger Green

in Christchurch he restored a 1939 ArielSquare 4.

Roger grew up in Christchurch. Hewrote an amuxing article about growing upin "State house paradise" which was pub­lished in "North and South" magazine. Hestarted his working life as a store boy at theCass Bay Munitions Stores in LytteltonHarbour and worked his way up throughthe system to become Deputy Secretary ofDefence in Wellington. He enjoyedapproving the use of Wigram for historicmotor racing and then flying down on busi­ness to watch I I recall a marshall attempted

Norman Findlay

joined Weldwell as factory manager mak­ing welding electrodes.

He was a good welder and, as we seewith his little 1913 Morris a perfectionistrestorer. Norm and Marian took this Jiulecar on the '65 Haast and many rallys sinceincluding, even though he was ill, Hawke'sBays 2Jst Veteran Rally 1995. With his ill­ness in mind, he planned to trailer theMorris to the 50th behind his immaculateMercedes car, but unfortunately his illnessovertook him.

Norm was also a very good shot with a

to remove him from tbe pits at one meetingand got a grey short shift as Roger asseredhis rank'

Roger continued to bc active in clubevents even though he was unwell. He wasan inspiration to us all, complaining littleabout his illness, and taking on events suchas the "Antipodean AntiquarianAutomotive Expedition". We will all misshim. Our condolences go to Penny and thefamily.

George Calder

rifle, a 'fix it' man and served three terms aMeeanee Ward councillor for the lateHawke's Bay County Council. To his wifeMarian, children Glynn, Heather andAndrew and their families we extend oursincerest sympathies and 1 know wc will bethinking of Norm and the Morris (one ofthe oldest outside of England) as we travelthe paths of the 50th Anniversary Rally ofour Club.

Hank Hurley

f4tttktP~RADIATORSTONEGUARDS

COWL LAMPS,

II £ ~~~?lV'S\-1 FORD PARTS

SWAPMEETS

ANDRALLIES

Ashburton Branch, N.Z.Vintage Car Club

ANNUALSWAP MEETSaturday 4 May 1996to be held in the Tinwald

Domain.Enquiries to Presiden t,

David Oakley, Lowcliffe,RD3, Ashburton.

Tel (03) 303-7095.

Ashburton South Rotary Club's

3rd Classi!c, Vintage & Vete:ran Car RunSunday 5 ,May - Departs 110am

To historic Rakaia Gorge Estate homestead and gardens, open for inspection.Registrations from 8.30am at Hotel Ashburton, Racecourse Rd. Toilet facilities, tea, coffee available.

$10/car includes rally pack certifkate.Prizes galore, bring a picnic and join a great day out. Barbecue food and shop at venue.

Further information, John Skevington phlfax (03) 302-6860 or Bill Tay/or ph (03) 308-5745.

ROTORUA VINTAGE & VETERAN CAR CLUB INC.THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND

SWAP MEETAT THE ROTORUA RACECOURSE ON SATURDAY JULY 13th 1996

This event will be of interest to all collectol"S of Vintage & Veteran cars, Antiques of evety descrijJtion,motorcycles, hotrods, classic cars, model trains and miscellaneous items of Cl general antique nature.

SELLING 6am TILL 4PlllFood, Cooked Breakfast and Refreshments will be available.

Further details phone Neville Harper (07) 348-2412 A/HAdmission - Seller's vehicle and driver $6 - all overs $4 per adult

FREE PARKING - ACCOMPANIED CHILDREN FREE

VINTAGE &VETERA~ ENTHUSIASTS UK TOURIncluding the London to Brighton Rally

Departs 17 October 1996. Full Escorted. Return individually. 15 Days.Highlights include: London sightseeing, HMS Victory, Stonehenge, Tintern Abbey, Wedgewood,

Stratford, Coronation St, Nottingham Lace Centre, Heritage Motor Centre, Conventry Motor Museum,M$~n~~otor Museum, Beaulieu Motor Museum, Biggleswade, Brooklands, Birmingham International

5Share Motor Show, Plus much more.Twin Full Details from: Air New Zealand Travelcentre,

p.a. Box 278, Nelson.Telephone (03) 548-2329, Fax (03) 546-8033.

SWAP MEE~ ~-changeofvenueThe Wellsford Vintage Car Club will be holding its

Swap Meet on Saturday 11th May 1996at the Warkworth A & P Showgrounds

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUEAdmission -. Adults $3.00 - Children FREE

For further infonnation please ring - Dave (09) 422-7169 or Wilbur (09) 425-6508

DO YOU OWN 4 MODEL '4' FORD?If the answer is yes

would you like to attend the:

4TH NATIONAIL MODEL 'A' FORD RALLY

Closing dates forJune/July Issue

No. 220.Editorial COpy - 24 April

Advertisements - 10 May

The RalJy Secretary4TH NATIONAL MODEL A FORD RALLYPO Box 3260Richmond, Nelson,NEW ZEALAND

For your Rally Information and Accommodation Packagep.~\-I'A-O-OE-·L-'A'I" reply now with your name and address to:

~\o~ o/(/JR..,(.

(./-

NELSON '" c' CHAPTER'0.., ~.,

OI"THESO~

Entries Close 31 October 1996 - Join with more than 200 other Model A Owners for a great weekend.

This notice sponsored by - ANTIQUE FORD 492 Main Road, Hope RDl, Richmond, Nelson.

to be held in NELSON, EASTER, 27th - 31st March 1997.

DAVEBLACKWELL

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TO:- FREEPOST 1757, Beaded Wheels, • L!IIP.O. Box 13-140, Christchurch

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o 6 Issues - Australia (NZ$42 Airmail, NZ$34 Seamail);

o 6 Issues - Anywherc (NZ$62 Airmail. NZ$36 Seamail)Name _

Selection or T's under the trees ou the Sail/rc/a\' barbecue.

Ralh' pri:e winner owned h." AI/an alld PlIulille ROII'I! .fi-olll Pulmer.l'lOn Nor/h.

