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EADED IIEELS N.Z. VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORING

DECEMBER, 1961 ., .

. )

t , • f) Rnli \-RO'r FTn "Wizard" Smith Tries Out Car On Beach

Above : "Wizard Smith and Don Hark­ ness tryout hu ge car prior to World Rec ord lO-mile run. B elow : Mr. Smith. and a view of his ra cing car from the rear show ing the F ir estone Tires which he used in making the A us­ tralian record.

lVIEMORIES OF THE PAST

N. (WIZARD) SMITH SETS WORLD'S SPEED MARK IN NEW ZEALAND FIRESTONE EQUIPPED CAR LOWERS IO-MILE RE CORD; I-MILE NEXT

Ma intaining th e terrific speed a verage of mil es per hour, by averaging 128 m.p .h . wit h a 148.637 mil es per hou r to cove r a ten-mile maximum speed of 142 m.p.h. st retc h in 4.02 1-5, Mr Norma n (Wiza rd) Follow ing th e exa mple of champion drivers Smith, well-known Au stral ian mot or enthus i­ in Am erica a nd else whe re in th e world, Smi th ast, smashe d the world's ten-mile sp eed record equipped his ca r with Firestone "Gu m-D ippe d" on January 17, at N in ety Mil e Beach , Ka ita ia, tyres, ari d F iresto ne equipment perfor med per­ Ne w Zealand. f ectly in mak ing both records. F or the Aus­ The fo rme r record , accordi ng to availa ble t ralian run, F irestone t yres were f urnishe d by figures, wa s 148- 409 mil es per hou r, es ta b­ Mr E. A. Marr, F irestone distributer a t Sy d­ lished by Ralph De Palma . Smith went over ney , wh o a lso arrange d that tyres be shi ppe d to the New Zeal and bea ch from Au stralia t o to New Zealand for the a ttempt on Ni nety g et the ben efit of the long stra ight-away.H e Mil e Bea ch. used a ca r sp ecia lly desi gn ed by Mr Don Succeedi ng in two objec tives, Mr "Wizard" H arkness, one of Au stralia's best known mot or Smith now h a s designs on the world's mo tor eng ineers. The eng ine was a n a ero type, s im i­ speed r ecord of 231 m. p.h. a t present held by lar to those used in th e Schneider Cup Ra ces, Maj or Segra ve of England. 1\11- Smi th has now of light cons t ru ction, wei ghi ng 800 pou nd s a nd esta blishe d 55 speed records a lto ge ther, and having a nom in al devel opmen t of 360 hor se­ his success has encou raged his many we ll­ powe r a nd a pproximately 20,000 c.cs, This is wis he rs in the hope that the wo rl d's record the second record broken bv Smith in this ca r ma y fall to Au stralia. Fo r his big attemp t , within two months . E arly in Dece mber he Mr Smith expects to hav e a mor e formida ble broke the Au strali a n mil e record of 109.19 racing ea I'. Bead ed Wheels is th e voice of t he Vintage Car M ouem cnt in N ew Z ealand and of th e Club s whose e!JortJ are fosterin g and eve r wide ning th e interest in this movem ent and form rallying points for that eve r incre as­ ing band of enthusiasts. The fascination of age itself or rev ulsion [rom th e flashy m ediocrity of our present day is d rawin g an increasing number of motorists back t o th e individuality , solid worth, and [un cti onal elegance that was demanded by a more discrim inating ge ne ration and it is to th ese that we dedicat e- BEADED WHEELS VOL. VII, N o. 28 DECEMBER, 1961 " BEADED WHEELS" DIRECT ORY TO T HE Bead ed Wh eel s is Published V INTAGE CA R CLUB'S OFFICERS Quarterly by th e Na tiona l Executive: President , R. B. Sh and,C hristc hurch; Vli'\TAGE C/\R CLUB OF N.Z. rx c, 20 II ACKTHORi'\E ROAD C lub