Paris to Peking by Delage De Dion Curtiss Special
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NEW ZEALAND’S FOREMOST HISTORICAL MOTORING MAGAZINE No. 289 December/January 2007-2008 $5.95 PARIS TO PEKING BY DELAGE Behind the Wheel of a DE DION CURTISS SPECIAL Restorations 1938 VAUXHALL 14 DX • AUSTIN 12 9 418979 000012 There photographs have been supplied to Beaded Wheels by Wayne Richards. They were found by Charlie Black while he was having a tidy-up in his garage. The photos are thought to have been taken pre-1920 in Tasmania, Australia. PHOTOGRAPHS REQUIRED Submissions of suitable prints and information (where available) are welcome from all Beaded Wheels readers. Please send original photographs of historical interest with any available information to Beaded Wheels, PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Laserprints/ photocopies are not suitable. Photos will be returned as soon as practicable. management committee A full list of branch addresses and contact details can be found on the VCCNZ website at www.vcc.org.nz All administration matters should be addressed to MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE SECRETARY/ TREASURER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE the NATIONAL OFFICE in the first instances. Please note this information changes annually John Coomber Bob Ballantyne - these details are valid until August 2008 THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NEW ZEALAND INC 03 348 0062 [email protected] 09 444 4066 [email protected] National Office PRESIDENT REGISTRAR PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140 Tony Bartlett Greg Terrill Rod Brayshaw 06 867 9850 Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 07 846 4355 [email protected] 07 549 4250 [email protected] Email [email protected] Diane Quarrie CLUB CAPTAIN NORTHERN REGION SPEED STEWARD 06 876 4009 [email protected] Rob Knight Frank Renwick 06 323 3104 03 352 4383 [email protected] BEADED WHEELS CHAIRMAN Kevin Clarkson CLUB CAPTAIN SOUTHERN REGION 03 385 9821 [email protected] Diane Ross 03 308 2356 [email protected] VCCNZ ARCHIVIST Betty Wallace 03 332 4261 [email protected] 2 Beaded Wheels Beaded Wheels Publisher THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NZ (INC.) The Historic Vehicle Authority of New Zealand ISSN 0113-7506 Vol LVI No. 289 Editorial Committee Beaded Wheels Kevin Clarkson (Chairman), Judith Bain, Rosalie Brown, John Coomber, Mark Dawber, Issue 289 December/January 2007-2008 Marilyn McKinlay, Chris Stevens, Allan Wylie. Material for Publication Reports of restorations, events, road tests, historical and technical articles etc should be FEATURES forwarded to PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141, typed or neatly printed, double space on one 11 1938 Vauxhall 14DX Restoration side of paper only. Email of text and photos is acceptable, digital photographs should be high resolution eg 300dpi. No payment is made 12 Changing Conditions at Chelsea to contributors. The opinions or statements expressed in letters or articles in Beaded Wheels are the author’s own views and do not necessarily 15 Austin 12 Restoration express the policy or views of The Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc). 16 Peking to Paris E-mail [email protected] Advertising Address 20 From Gore to Waipori Falls Power Station by Classified and Display Advertising to: Wallace McNair & Anne Thomson P O Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. took the Delage for a bit of a run... Motorcar 1906 Phone 64 3 332 3531, Fax 64 3 332 3827 from Peking to Paris, page 16. Rate schedule available on request. 24 Hunua 100 Rally Back Issues Available on request to P O Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. 26 Big End Knocks Correspondence & Editorial Contributions Phone 64 3 332 3531, Fax 64 3 332 3827 27 Taupo Vintage Car Club P O Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Subscriptions 40th Anniversary Celebrations Beaded Wheels subscribers change of address to P O Box 2546, Christchurch 8140. 28 Behind the Wheel — Phone 03 366 4461, Fax 03 366 0273 Annual subscription (6 issues) $33 inc GST Edwardian De Dion Curtiss Special Australian subscription (6 issues) NZ$48 Other countries (6 issues) NZ$65. Production Typesetting & design by RGBDesign COLUMNS Printed by Spectrum Print Ltd, Christchurch. Closing Date for February/March Issue 4 President’s Message Editorial Copy 4 January 2008 Allan Wylie gets behind the wheel of a Advertisements 10 January 2008 rather special De Dion, page 28. The Vintage Car Club of 4 As We See It New Zealand (Inc.) National Office 5 VCC Events Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 Email [email protected] Postal Address 6 National Office News P O Box 2546, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. Address 7 Mailbag 12 Aberdeen St, Christchurch, New Zealand. Website www.vcc.org.nz 9 The Way We Were Beaded Wheels is the voice of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) and its 35 branches 31 Sounding the Brass covering the length and breadth of the country. The efforts of our members continue fostering and ever widening the interest in this segment 33 Marketplace of our country’s history, and provide rallying points for the constantly increasing band of enthusiasts. It is to these people, who appreciate Check out the host of vehicles for sale 41 Swap Meets & Rallies the fascination of age, the individuality and the functional elegance of vehicles from a bygone in our marketplace, page 33. era, that this magazine is dedicated. 