LongburnPapakunlTe AwamutuCambridge

PalmerSlon N0l1hWaitakereGlenlieldMangercMorrinsvilleWellingtonPapatoeloePakurangaPnpatoeioeGlcn EdenWiriSt Heliers

HometownWaipukurauMt RoskillHendersonHiohland Park\VhangnreiPalmcr,ton NorlhGlenfieldPalmerslon NorthMaraelaiPapatoeloeHamilton

1917 Tourer1922 Tourer1923 Tourer1912 Service Vhcie1915 Town Car1912 Delivery Van1914 Tourert924 Truck1925 IT Truck1925 Speedster1924 Truck1914 Tourer

1926 New Beauly1914 Roadster

T Ford Car1918 Speedstcr1913 Roadster1926 Roadslcr1926 Tourer1923 4 Door Tour1926 Pickup1912 Delivery Van1926 Runabout1912 Coupe1913 Roadstcr1921 Tourer

List of Rally Entrants

'0. Entrants NamesI. McKenzie. Rod and Searlell2. Bush. Henry and Verna3. Reeve, John ami Carol4. Cremer. Neil and Luey, Alister Barlon5. Smith, Ivan and Dorolhy6. Cockcr. lan and Valeric7. Ballanlyne. Bob and Debbie8. Palmcr. Dave and Anne9. Vincent, Russell and Pauline10. Scarborough. Monly and Paulinc11. Rees, Michad and Trish12. Rowe, Alan and Pauline. Virginia,

Haydon and Chiquila13. Pauling. John and Lyn14. Kell.lan15. Welch. Rod and Joan16. Websle1', Les and Lesley17. Satlerlhwaile, John and Lisa18. Welch. Wayne and Wcnty. Colin, Bev Collier19. Vincent, Peter and ivIargaret20. Johns, Phil and Sue, Kevin and Olive Whilham21. Irwin. Steve and Tina22. SCOll, Grahnm and Pnrricia23. Porter, Bcnjamin and Julie Rosser24. Wrighl, Dennis nnd Merline,

Bruee and Denise Mills, Leslie and Kevin25. Lewis, Allan and Bev. A1llanda and Haylee

Jonathnn, Ken and CraigRippey. Ted

•

on rugs just enjoying the latest T scandal ­or rather "How to fix it?" The return toDrury was made before dark for a goodnights rest in readiness for the true TouringDay ahead.

Again the dawn was rather hot and wet.and again we swamped the MOBIL fore­court with cars and interested friends. Thisdeparture was most orderly as time wasmarked on the route cards before cach Theaded out to follow in.structions! As firstroute marshalls we weren't quite preparedfor the sight of the T & G anic truck downin the ditch where our prominent sign usedto be! Thanks to helpful marshals our fleetmade it to the morning tea stop at a gardenhome in Finlay Road. Pardon, there was atrai ler job on the way' That T was soonrepaired and back on track.

Lunch was our next important stop afterLOuring through the prosperous countrysidearound Waiuku. The Lunch Farm servedmore than just food and it was fun! Thistime it was memories of yesteryear and funon old tractors that actually ran, or bikesthat needed real pusllpower l

The afternoon was for touring the penin­sula, up one side and down the other, "seaon all sides I", all the way to AwhituRegional Park, where the shade, therefreshing fruit stop and the views made ithard to lelVe' From here tragedy struck ourfleet. Car No. I burned the points and Car

10. 5 brokc an axle stub, running back intoa bank, which saved the car and occupants.With a bit of part swapping all cars andtroops made it back to Drury, one way oranother, for the carvery banquet and prizegiving. The trophy has been taken back toManawatu by Alan Rowe, who also wonthe People': Choice with his lovcly newrestoration. Entrants received special spon­sor.. gifts and a 1996 rally plaque.

Monday was for a visit and morning teaat Rod's sheds and work. hop - a proper Theaven! Then, for the brave, a drive overthe Auckland Harbour Bridge - (in a T'I) ­with a visit to Bryan Jackson's fabulousMuseum and lunch in Devonporl. Thereturn journey, for those that were left. wasback around the East Coast Bays andHobsonvillc and along the North WesternMotorway around to Mt Roskill for a lightsnack at the Bush Place and more time toswap T notes and enjoy some specialfellow. hip.

Special thanks to everyone who helpedto make this rally such a great success. Plannow for the 1997 Rally for Model T'swhich is to be held in Central Hawkes Bay,Waitangi weekend. Come join tbe fun.Make sure yOll watch the T Magazine forinformation and book early!

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later, the purchase price remaining the same.Working together with Stuart MacLean,

another local. the restoration of the Zenithbegan. Tbe bike was finished early in 1963and began its second life just two years afterI began mine. Its first outing was on thesecond Canterbury Branch AnnualMotorcycle Rally held in February 1963.Stuart, and Ivan shared the Zenith untilStuarts death and since then Ivan has riddenlhe bike himself as well as lending it toothers to enjoy.

I first took an interest in the Zenith in1992 and following some phone calls andvisits I was rewarded by being offered thebike in OClober 1993. I'm sure Ivanwavered as it came time for me to collect it,but he was good for his word and I pickedup the Zenith that Labour Weekend.

I had great difficulties trying to get thebike running as I had not ridden a veteranbefore, nor a bike with levers instead of atwist grip.

Obtaining a secondary copy of theClassic Motorcycles Magazine provedinvaluable, giving lever positions forignition, fuel, air and the gradua pulleysystem for starting. Since those first fewshaky yards, we have together completedsome motoring trips of which I feel proud;trips which for me are the closest I can getto emulating the spirit of the reliability trailsand their often courageous riders who at theturn of the century battled roads andweather to prove their machines.

was none to pleased - after all he hadowned lhe Zenith for 5 years and had lessthan 12 months until he could finally get hislicence.

Fred began a search for another magnetobut ncver succeeded.

The time for war then came again andFred was one of the first to volunteer in 1939.

Also in 1939 his father James leased asecond farm, eventually buying it, and in1945 moved into the new farm house. Theoriginal Brookside fmm house was thenrented out, though the Zenith remainedstored in the shed.

Fred was discharged from the army,seriously wounded in December 1942 andthen spent a long period at the ArmyHospital at Hanmer before himself rentingthe old Brookside farm house from hisfather. In 1954 he married and bought hisown place in Doyleston. He was thenworking as a builder.