Ca pta in, L. G. J . Witte, T cddington ; Vi ce-C lub CII RI5TC IIURCH, 5.2, i'\EW ZEALAl'\D. Capta in and " Beade d Wh eels" Editor, Moll ie Andcrson, Yearly Subscripti on 10/ - post free. C hristc hurch; Hon . Secretary , A. A. Anderson , Christ­ church; Committee, L. B. Southward (Wellington ), R. Individua l copies 2/6 ea ch. Porter ( Carterton ), H . B. Foste r (C hristchurch) , N. C . Editor: Mrs M. .J. ANDERSON. Adarns (Auckland ) . AHistlln t Editor: R . PORTER. All corre sponde nce to C lub Secret ar y, E. A. Bail ey, P.O . Audcrsons Line, Ca rt crton. Box 2546 , Christchurc h. Copy mu st be typed on one side of pap er Auckl and Branch : C hairman, I-I. Ro binson; Secretary, N . C. and sent to the Ed itor, 20 Ha ckth urne Adam s, 66 Wairoa R oad, Dcvcnport. Road, Christchurch. Bay of Plenty Bran ch : Chai rman, 1.. Coupe; Secretary, G. - *- Capper, J oh n St. , Mt. Maunganui. COPY FOR MARCH CLOSES 'Wanganui Bran ch : Chairman, A. P. Tonks; Secreta ry, R. P. FEBRUARY 15th Le e, 47 M t. View St. , Wanganui. H awk es Bay Bran ch: C ha irma n, R. Kilbcy; Secretar y, Mrs I NT HIS ISSUE O. Ki lbey, Chilto n Rd. , Napi er. Wellington Bran ch : C ha irma n: C. M axwcll ; Secret a ry, C. T he E lusive Ansaldo Page 2 Dray, 8 Bcntick Avc., Wellington . Pionee r M otoring and Motorists Marlboro ugh Bran ch: Cha irman, L. Lord ; Secretary, J. T. in New Zealand 4 Ma y, 41 Muller Rd., Blcnheim . H ave Cadillac, Will T ravel 10 Canterbu ry Branch : C ha irman , E. J. S. Walk er ; Se cre ta ry, An Alvis Adven ture 14 R . J. C u m rni ns, 23 Randolph St., Linwood , C hrist­ church. Came ra Review 16-17 Sou th Canterbury Bran ch : Chairman,G . W. Piddington ; V. & V. Motor Cycle No tes 21 Se cretary : B. Goo d ma n, c/o. P.O ., Washdyke. Ca n terbury Notes 24 No rth O tago Branch: Chairman : R. Murray; Sec retary: J. Register and Dating Committee" 26 Sutherland, T owar d St ., O amaru, Ea rly Enginee ring in Marl- O tag o Branch : Ch airman, R . E. N. Oakley; Sec reta ry, A. C. borough 26 Carre l, e/u. Roslyn Fire Station, Du nedi n. Wa ika to No tes " 29 Southland Branch : Cha irman, J . R. Lindsay; Secreta ry, J. W. Barnes, 206 Bluff Rd., Invcrcargill . Wellingt on Branch No tes 30 Co rrespo nde nce " 31 COM ING EVENTS Nelson and Sou thland Not es 31 Wel lingt on Branch : Marlbor ough Branch No tes 32 Feb. 12-A.A. Cen tennial Wairarapa V. & V . C lassified Adv ertisements Insid e back Feb. 26- Wa irara pa wee k-end. Vi ntage. cove r March 19- Cl ub Capta ins' Tria l. V inta ge. Otago Branch: J an. 27-27- D uncd in-Brighton R un for Veteran Cars EDIT O R IA L and Motor Cycles. You arc now read ing th e last issue of "Beaded Wheels" for 1961, a nd as we go NORTH ISLAND R ALLY to print to cnd yet an ot her volum e we A commi ttee has bcen form ed from \Vangan ui Branch would like to take this op po rtunity of with the idea of ho lding a North Island ra lly a t Palm erston th anking our many contributors, subscrib­ North during Easter 1962. Further details will be circulated crs and readers for their sup po rt during to north Island members at a lat er dat e. Meantime keep the year and to wish you all, wherever East er free. you may be a very happy Christm as a nd prosperou s New Year.-From th e Editor ­ COVER PHOTO.- T he 1923 6-ey linde r Ansa ldo-­ ial Co mm ittee of " Beaded Wh eels," New test ed in this issue . Z ealand. ( Photo by D. R"" Mackay) P..v;E TWO DECDflJER. 1961