44 Overseas Events Beaded Wheels – It is a very apt and well-known title however readers may wonder at the origin of the name. By way of explanation beaded edge 46 Idle Torque wheels use beaded edge tyres that are kept in place by reinforced rubber beads, which fit into the rolled edges of the wheel rim. This style of 54 Obituary wheel was a distinctive feature of early motoring being used on early bicycles, many pre-1924 cars and most motorcycles until 1927. The VCCNZ adopted the title Beaded Wheels for their quarterly club magazine in March 1955 which was the successor to the monthly Guff Sheet. Copyright Information COVER The contents are copyright. Articles may be reproduced complete or in part provided that reference is made to “Beaded Wheels, the Richard McWhannell’s 1929 Austin 7 is by far the best-looking of the magazine of The Vintage Car Club of New type at Chelsea, and is also used as everyday transport around the Zealand (Inc)” as the source. Beaded Wheels reserves the right to digitally store all published North Shore. material for archival purposes. Photo supplied by John King Beaded Wheels 3 president’s message as we see it Taupo Branch recently celebrated if the gate is open, a farm track if it It is with sadness I report that Beaded their 40th anniversary. I was privileged to is accessible without opening a gate, any Wheels committee member, Robin Wells, attend the celebratory luncheon along with driveway — farm, urban or suburban, any passed away on 5 November 2007. Robin Dianne and Geoff Quarrie. Taupo is one public area that is not fenced such as a was a valued member of the committee of our smaller branches as far as member- beach, park etc. since November 1999 and attended ship is concerned and it is a credit to This is not a new rule, and doesn’t every meeting possible during that time, them for the enthusiasm and camaraderie present any problems for us as law abiding including the most recent meeting on 29 they have shown over the years. There citizens in general daily driving. It is our October. During proofing we often looked are a number of branches celebrating their understanding that it was introduced a to Robin to provide us with definitive formation and it’s a credit to past as well as number of years ago to prevent people guidance when it came to the correct present members that we belong to such a driving onto private property to avoid a usage of the apostrophe, as well as other successful organisation. We should all be pursuing law enforcement officer and also more difficult aspects of punctuation. His proud of these achievements. to widen the definition of a road so as to proofing was always well done and he was Kevin Clarkson our Beaded Wheels allow prosecutions to take place if someone excellent at getting his point across in his chairman has been busier than usual in ran amok in a public place. This was own quiet gentlemanly way. We will all the last couple of months as he has under- apparently the case where a motorcyclist miss Robin, and we express our deepest taken the task of ensuring that all copies did this in the foyer of the Christchurch sympathy to Margaret and the family. of Beaded Wheels and Guff Sheets are library some years ago. Allan Wylie has given us the benefit of recorded electronically. The Guff Sheets Over the last couple of months Tony his technical expertise over the last two were the forerunner to Beaded Wheels Bartlett has been looking at the implica- years and he has had much other valuable when the VCC was originally formed. The tions that Bio Fuels and Carbon Credits input along the way. He is now moving electronic version will be completed for will have on the activities of our Club. on from the committee member role and the March Executive Meeting and will be This has been quite a task and I extend while that leaves a gap the gain for us is available to branches after this date. The my appreciation to Tony for his work in that I believe that we may be the recipient format is very user friendly and the search this field. of some excellent articles from him in the facilities and capability will certainly Our North Island Club Captain Rob future.