1957 was to provide Fred's sccond dis­appointment with the Zenith when hediscovered that his father had sold the oldbike in the shed for ten pounds. Fred hadalways considered that one day he wouldhave like to get it running again.

The new owner was Alan Parsons. nowliving in Motueka, but at the time living inthe area. He was friends with the Dunsandelgarage proprietor, Ivan Happer, a namemany will recognise as a collector andrestorer of many early motorcycles. Ivanacquired the bike himself twelve months

ith rough road conditions thenorm in the earlier part of thiscentury, most vehicles stayedclose to home. My Zenith was

no exception. It was manufactured inEngland late in 1911 but nothing more isknown of the bike until September 1916when it was purchased in Christchurcb by28 year old farm labourer, Henry Pearce.Henry bought the bike while living andworking on the family farm at Brooksidenear Leeston. Thc Ellesmere DistrictCouncil gave the Zenith registration markEC 186 on receipt of five shillings. ButHenry was to have little time to use hisacquisition as, along with three brothers, hesoon found himself drafted into the Armyand off to war.

David, the eldest remaining brother tookover both running the family farm and useof the Zenith until Henry's return.

Henry then used the Zenith again oftentaking hrother George on the back to dowork at surrounding farms.

From 1923 they worked as shearers onother farms transporting their portableshearing plant around the district by horseand cart. It would seem that the Zenith wasno longer used, bUI it had not been for­gotten.

Henry's youngesl brother, 14 year oldSam, and 6 year old cousin Fred decided togive lhe Zenith a run. Perhaps luckily theyfailed to get it started but this episode result­ed in the pelrol being drained from the bikeand any tins of pctrol on the farm hidden.

With the death of Henry's mother in1926, brother James, who was married witha family, moved back home and look overrunning the family farm.

Henry continued to do labouring andshearing and in 1928 replaced the horse andearl wilh a brand new Model T truck onwhich he mounted the portable shcaringplant.

Henry got married in 1930 and got hisown farm at Wcsl Melton. There today hisson and grandson still farm the sameproperty.

Among their possessions still remainsHenry's Model T.

Al the family farm Jamcs' son, FrcdPearce was only 12 years old when Henryproudly came home driving the Model T.

Questions about thc old motorcyclc inlhe shed resulted in Uncle Henry giving theZenith to Fred.

When Fred was given the Zenith he wastoo young for a licence and his motherforbade him to ride it on the road. Fred andhis brother Jim gOllhe bike going and even­tually collected enough parts to make up aset of acetylene lights.

The starting procedure involved one boysitting astride the bike while the otherpushed. As soon as the molor fired the per­son pushing had to jump onto the canier.Sometimes, if too slow, the pusher wouldmiss and be left in a pile on the ground.Many hours were spent riding the bikearound the farm and looking forward to theday when a licence could be obtained.

However it was not to be, Free!' s fatherJames had a petrol engine milk separatorand the magneto failed.

It was a French magneto and with nolikely replacemenls being available, Jamestook thc one ott' the Zenith laying in theshed. When Fred got home from work he

II,

Editors note: Unfortunately we havebeen advised of an error in the first part ofthis article: "Belt perfonnance deterioratesafter around 2000 miles" (Two thousandmlles) not the 200 miles published.

and I'm rolling downhill with a deadengine.

My family, doing backup, catch up andtry to suggest I use the trailer. But I stub­bornly resist and find the problem.

Bronze liners had recently been fitted tothe valve guides. One liner had come looseand risen up preventing the exhaust valveclosing. So take out the guide, refit the liner,fold the bottom edge of the liner over to pre­vent it rising again, relieve the guide with arat tail file and tough crude, I'm off again.

Arrive i.n Kaikoura for a late lunch ataround 2.30 p.m. but little is eaten as it willbe dark at 6 p.m. so I'm running out of day.It's also warmer and at the moment dry, soI'm keen to get on to Blenheim. The dryspell doesn't last five miles though andsoon I'm parked along the coast road dryingout the mag again. This time the motor onlylasts a few minutes. The rain is runningdown the plug lead and has saturated theHT pickup. I can't dry it so I change thepickup and put a tag of tape on the plug leadso the rain drips off.

The bike won't get from Kaikoura toBlenheim without a fuel stop and it's after4.00 p.m. - I'm going to run out of day­light. To save time I've arranged for mywife to go ahead and have the petrol tin aodfunnel ready as we leave the coast. I roll in,fill the bike without getting off, and pushaway in less than a minute - almost grandprix stuff.

As I leave the coast the weather, thoughcold and windy, becomes dry making thefinal climb easier. 1'm now using throttlesettings the bike has probably not seenbefore, to beat the failing light. It's dusk bythe time I pass Penfolds and the Works.Headlights pierce the air as I push on intothe darkness. Finally I stop at the 50 kmsigns on the edge of Blenheim. It is now toodark to continue safely. In blackness theZenith is loaded on the trailer. The trip fromChristchurch has taken 9'j, hours which isan average of around 21 mph.

The day stretched out somewhat and,while few might agree, I gained immensesatisfaction from motoring to Blenheim ona day which any motorist would havedescribed as thoroughly awful weatherwise.

Perhaps that is part of the appeal ofveteran motorcycles, that there is nocertainty that one will arrive at the planneddestination, where even wet weather maybe sufficient to render progress impossible.

For the record, the major trips taken inthe 12 months were from Christchurch to:Waiau, Dunedin, Akaroa, Mount Cook,lnvercargi 11 and Arrowtown; Ashburton,Nelson; Kaikoura; Blenheim as well as anumber of local rallies.

In the future Twould also like to experi­ence an earlier motorcycle, but have not yetfound a suitable machine. For now I willenjoy the Zenith and hope that my actionswill encourage others to use their veteranmotorcycles on the road. Who knows, nextcentury they may not be allowed. •

The Zenith at Lake Pulwki on last years MICook Rally.

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The greatest challenge has been theweather. Rain, wind and even snow allpresenting difficulties that have delayedprogress. My greatest personal triumph forthe year, therefore was successfullycompleting the 200 miles fromChristchurch to Blenheim to attend theNational Veteran Rally at Easter.