TH E ELUSIVE ANSALDO K. M. Newbery. There wer e some very interesting cars David began at the back-end, adjusting manufactured in Italy during th e 'twenties, the unusual reverse spira l diff and worked his but one seldom reads accounts of the Ansaldo, way right through replacing and ren ewing or of th eir performance, which must have until he slid satisfied from the shining front been rather startling. dumb-iron. Some known weakn esses were corrected to make this ca r more reliable, The Ansaldo described here is a 1923 such things as skew gears were replaced with 2-litre type 6A owned by David Silcock of gears made from a m at erial th at will last Christchurch; it is a perfectly restored open more than the length of High Street, Dune­ tourer origina lly owned by J ack Sa mpson din . Bearings were rernetalled with Diesel of Christchurch, hence th rough sever al hands engine white m etal, since ordina ry white until it came to a rather sha ttering sto p with metal of the th ickness found in th ese big- end s our National Secretary behind th e wheel no seems to pound out, and valves with threaded doubt muttering something about £60 worth valve retain ers were replac ed with collet of skew gears ! But in D avid this car has va lves ( Chev. truck valves to be exact ), since met its master, not just by good luck but the dropping an overhead valve at speed seems hard way, since D avid spent several years to put embarrassing holes in pistons. And taming a 4C Ansald o and was thu s able to lastl y somebody else had replaced the origina l avoid many pit-falls th at tend to reduce these B.E. wheels by spoking 500 x 20 wheels to cars to th e cnd of a tow-rope. the original R .A.F. lockin g spline hubs.

Looking down into the very neat well finished interior of the Ansaldo. ( Photo bv D. Ross Mackav) DECBlIlER. 1961 PAGET H RE E

As I sat in this car I noti ced it had just sports ca r ; it will negoti at e the usual street just done 600 miles since its overhaul; it still corner at 40 m .p.h. without even a tyre had that new ca r smell and its nickle plating squeal, in fact one would think the car was shone in the sun. All that could be heard on rails; on tar-seal roads th e only lim it to at 30 m.p.h . was the wind, but don 't think cornering is the ability of the driver to turn this is a ca r to be tre ated with kid gloves, the wheel! On shin gle it will slide gracefully as I soon found out it was design ed for rough but once corrective steering is applied it will hilly country with plenty of tight corne rs. straighten immediately read y for the next bend. Du e perhaps to its long stiff springs, The car has superb four-wheel brakes, this car seems to ride very well, its radiator lar ge finn ed drums that don 't seem to fad e, risin g and falling quite leisu rely ove r Christ­ the link age is full y compensating, and churc h's newly subsiding sewers and not so although it makes the pedal rather spo ngy, new pot-holes; in fact , fram the ba ck seat the braking always pull ed up stra ight without one feels only remotely connected to the an y one wheel skidding . The steering is engine so smoo thly does the back ride . dir ect, one and a quarter turns from lock to lock, and although heavy when driving As for the power unit, it is hard to realize slowly is ideal for high speed corne ring since it was built in 1923 except perhaps that its a flick of the wheel will correc t a slide and appea rance is too neat and convenient to be gives a feeling of complete control. a modern engine. It has six cylinders, 65mm As for performan ce, this 14ft of seven­ bore and 100mm stroke and develops 60 h.p . seater tourer beh aves more like a h igh elass The valves arc overhead, slightly inclined ,

"T he Work s." ( Pho to hy D. Ross M acka v) P,\CE fOUR DE CEMBER . 1%1 driven by a single overhead camshaft which makes (perhaps the Editor could help?), but in turn is driven by a vertical shaft and skew I see they are not far behind the figur es for gears. All the bearings are pressure fed at the 7-litre 1Sl27 Phantom R.R. mentioned in 40 p.s.i., the sump is finned aluminium and "Beaded Wheels," December, 1960 . holds two gallons of oil; the gearbox is This car cruises best about 65 m.p.h. with mounted on the engine and has a central very little vibration or noise except for a ball change. The drive shaft is a 2Y2 inch healthy exhaust note just behind the back diameter tube driving through two pot type seat. universals to a rather high ratio diff. 4.6 : 1. Everything about this car is convenient for In spite of our gruelling tests it still averaged the mechanic : brakes are adjusted by turn­ nearly 20 miles per gallon, which must say ing just one adjuster; in fact , the hand brake something for the engine design . could be don e while driving. Even the wir­ The following were the speeds attained ing is done through two fuses on the switch in each gear: First, 18 m.p.h.; second, 40 panel so that in an emergency only one head m.p.h. ; third, 75 m.p.h. The speedo was light will fuse, even then the fuse could be correc t at 55 m.p.h. changed in minutes. In all I think the gearbox is the only dis­ The finish of the inside bodv trim deserves appointing feature, although well made and special mention since all the polished wood­ easy to cha nge there seem s the need for an ­ work on dash, pockets and door panels is other gear between second and top ; but framed with a neat bone inlay line which pressing on regardless we were able to clock makes the fine graining rea lly stand out. The the following figur es in our acceleration test: seats arc flut ed leather in very good order, 0.40, 13 seconds; 0-50, 23 seconds; 0-60, 34 although the springs in the driver's seat seem seconds. Standing quarter mile, 30 seconds. a little tired. This car will be hard to fault I don't know how these figures compare and should be worth watching in club events with contem pora ry cars of more well known of the future.

PIONEER MOTORING and MOTORISTS

INN.Z. By Dryden Rowan, Dnnedin.

EARLY MOTORING AND MOTOR indi cates the progr ess wh ich has been made CARS IN OTAGO in motoring during the half century. From the days of chain drives and tiller control to PART 1 over-drives and finger-tip control is not lon g [We ar e gr eatly ind ebted to Mr Dryden in years but the improvem ents made, ar e Rowan and Dr Roland Fulton of Dunedin, out of all proportion to the time which has both of whom have spent many hours compil­ elapsed . From th e day s when this run to ing this Otago series of articles. I trust that Mosgiel (only 10 miles) was reported in the this wonderful effort on their part will in­ press to the time when th e 200 mile trip to spire Club members in other centres to assist Christchurch is covered in a few hours, ha s the Editorial Committee in making the been a long road, but in retrospect, it is Otago History just the start of a series, which not eworthy that so many of the milestones in will eventually give to posterity a concise th e early history of motoring have been account of the motor car and motoring per­ erected in Otago . sonalities in New Zealand since th e dawn of Up to the 1914-1918 war, the motor ca r motoring.- Ed.J resembled nothing so much as a glorified "A motor run from Dunedin to Mosgiel buggy minus shafts, something entirely differ­ was held last Saturdav afternoon. About a ent from the modern vehicle with its multi­ doz en motor cycles ~h d five cars made the cylinder eng ine, easy steering, smooth clutch , run out." This announcement, made in a easily manipulated gears, four-wheel brakes, Dunedin newspaper on Au gust 17th, 1904, self starter and electri c lights. DECEMBER . 1961 PAGE FIVE