I got away just before 9 a.m. with thefirst hour north to Amberley remaining dry,though windy and cold. On the flat there isonly oil to pump and cars whizzing by,nothing much to take the mind off the cold.Just past Waipara I meet the rain but presson trying not to stop. Finally belt slip sets inand I stop to tension the belt and addanother layer of clothes against the weather.Still having problems on the rolling hillstowards Greta Va]Jey, so I stop again tomake the belt even tighter. Now away withplenty of speed and no belt slip, but the beltmust be too tight as, at the start of the firstclimb through the Hundalees, the belt joinerbreaks snagging the belt around the rearwheel. I change to a link belt, as I'm notcarrying a spare joiner and continue on. Asthe bridge half way through the Hundaleescomes into sight the motor dies. The causeis traced to a wet magneto.

All of my tools are wet but I find a dryrag and get away again.

The link belt slips readily so I've bad tothrottle back, but this means the bike faltersand revs drop as I climb the steepest pitchleaving the bridge.

I throw my leg over and run beside for awhile but it's leaving me behind. I pullmyself back 00 but instantly the revs drop.So I spend the rest of the climb standing onone footrest pushing the bike upwards withmy other foot. FinaUy the top is reached, butI must be a strange sight for modernmotorists. Surely it will be easier now, butonly a few miles later the bike dies again

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otoring history in New Zealandbegan in 1898 when aWellington businessmanWilliam McLean imported two

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Ford eight and a quarter days to cover thedismnce, and the fact that they accom­plished it at all waS considered so remark­able that it made headline news inAuckland and Wellington papers andinspired Mr Chorlton to write quite alengthy book. We are indebted to theAlexander Turnbull Library ["or pennis. ionto publish extracts from the book, and forthe accompanying pholographs.

Two routes to Auckland, Mr Chorltollexplains in his opening paragraph, wererecognised at the time - the "orthodox"way. vitl the Wairarapa. Napier and Taupo,and the other by New Plymouth, Mokauand Te Kuiti. "It is also said," he adds, "that

picture of the pioneering days of motortransport in the North Island. It is a recordof a trip he undertook with two companionsfrom Wellington to Auckland via Taihape,Taumarunui, OhLira and Te Kuiti - a routewhich, for reasons that become obvious assoon as one looks at the pictures in thebook, had never before been used.

The Colonial Motor Company spon­sored the attempt and supplied the vehicle aFord Model T Roaster. Arthur Cholton, ajournalist with the Wellington EveningPost, Ernest Gilling an Aucklancl WeeklyNews photographer and driver HamldRichards a recognised reliability trialist andmechanic. It took the three men, in their

motor cars.To counteract this menace to life and

limb, a private members Bill was passed in1898 allowing the use of motor vehicles ­the McLean Motor Car Act - with a speedlimit of J2 mph subject to local bodyregulations.

Indeed, between 1900 and 1910, littlewas done to encourage motoring. TheWaitemata County imposed a fee of 30s. forthe privilege of driving through the district;the Raglan County went even further andbanned motorists from its road waysaltogether. But probably the greatest deter­rent was the sheer physical difficulty ofgetting from one place to another by car.The roads were constructed for coaches andother horse-drawn traffic and a coach,drawn by a powelful team, could cope withconditions quite beyond the capabilities ofthe early motor car. Bridges. for instance,were rarely encountered in the coachingdays. A horseman used to ride into mid­stream to fjnd the shallowest crossing andthe coach would follow. bumpingalarmingly over the rocky river beel, thehorses up to their haunches in the swift­flowing current. Equally discouraging wasthe difficulty of Obtaining petrol. Black­smiths, ironmongers and hardwaremerchants had small stocks, which they soldprincipally as cleaning fluid. It wasnecessary for the pioneer motorist, sellingout on a long journey to travel with 4 gallontins holding his reserve supplies strappedonto the running boards.

On the other hand, petrol in these earlydays of motoring cost only 8'hd. a gallon.There was no general road tax and it cost amere IOs. to register a vehicle. Later on, tollgates sprang up in some areas, as a means ofextracting revenue for the upkeep of theroads. Taranaki, the most enterprising of theprovinces, had good roads, simply becauseit had the most toll-gates.

By 1912, the motor car had become afamiliar sight in t.he larger centres, but wasstill capable of causing near-panic in thebackblocks. Mr Arthur Chorlton. in hisbook "Pioneer Motorists in the KingCountry", records the following incidentwhich occurred near a remote saw-millingsettlement:

"Coming over a rise, the Pilot gave awarning 'honk' of the horn to a family partyjust about a chain ahead. There was ageneral scatter and the little girl pushing theperambulator, in mshing to the side of theroad, stumbled and upset the pram. Thebaby shot out onto the grass at the roadside,but fortunately did not hurt itself. Themother of the infant picked it up and foundjt only startled with the sudden ejection.'We're not used to them things in theseparts', she said plaintively. One hopes," MrChorlton concludes "that it will not be longbefore the people of the King Couno'ybecome used to motors.

Mr Chorlton's book gives a startling

~y_s_

tndof Parn McLean

one car at least has made its way through toTaupo via Taihape, Waiouru and Tokaanuand thence to Auckland, but authenticrecords regarding this feat havc not comeunder the notice of the author, though nodoubt they exist". The route planned by thethree pioneers was considered even morehazardous. The venture was scheduled forsummer, 1912. "Summer makes all thedifference on these King Country roadsbetween the possible and the impossible",Mr Chorlton observes. "Along the TeKuiti-Aria road communication was utterlycut off during last winter, which broughtAria down to siege rations. In the Ohura,not only were vehicles bogged, but settlers

themsel lieS had to be extricated from theIllud by laborious digging."

Jt is not surprising, therefore, that whenMr Chorlton and his two friends - MessrsH. Richards (driver) and E. Gilling (photo­grapher) set out from the Wellington PostOffice early on the morning of 22November, 1912 they included in theirequipment "sixty fathoms of stout ManilaRope, with double block and tackle, also asingle block and tackle" to which atTaihapc, where they stayed the first night,they added a hatchet and later, an axe,spade, shovel and mattock.