Foremost amo ng th e pioneers of the motor th ose days benzine was only 71'4d per ga llon. ca r in New Zealand was th e late Dr R . V . T he Americans had led th e way with the Fulton, of Duned in. Even some yea rs ea rlier steam cars, but Britain came to the fore with he was paving the wa y. Co rrespo ndence pet rol-driven ca rs. Aetua lly the first petrol­ passed between Dr Fulton and M r Scobie driven ca r in Duned in was a single-cylinde r M cKenzie, M emb er of th e H ouse of Repre­ fou r-seat er Darracq. T his had been landed senta tives regarding obtaining sanction of at Bluff for Mr H ankinson of Invercargill. Parliam ent for th e introduction of motor cars Mr Muric drove the car to Dunedin with to New Zealand. Mr H ankinson as passenger . This car was The first car to appear in D unedin was a lat er sold to Mr W. H . Paterson of Go re. stea m " Locornobile" brought from Auckland The next car to arr ive was a Gardner Sepol­ by Mr J ennings of Jennings & Co., Auckland. ette, stea m car, to the orde r of Sir J ames This was demonstrated in the city and then Mills of th e U nio n Steam Shipping Co m­ shipped back to Au ckland. As a result of pan y, D un edi n. this demonstrati on, a simila r car was ordered T hen M cssrs Skea ts & Bockae rts of Auck­ by Mr W . L. Kempthorne and arrived in land brought down a de Dion Bouton single­ Dunedin in 190 I, so this was the very first cylinder ca r with fibre expa nding clutch. The ca r. The Loco mobile was fitt ed with a twin following year, the same firm bro ught down cylinder eng ine of 2~- i n bore and 2tin stro ke. a twin-cylind er Darracq . T his was lat er The boiler, which had a pressure of 2501 bs, bought by M r T om Stone of Invercargill. was heat ed by kerosene or benzine, the burner Possibly the first car with internal combustion being on similar principl e to th at of a primus to be owned by a local resident was Mr E . stove. The car was fitt ed with tiller steering . H ayward's 5 h.p. Ol dsmobile. This had a For sta rting, first check wat er gauge for heavy fly-wh eel and a slow-running horizon­ boiler. Light burner and wait until stea m tal engi ne. The lighter type of fly-wheel did pressure rose. Open throttle valve slowly not come into use until mult i-cylinder cngines and th e engine sta rted away very quietly. were common. The boiler being sma ll, stea m was used as O ther early car owners were: J . L. Pass­ quickly as it was genera ted, so it was not pos­ more (Clement-T albot) , W. Brown (single­ sible to keep the th rottle open for long cylinder Argy ll with Simms low tension igni­ periods ; this meant th at hills had to be taken tion ),Sir James M ills ( 1905 22 h.p. O ldsmo­ slowly and easily. It had no gear box, no bile with double-opposed engine), H arrison reverse gea r, the engine being reversible. The Jones ( 12-16 h.p. Decau ville, a lively and engine was used for br aking, too. fast French make of car), G. M ethve n ( Loco ­ Then M essrs Bat es Sise Ltd. orde red a mobile ), F. D. Banfi eld ( 15-20 Darracq ) , " Pope T oledo" stea m car which ar rived in W. T. M cFarl an e ( 7 h.p. Regal ), La idlaw 190 I , just three months after the " Locomo­ (single-cylinder Darracq ), Dr B.E. De bile." T he " Pope Toledo" was driven to Lat our (Star ),T urn bull & J ones (\Volseley) , Christchurc h by M r Sise, and was the first Reginald Acton Adams (Beeston-H umber ) , car to make the journey between the two H . V. Fulton ( 14 h.p . Vulcan ) , A. C. and cities. I n Chr istchurc h, Mr Sise was sto pped J. C. McGeorge ( M inerva) , Wardell by an official and asked for his enginee r's (Argyll), Goodman (de DioH ), Dr W . Allan certificate, and as none was forthcoming, he M osgieI ( 1907 Rover ), Rev. Father Cleary was asked to drive to the Council office for (H umbe r), W right Stephenson's (Renaults) , a permit. Wh en th e official was seated com­ Dr Lilly Naseby (Buick 1908 ) , R . Hunter fortably in the car, he glanced at the pressure Weston (single-cylinder 6 h.p. Cadillac 1903 gauge, then show ing 230lbs pressure. H c model ) , Sir Geo rge M cLean (30 h.p. Sidd­ got out hastily exclaiming " Loo k out ! the ley-deasy ). thing will blow up. " On being assured by U p to 1911 man y people who visited G rea t Mr Sise th at all was well, he resum ed his sea t Brit ain and other overseas countr ies bro ught and they dr ove to th e Council office where hom e a new car. Many of these were odd Mr Sise was issued a permit to drive in and mak es, or orpha ns as the ga rage men called around Christchurc h. On th e journey up them . and back 18 eases of benzine ( 144 ga llons ) Some of these were: Dr F .C . Batc helor wer e used: 3.3 miles per gallon; but then, in (Gladiator ) ,Cha rles H oldsworth (30 h.p. 1'.'\(;£ SIX DE CDIB£R. 1%1

Group taken about 1903 or 1904 outside hotel on Main South Road, near Saddle Hill, ten miles south of Dunedin.

Austin tourer with double chain dri ve and a tim e, he purchased a 5 h.p. Ga rrard sing le­ siren whi ch was useful in clearing country cylinde r, water-cooled , "suspended tricar' road s ) , P. R . Sargood (20 h.p. Maudslay) , which was lat er tak en over by M essrs Coo kc, Pal ker (H ispano-Suiza Spo rts ), Dr Tom H owlison & Co., when he bought his single­ Fergus (Phoenix twin-cylinder) , Dr 1'. C . cylinde r 8-10 h.p. Rover , the first car out of McKellar ( Newton-Bennett with long stroke the first shipment in 1905. This car was well engine 70 x 140 ) , J. R. Rhodes (Sizaire known in Otago and gave long servi ce. It Naudin-no gea r box, du al rear axl e, singlc­ may be mentioned also that th is Rover won cylinder ) , Professor Dunlop (Stanlcy Steam­ the' "Steering and Balancing" compe tition er ), D. 1'. Sha nd (Berliet) , and Mr W. held at the Agricultural and Pastor al Society's Kirkland- an unusual ca r, 3-cylinde r 1904 show in the summer of 1906. The first Buick Vauxhall , whi ch had a quiet and absolutely cars were landed in Dunedin for Cooke, regular and even " tick-over." Howlison & Co. in 190 7. These were fitted The " Argyll" 4-cylinder ca r was th e first with 18 h.p. twin-cylinder double opposed to have four-wheel brakes: 1910-1911. eng ines and had single chain dri ve. The The Intern ati onal twin-cylinder motor Buick was the first car to climb the "s ho rt buggy ( 19 12 ) was exactly like a high whe eled cut" hill to U pper Junction , th e hill lat er buggy and was spec ially imported for country used by the Autom obile Association for hill roads, but was found unsuitabl e as th e steel climbs. tyres slipped and skidded on the met al roads. It is said th at the first Ford in Otago was Even after it had hard rubber tyres fitted import ed by Mr F. D. Dennison of O arn aru, they were not really uscful. This was a twin-cylind er mod el. Mr Denni­ ~/[o st of the early ca rs were fitted with the son was also supposed to be the inventor of new beaded- edge tyres ; tyre trouble was usual the Stcpncy wh eel whi ch proved invaluable and regarded simply as part of the joy of to ea rly drivers until some thing better super­ owning a motor car. These tyres were held seded it. H owever , Mr Dcnnison did not on by four secur ity bolts and the fittin g was a invent the real Stcpncy wheel which was sup­ severe trial of patience for all concerned . ported by four clamps fitted between the tyre The late Dr R. V. Fulton was a most and the edge of the rim. These clamps re­ enthusiastic motorist. After riding a Clem­ quired checking frequently as they had very cnt-Garra rd 2 ~ h.p. motor cycle for som e limited supporting surfaces. The Dcnnison l) E CE~JIl ER . 191>1 PACE SEVEN

spare wh eel had a flan ge fitted permanently simply to adjust the magneto points-four to it whi ch fitted against th e wheel felloe and days altogether. was locked by four clamps against the wheel. Break-down trucks wer e unheard of, and This was more secure and safer in use. The cars would be left on the roa d un til parts Stepney wheel had been known to becom e were procured or mad e. Lying on a sack in loose and race a car down hill and even go th e mud, fitting a new rear axle was not a right th rough a display window. T he first pleasant job, but the re was an amusing side, 4-cylinder Ford was brought to Dunedin by as in one insta nce . The cars then had rear an actress, Miss Florence Bain es, then ap­ gua rds straight ou t like bu ggy guards. When pearing in "Miss Lan cashire Ltd." Mr S. S. the rep air was finished, a push was asked for M yers (dentist) bought this car and used it by the young mech anic. O ne bearded gentle­ for some time. It was then sold to Mr Clar­ man put his shoulder to th e rear guard right ence Urnbers and later to Mr A. H an cock. beh ind the wheel. He was warned of wh at Ea rly motoring, naturally, was anything would happen if the wheel spun, but didn't but simple. Cars were just coming int o the relish being told by a mere youth. T hen it country and new makes a ppeared quickly. happened . T he wheel spun and he got the :. Some behaved quite well considering the full for ce of the thi ck yellow wet cla y in his probl ems manufacturers had in producing face. T here was so m~ ch clay in h i~ beard engines suitable for prevailing conditions th at he had to strain it out ~ i t h his hands her e. With so many makes and types it was till it looked like a muddy rope han ging from impossible to obtain experienced men avail­ his fa ce. Of course the youth laughed. Mut­ able for bre akd owns and repa irs, which were tering a few rude words to the youth, th e a regul ar part of early motoring. As cars bearded one stalked off. ventured fu rth er from town on to rougher A few mech an icall y-minded young men country roa ds, broken springs were a bu gbear learned to dri ve early and also learned how and th e village blacksmith was naturally the to do running rep airs. They were often hired one called on for help. Cycle mechan ics by car owners for long er tr ips outside the city, who already had had some experience with especially to race meetings. ignition and carbure ttor problems on motor In 1895 M essrs F. A. Coo ke and E. Howli­ cycles were also in de man d, so it was not long son opened business in K ing Street, as bicycle before blacksm ith and cycle shops were doing builders and repairers an d soon began to im­ maj or ca r rep air work. T he mechani cs port motor parts to fit on cycle fram es. T he especially made intensive study of such man­ next step was to import motor cycles and uals or directions as came th eir way, but these later motor cars . Some of the motor cycles were few and far between, so, in man y cases, th en in use were Clement C arrards (built maj or repa irs were mad e just by trial and into strong cycle frame, winner of eight places error, or pure guess work. Calls for experi­ in the first hill climbs ). enced men, sometimes necessitat ed long trips Minerva, Werner (engine mounted right into th e country for quite often a trifling job , out in front on the handle bars ). Peugeot such as a long train and coac h journey to (twin-cylinder Vee ), Motascoche (triangular \\1ana ka and back ( 180 miles eac h way ) motor un it complete to fit on ordina ry cycle ),