The trip as far as Taihape was unevent­ful apart from an overnight incident in

Far Lefi: Whe 'Is solid wirh lI1ud. a .fill/nh horseis hirched on ro /,ull rhe vehicle het\\'eenMaitiere mul Ghura.

To/': AI/aching fore-((Iul-afi l/(fulin/i ropes in thelI1ud.

Above: Between cliff' C/nd chasll1. A dan/ierousstretch on the descent of the WaitewhenCl.

Le.fi: Repairing the road and layillg fC/seines illthe Waitell'hena.

which an unscrupulous individual secretlyturned on the Ford's petrol tap and half­emptied the tank. Having purchased abOllle of "good Three Star Brandy" - forthis was the frontier of the "dry" KingCountry - the party pushed un over therough roads, now and again pausing tobuild bridges from timber growing on theroadside to help them navigate muddypatches, and occasionally forsaking theroad altogether when the surroundingtussock seemed to provide an easierpassage. Presently they came to a riveracross which there was no bridge. ArthurChorlton waS given the task of finding aford. He had to wade in and paLlLlle about inthe icy water till he found a shallow enoughroute for the car to cross. Then the Ford,awash to the tops of its mudguards andwith an oilskin tied over its radiator,successfully navigated the river. During theoperation Mr Chorlton records the arrivalof a group of Maoris who had ridden downfrom the neighbouring pad "with allmanner of quadrupeds to assist in alucrative tow of 'te mota' across the creek- the sort of windfall that had befallen themonce or twice before and was treasured insacred memory ever after."

The pioneers spent the second nightunder canvas, after hauling their car over aboulder-strewn riverbed by block andtackle. Mr Gilling's plan of taking it flash­light photograph of the camp, with itsroaring campfire was foiled by the dis­covery that his flashlight equipment hadbeen jolted out of the car somewhere alongthe way. "At least one of us slept", notesMr Chorlton. "The others could hear him".

At Oio, the block and tackle came intooperation again. This time it helped themacross a liver with 20 foot banks, oncespanned by a bridge which had sincecollapsed. From the timbers lying aroundthey constructed a causeway acrOSs themuddy stream-bed; the car was lowereddown one side and hauled up the other bythe block and tackle and with the assistanceof nearby timber workers.

At Taumarunui they encountered one ofthe major frustrations of early motoringwhen they run out of petrol. One onlyTaumarunui resident owned a car and hewas out of town. Arrangements hud beenmade for six cases of petrol to be forwardedto Ohakune and from there they were to be'ent on as required. Urgent telephone callsand telegrams from Raetihi had reveuledthat the consignment had never reachedOhakune. The Express regarded petrol asdangerous freight and refused to carry it,and goods trains on the Main Trunkappeared to run to no definite schedule.The deadlock lasted for u day and u half, atthe end of which the proprietor of theTaumarunui motion picture circuit wasdiscovered to possess some petrol, whichhe agreed to sell. The bulk supplies finallyturned up at Te Kuiti.

Up till now the pioneers felt things hadgone as smoothly as could be expected.The next section of the journey - betweenOhura and Piopio - they had anticipated

would be the mOSt difficult. This was whatlhey described as "the missing link or theNorth-Wesl Passage" - a track notofficially mapped which Mr Chorlton hullstumbled upon accidentally during atramping trip. This. tretch linked the routenorth of Ohura with the main Awakino-TeKuili coach road, joining it at Piopio andthus providing a through route to

Auckland.Probably everything would havc gone

well had the pioneers kept to their originalintention and followed this route, doubtfulas it seemed. But a smooth-talkingscoundrel buttonholed the party and toldthem that there was a short cut that wouldreduce their travelling time by anastonishing degree. The Ullfortunatepioneers allowed themselves to beconvinced, and the scoundrel was scarcelyout of sight when they were caught in thegrip of peculiarly tenacious mud that heldthem so firmly it look the block and tackle,two farmers und four druughl horses to getthem out. By this time there was no turningback; it was raining heavily und they wereinformed that ahead lay a track too narroweven for a gig.

They spent a miserable night stretchedout on the parlour floor of a nearby farm­house, but by this time, having covered halfthe journey. they were determined not tolurn back, whatever perils the way aheadmight hold. What followed wus a night­mare of torrential rain, long stretches ofunbelievably slicky mud, wearying trampsand horseback rides in search of ussistance,back-breaking work with the block andtackle, and with the axe and mattock asthey cut scrub to provide u firmer foun­dation for their car, and perilolls crossingsof narrow, crumbling, mountainous trucks,at first sight impassable for a horse and gig,

let alone a motor cur. For much of the wuythe Ford - axle-deep in mud - was towedby draught horses. but still the intrepidpioneers pressed on. and finally emergedtriumphantly on the main Te Kuiti­Auckland highway. Eight and a quarterdays out of Wellington they arrived at theAucklund post office, where they weregiven a heroes' welcome. The car wasintact; miraculously they had had noserious mechanical troubles and only onepuncturc. But each of the pioneers had lostbetween hull' a slone and a stone in weight.Not surprisingly, they returned toWellington by the "orthodox" routethrough Taupo, Napier and the Wairarapa.

Mr Chorlton and his companions tookthe ups and downs of the trip phil­osophically on the whole, but they wereunable to remain calm over mud.

Top AI}(}\1{': Trapped ill the Ill/Ill Oil

the Waikaka Valley Road.

Above: Lowerillg the car dowll asteep slope by ropes at the brokellbridge at Oio.

Above Right alld Right: Thefirstmotor ridej{Jr two little Rallgitaikigirls alld allother day over/or thepioneers - but no luxury hotelaccommodatioll at the elld of it.

"Glutinous, fathomless, treacherous, parasitic mud", says

Mr Chorlton, "the curse of New Zealand's back-block

roads, the mortal foe of civilisations, the last barrier to

progress; mud, the slippery, elusive antagonist of all

vehicles, gripping yet not gripped; victorious over teams of

gallant horses, over yokes ofpatient bullocks; intractable

combination of the elements - what can a poor motor car

do against you? YOll clog her wheels, yet you give her no

hold, and so she digs herselffurther into your embrace,

until finally, snorting, panting and impotent, she lies

beaten in your grasp, unable to move backward or forward.