Pictu red at lef t is the 1904 V tucxhall w hic h was th e late M r. W . Kirkltnul' « first car. A t ri ght is a re­ product.ion of the ori ai ua! sedal 1l1l1ll bel' pla te w hic h shows th e vehicle to have been one of Vauxh all's VC)"1/ cm'!1/ m odels. I'I\GE EIG HT DECEMBER . 1961

F.N. (Belgian ) , Vindee Special, Matchless, agent went along for com pa ny. They man­ King Dick. Fixed speed on these early aged fairly well until th ey had to ford a models meant rigorous pedalling on hills or stream in whi ch they stuck. So they removed - just pushin g. th eir boots and socks and pushed the car out. Earl y in 1900, Mr S. R. Stedman , a cycle The da y was fine and sunny so neither both­ dealer, import ed D ouglas, B.S.A . and ered to replace their footw ear as they set off Triumph motor cycles, and lat er was agent for hom e. This particular ca r had a low for Humb er and Clement-Baya rd cars. tension ignition with the coil, with high ten ­ M essrs Wimpenny Bros. also entered th e sion lead mounted on the dash under the motor cycle and ca r trad e about this time and scuttle. The insulating cover of the coil had were agents for Vulcan , Hupmobile and vibra ted off leaving the bar terminal exposed. Overla nd. J\II r Wimpenny also built himself The passenger stretched his legs, his big toe a motor cycle; engine and fram e wer e im­ touched the terminal and with a loud yell, ported. T he engine, a 4 Y2 h.p. twin-cylinder "Something bit me," he hoisted his feet up H amilton V type, fitted with two speeds. It to the sca t nearl y ca using th e driver to run was said to climb our Dunedin hills with ease. off th e roa d. After a rather heat ed discus­ Prob abl y th e first side-ca r to appea r here sion, the dri ver, to prove how one's imagin a­ was a " M illo rd" purchased in 1910 by M r tion could get the bett er of one, put his foot A. E. M cDougall and A. E. Ansell. The on th e coil. Well, he found wha t the spark int erest manifested in this was second only to coil could do, and this tim e th e car did go the int erest in the first motor cars. off the roa d. After being towed back on th e Some of the stock firms supplied th eir road, th ey set off with th eir feet well away age nts and bu yers with cars. These men from that coil, firml y convinced that cars were used to horses and were not mechani­ were the invention of the devil. This same cally minded at all. T hey had great diffi­ man when going up hills always sat forward culty learning to drive, in fact, some of them in his sea t and " clucked," talked the car up never became proficient th ough they covered just as he had done to his horse. man y miles on th eir trips round th e country. Onc can well imagin e th e probl ems a nd M an y amusing incidents came to mind. worries of th ese early drivers when many One Scotch bu yer, Mr G., an amusing and tim es the nearest help would be 100 miles happy soul, could never remember to put th e away. Telephones were poor and a stock choke in as soon as the engine sta rted after agent wh o had been used to horses found it cranking, with the result tha t it flooded and hard to expl ain to a mechani c just wh at the stopped. He was told wh at to do time and trouble was. T hey simply d id not talk the time aga in, but still did not always remem­ same language. ber. At last th e mech ani c told him th at on With so mu ch int erest in and so mu ch such occas ions when he could not start it, he work being done on vintage cars nowadays, was to pu t th e choke in, light his pip e, tak e one's th oughts naturally turn to the difficul­ a short walk , th en tr y aga in. One night he ties experienced in early days , of keepi ng th ese came out of th e local hotel, cra nked the car cars on th e road. There was no end to prob­ and forgot th e choke as usual. A friend came lems but motorin g was full of int erest even and offered to help , but was told " Dinna