Could anything," he concludes in exasperation, "be more

humiliating than to stick in the mud?"

lWl• •

Trip to HersheySo you think you would like to go to the

greatest Swap Meet in the world? Have agood, long, hard look at it before you decideon anything. Remember it's a long way to gofor disappointment, and believe me that is instOre if you don't plan your trip in advance.

The first thing you need is good accom­modation. and the place we stayed (BestWestern Motel) at Hershey was a liuleexpensive, but with breakfast supplied and afree shuttle bus to and 1'1'0111 the Meet. I thinkit was worth the extra. Aner all, who wantsto stay in a dive?

You could hire a eampervan and parknear the Meet, and walk the mile and a halfor more to get there. Parking at Hcrshey is ata premium, and if you do manage to getclose it could COi>t you up to $IOUS pCI' day.

The next thing you need is a copy of lheprogramme of sites etc.. before you getthere, so that you can plan what stalls you arcgoing to visit. You cannot get around all10,000 stalls in the three days of the Meet.and you have to leave Saturday clear so youcan have a 10 k at the 2,000 show cars that

are mostly tradered there, and the 2.000 oddems that are just there on show, some are forsale but most are not'.

This article is not trying to put anyone orfgoing to Hershey. To wander around thegreatest Swap Meet in the world is some­thing that we should all try to do. It is com­mon knowledge Ihal if you don't find whatyou want at Hershey, it is not available.After going there, I for onc am willing tobelieve it.

If you arc thinking abolll going, justremember there is a meet al "Carlisle" about200 miles north of Hershey the week before,and if you atTend both Meets you might man­age to see mosl of the stalls.

Now we have got rid of all that. let's lookat the po.silivc side.

Place to stay"Hershey Best WesternCnr Route 22 and Snipe AveP.O. Box 364,I-Iershey P.A. 17033Ph (717) 533-5665, Fax (717) 533-5675Someone to sce: Bill MeLaughlin and

Bob James found at B. W. 38-42.This means Blue Field - Row W - Site

38-42.Tell either Bill or Bob that you are from

New Zealand and thal your heard about themfrom Gracme Letica. vVith this you will bemade welcome and given a beer or coffee.

It may surprise you that most Canadiansknow where New Zealand is and 1110stAmericans do not know where New Zealandis, but all the vintage car people I spoke to atHershey do know where wc arc.

I would also guess that in New Zealandwe have mar older cars per capita than theyhave in the United States.

Don't be put orf by the media reportsaboul America, it is a wonderful place tovisit. Thc other highlights of the trip weresunset at the Grand Canyon, driving downthe main strip at night in Las Vegas, throughthe Rock Tunnel in Zion Park in Utah. andthe hospitality wc received from everybody.

Graeme Letica, N.S.V.e.e.

Roto ua Branc of AmericaIn June of 1993. 17 rnembers of the

Rotorua Branch of the VCC of NZ and theirspouses, and friends went for an "Up andDown the Mississippi" tour with photogra­pher Don Cole, who often guides tours to theUSA. Though designed around generalinterests of scenery, people, history, andshopping, the trip featured several veteranand vintage car destinations. Member-drivenvans allowed the group to split up for specialinterest side trips. Fortunately, the sun fol­lowed us through Cl window in this summer'snotoriously poor weather along the river.

With a day's stopover in Los Angeles, weflew to New Orleans, staying in the colour­ful old French Quarter. En route to the annu­al swap meet at Pelit Jean State Park nearMorrilton, Arkansas, wc visited historicNalchcz and Vieksburg. On the way, afriendly couple ricling a Harley Davidsontouring cycle escorted us, flagging us downfor a lunch meeting. These. it turned out,were old friends of Don's, Jay and LauraGrimes. Harley owners and grandparents ofsix.

The swap meet proved a high point forclub members, who remarked on its sheersize, variety of cars and parts (generally lowprices, with exceptions) and their good con­dition - for example, rear muclguards for '39and '40 pickup trucks. Among our findswere headlight glasses for GordonCaulficld's Plymouth, and chrome strips for'46 Mercury mudguards, which MalcolmFoster was told in New Zealand and

Australia that he woold never find. This firstday of the fi ve-day event was manageable,with opportunity to talk to friendlyexhibirors before the weekend mob scene.

The car museum on the site provided aplus. but it was the serting among acres ofshady trees that drew the most favourablecomments. "We could learn a lot from them.If wc could hold ours in the forest, spreadout, wc could present it better".

"The birds must be house-trained".1\'1embers nOled the different classifications.What we call "Vintage and Veteran" theycall "American Antique". Our "Post Vintageand Clflssic" becomes "Collectible", a catch-

, all term covering all periods.Wc drove back to New Orleans airport

via the Natchez Trace Parkway and stoppedat the Vieksburg Civil War baulefield mili­tary park. where the South had losl its con­trol of Mississippi shipping. From there wcflew to Minneapolis, upper limit of riverfreight traffic, and drove lO Red Wing, Ourbase for seeing small towns of heartlandAmerica -mare easy rural driving. At Joe'swrecking yard hear Hasting.·, known forFord parts, a tramp through muddy paddo 'hyielded a Dodge dashboard for GOl'doll andmore of Ihe "elusive" chrome strips.

From Long Lake, just west ofMinneapolis, we attended a Sioux pow-wowone day, and went the next to Farmington'sMountain Dew Days for a car show ofModel A's and 50's and 60's models. At themotorcycle swap meet there, Noel Jannings

met frustration - so many bikes, so littletime - early model Indians and Englishbikes, with a good selection of spares. Mostof us agreed that swap meets offered morethan car shows - "Much of interest. even ifyou're not restoring". There ancl in wreckingyards, wilh informed people to talk 10, theyfound accessories Ihey never knew exi. tecl.even for their own models.

Bob Townsend, is a member of theVintage Chevrolet Club of America, and hadcontacted Bill Dirnberger, club regionaldireelOr for Middle WeSI North. Bill took theday to lead the men to wrecking yards incentral Minnesota. At Windy Hill they fos­sic ked among 12,000 wrecks spread over150 acres. An aerial-view postcard whichthe owner marks [0 guide each customershows his comprehensive memory for hisvast stock. Bill himself has an immenseknowledge of models anclmodifications, anda garage and basement full of Chevy parts. Athird stop al French Lake wrecking yard wasa further feast of information and parts.

Meanwhile. back at Long Lake, the RobbMotel owners' family were cooking a barbe­cue feast for the :hopped-out women. Thecar hunters returned Gust in time to fill theirplates) waving trophies of T-shirts, hats, andbum packs awarded them by the wreckingyards.

After the official lOUr. most flew toDetroit, where Chris Staines had arranged alour of the GM factory, anc! the Henry FordMuseum beckoned - another story in itself.

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phones between parties, a one car searchexpedition was mounted. Peter was foundlying under the car with BiLl in support out­side. A hub puller, or some other toolneeded; couldn't raise the main party soreturn for the troops who duly arrivedarmed with nothing better than moralsupport to find that Peter and Bdl, with theaid of a pair of tyre levers and a lump ofpine as a mallet, had just removed the hub.Diagnosis, brake lining broken up andstacked three layers deep between the shoeand drum.

First lesson, which we knew anywayand did not observe, keep together whentravelling in convoy. Second lesson, ifcarrying cell phones, it helps to have theother numbers available. Third lesson, ceLlphones don't work in the hiLls anyway!

Having been delayed by some twohours, objective four, to ascend Big HillRoad into tbe Ruahines, was abandonedand substituted with a new one. Jerry hadsuggested that we could get from one forestroad onto Smedley about a mile above thestation complex. Why not try? Following

Part Two

Story by Rob Knight

s y

mur first choice was suggested

I by wheel tracks leading intothe river and visible on theisland. Peter and Shona brave­

ly volunteered to pioneer tbe route but theFord's rear wheels quickly dug into theloose metal in mid-stream. The Dodge andlong rope came to the rescue. More studysuggested a route a few metres downstreammight be firmer. Nothing daunted, the Fordcrossed the first stream only to lose tractionon the island enough to prevent an attempton the second stream. By then it hadbecome obvious that the local hunters wereusing a route about 50 metres upstream.With honour at stake it fell upon the leaderto prove it possible. The Buick plunged increating an initial bow wave and, withoutfaltering, we jubilantly reached the farbank. Encouraged, the otbers foLlowed suit.We had achieved objective number twoand were now ready to drive through theforest.

After an initial section of loose metal onmain forest road after the gate, theWakarara Road was a good surface. Wedetoured around Ellis Road to stop at"Murderer's Hut". Fugitive ElIis campedout in an old shepherd's hut for about 9months before being captured in 1904.Less notorious but weLl known VCCmember, Peter Nightingale, also used thehut as a bivouac while employed as agovernment deerstalker in 1957.

Back on the winding Wakarara Road animportant system came unstuck. The rule isthat each car keeps the car behind in sightso, if a problem occurs, the convoy isbrought to a halt. BiLl & Chris, who live onSpur Road at Feilding stopped to take aphoto of the Spur Road sign in the forestwhile all but the Nightingales carriedblithely on. On restarting the Ford's rightrear wheel locked up. Incredibly four milesfurther on the Moleta Ford blew a tyre onthe left rear wheel. Some two miles later anembarrassed leader found that he had losthis tail except for the Brills who caught upto report they had lost the group. Whoops!We didn't have either of the other two cellphone numbers on board so had to go backto look see. The first group were encoun­tered, having just changed the offendingwheel, but we were still puzzled about theloss of the other two. After shuffling cell

more forest roads, the scenery on seldomused Alien Road was park-like. TheRadiata in full and luxurious bloom linedthe road which was carpeted with brownneedles from the pines closing over ourheads. The road terminated at a very steepdescent to a ford over a small stream. Theascent on the other side was a reasonablegradient but the track was lost in gorse andlong wet grass. It was considered prudentto return to the last junction and exit theForest onto Kereru Road at theHeadquarters gate.

The decision produced another bonus inthat Peter rediscovered his 1957 shingle­roofed base hut along Alien Road whichnaturally required another stop for photosof this derelict but picturesque building.

A weary but satisfied team returned toSmedley having driven over 70 miles ofwhich no more than 25 were on publicroads. A pleasant hour passed sitting on theverandah over a mug of ale and watchingup to seven Tui and two Kereru at a timedining on the nearby Kowhai tree whichwas in full flower, while Bili's hoggetslowly roasted indoors. Singing followed asumptuous meal. THE CUP was presentedto Bill as champion top spinner, and Peterwas awarded an impromptu hard lucktrophy in the form of a large curiouslynumbered bolt found at one of our stops.No doubt it will reappear as THE BOLTsuitably mounted on a piece of Peter'swoodwork?

Brilliant sunshine greeted us on Mondaymorning. The Ruahine Range had thrownoff its cloak of cloud to reveal the tatteredremnants of winter coating of snow. Hoodswere lowered. It promised to be a gloriousday for vintage touring.

The journey home followed public roadsbut avoided the main roads where possible,We cut across from SH50 to SH2 to visitMillstream Gardens at Pukehou andpurchase some rare plants. Te Aute TrustRoad and others took us to the back ofOtane where a local invited us to look at his"collection of junk". Other people's junk isalways fascinating so a halt was agreed to.From Waipukurau the route followed vari­ous lesser roads through interesting farm­land and limestone formations to reach theback of Dannevirke.

Along that route an eagle eye spotted

two sets of wooden wheels and the back ofa car in a shed. With lots of cheek wewheeled into the yard to be greeted by anold acquaintance of Peter's who enthusias­tically took the drivers on a tour of hisscrap mountain, showed us the shed whichhoused an early Vanguard and a Chev 4truck, which had spare axles and wheels,then on across a paddock to a collection ofCaterpillar and Fordson tractors in variousdegrees of decay and completeness. Theladies enjoyed a tour of the attractivegarden.

After refueHing and icc creams inDannevirke we retraced our Saturday route,but had to share the Saddle Road withtrucks and the weekend rabble because theManawatu Gorge was closed again.

The group broke up at Ashhurst to endanother enjoyable weekend. It wasn't theAAAE but parts of it may have been a weebit too tough even for some of the cars onthat memorable tou()

Far left bottom: 'FOr(l' Years On' - well nearly- Peter at the door ofhis 1957 base hut.Photo: Shona Nightingale.

Middle: Cars fording, lOp 10 bottom: Whoops I

No crossing here. Photo: Rob Knight.Dodge to the rescue. Photo: Rob Knight.kloleta '.I' Ford in midstream. Photo: RobKnight.Scott '.I' Buick handles the crossing with ease.Locks Ford in background. PholO: PeterNightingale.Turner's Dodge powers out of the crossing.Photo: Rob Knight.

Above: 'Murderer's Hut', Brill and LockFords. Photo: Rob Knight.

•

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The Vintage Car Club of New ZealandInc.

The following is a copy of a letter thatFrank Renwick has forwarded to DougKidd on behalf of the NZ VCC: ~

Dear Mr Kidd,I write ro you as President of the Vintage

Car Club of New Zealand. representingsome 5,000 club members and wish toexpress the conccrns of all our members inregard to the new premium fuel recentlyintroduced. Many of" our membershipexpressed their concern initially when thefuel was first mooted. Due to our lack of"technical expertise On this matter, we putour trust in the gl)Vernment erf rhe day andleft the decision in the hands of, we felt, theexperts.

Sadly during our rccent 50thAnniver ary Rally, I received many reportsof poor performance. I personally experi­enced fuel vaporisation and carburettorflooding problems. Many of our memberssuffered fuel vaporisation coupled withpoor performance.

The following are typical of thecomplaints received; fuel pump failure,carburettor flooding, vacuum tank failure,fuel vaporisation and failure generally ofrubber components. All of the aboveproblems experienced caused disappoint­ment and in some cases hazardous journeysduring the course of our rally.

We would strongly endorse any movesmade by those in authority to get rid of rhisfuel and revert to the status quo.

Yours faithfully,Frank Renwick, President

Dear SirslMadam,The following is a copy of a letter we

have sent out to all four oil companiesrequesting assurances of our 14,000+members over the new fuel.

New Zealand Federation Of MotoringClubsp.a. Box 6086, RotoruaDear Sir,

Re: 96 Octane Unleaded Motor FuelAs President of the above named

Federation, which currently representsmore than 100 motoring oriented clubswith over 14,000 members nationwide, Iam extremely concerned at the news reportsof difficulties which have arisen sur­rounding the recent introduction, by yourcompany and others, of 96 octane unleadedmotor vehicle fuel.

Media reports seem to cover a variety ofmatters including, among others, thoseconcerned with vehicle safety, health andconsumer issues.

For the benefit of our Member Clubs,

could you please provide answers to thefollowing questions so that I may respondpromptly and in an informed manner totheir very valid concerns.I. Vehicle Safety(a) Media reports last week focused on

incidents arising from claimed damageto or deterioration of rubber-based 0­ring carburettor seals in certain circum­stances. Are later reported incidentsconfined to this area or do you haveknowledge of similar damage in­volving, for instance, other fuel systemcomponents such as fuel pumps, fuelfilters or fuel lines? Can you pleasc pro­vide details')We are, of Course, keen to knowwhether there is any kind of discerniblepattern to these incidents, and whether,for cxample.vehicles fitted with electricfuel pumps may be more prone to diffi­culty, in present circumstances shownup more than any other i.n the reportedincident"

(b) Anecdotal reports on the news of 12September strongly suggest that sometype of plastic may also be susceptibleto damage or deteriorarion in thepresence of the 96 octane unleaded fuelcurrently being offered for sale. Sincecertain types of plastic containcrs,officially approved for fuel storage,have been on sale in many of yourcompanys retail outlets for a consider­able period of time, can you give anassurancc that these containers have, infact, becn proved to be safe for lIse withthe current 96 octane fucl formulation')

(c) I note with interest that lhe TV adver­tisement on behalf of major fuel­reselling companies, presumablyinCluding your own, includes a requestnot to overfill motor-vehicle fuel tanks.Can you please explain the reasoningbehind the request, since I have neverpreviously been aware of any oilcompany having seen fil to raise thcmatter publicly') Does the new un­leaded 96 octane formulation differ, inthis respect, from the fuels previouslymarketed by your company')

2. Health Issues(a) Skin Exposure. Does the new 96 octane

un leaded fuel formulation present anydifferent or greater hazard, by the wayof skin exposure, than the previous 91octane unleaded or 96 octane leadedfuels? Amongst other things we areconcerned at publicised reports thatfuel-tanker drivers have been instructedto adopt a different code of workingdress, including long trousers instead ofshorts, since the new fuel was intro­duced. Is this true, and if so, what arethe reasons for the change')

(b) Fume Inhalation. There has been con­siderable public speculation onpotential health hazards arising fromthe inhalation of aromatic-laden fumesfrom the new un leaded fuel types. Doesthe current 96 octanc un leaded formu­lation present any different or greaterhazard, by way of fume inhalation orexhaust gas exposure, than the previous91 octane unleaded or 96 octane leadedfuels') What additional precautions, ifany. do you recommend"

3. Consumer Issues(a) There have been public claims that the

new 96 octane unleaded fuel was intro­duced into some fuel outlets withoutpublic notification simplY by mixing itinto the existing 96 octane leaded fueltanks, without changing their labelling,and without any public acknowledge­ment of the fact at the time by petrol re­sellers. The effect, it is suggested, isthat some motorists, thinking they werestill buying a lead-based fuel for a carwhich requircd it, were unwittinglybeing supplied with a (Iiluled or lead­free substitute. If true, this would seemto raise legitimate Consumer concernsin the area of false or misleadinglabelling. I would welcome your com­ments.

(b) Similarly, there have been mediareports of paint damage in cars whichhave suffcred fuel leakage when usingthe current 96 octane unleaded formu­lation. Is the potential for paint damageany different or greater in respect of thecurrent 96 un leaded formulation thanwas the case with the earlier 91 octaneun leaded or 96 octfllle lcaded fuels?Whal iJ any, special precautions do youcommend')

I look forward to your early report.Yours sincerely,Carl Pedersen, President

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