if, at times, patience was sorely tri ed. O ne to uch it! Dinna touch th e a uld witch or she could not just walk round th e corne r and will na sta rt." H e then remembered to put procure a new part, so in man y cases it meant the choke in, leisurely lighted his pip e and imp rovising, sometimes with weird and won­ walked solemnly round th e car twelve tim es. dcrf ul results, but it was more wonderful still T hen cranked again and aw ay he went. H e th at these improvisati ons work ed so well. really didn't have a very good opinion of th e Spring repai rs were not a great difficult y as car at all and certainly th ought it bewit ch ed . most blacksmiths could manage to find some­ O n anot he r occasion a ca r was delivered thing to repair or replace broken leaves. to a country stock age nt and after three weeks Front axles were in man y cases, too light for spent teaching him to dri ve, cha nge tyres, our country road s; here again th e blacksmith spark plugs, etc., the time arrived for his first fitted extra tie rods or e1 amped on a piece run without his tutor. As he had to go to a of strengthening steel. O ne of the best eme r­ rather rough part of th e country an other gency repairs was done in a very sma ll Cen- DECEM BER. 1961 PAG E N INE tral Otago township. The local blacksmith tion altoge ther. Quite often wh en the car forged a new connecting rod for an early boiled, as it did when so filled, one had th e R over car. The writer an d th e blacksmith impression th at the breakfast porridge was fossicked on th e scra p heap of an old dredg­ still cooking! Wh en th e day's run was over, ing clai m, found a piece of shafting and this water had to be drained, often the engine was forged into a rod, th e writer being the was run for a few moments to make sure. stickler for heavy hammer work. With only T here was no anti-freeze, bu t later some mix­ a verti cal hand drill to drill holes for piston tures of glycerine and methylated spirits were pins and big end bolts, an d then some very tried. Ea rly morning starting was a tri al. hard filing on th e write r's part, a first class H ot wa ter was necessary for th e ra diator. job was th e result. This rod was not re­ Often th e clutch ped al had to be held down placed for a long time aft er a new onc arrived with a piece of wood. Gea r oil was usuall y from England. T his blacksmith had been heavy steam cylinde r oil which mad e it prac­ trai ned in an engi neering shop in Britain, tically impossible to cra nk the engine with th e and certainly knew his job. No lathe was clutch engaged even with gea rs in neut ral. availab le which meant a lot of extra work So with hand sta rting, whi ch usually raised fitt ing big end bea rings whi ch fortunat ely the driver's temperature, one was, with a were bron ze-backed. little luck, ready for the road. Steering The hard frosts in Otago Central meant joints were sometimes frozen tight and fly­ real trouble for ea rly motorists. Cracked wheels frozen int o the undershield have raised cylinde r blocks and heads, an d burst radia­ the blood pressure of many drivers as th ey tors were th e result of frost. Sometimes, plas­ wondered if the cylinders were crac ked . ter of Paris was used on cylinder blocks for The roa ds we re just tracks and when a pattern and soft brass castings were fitted frozen, very rough. When the thaw set in, over man y badly cracked blocks. Co pper chains were needed, and low gear work plat e was also used wh ere cracks were easily ca used radiators to boil furiously. got at. In sum mer, th ere was th e othe r extreme, Manv owners tried oat meal as a radiator dust-inches of it, which mad e heavy going stop leak.' This often sto pped wa ter circula- an d cause d m uch wear ann tear. There were

Mr Rowan dri ving a 15 h.p. Star car in 1908. Photo taken outside the Henley Hotel, 21 miles south of Dunedin, PAGE T D l DEC E~IUER . 1961 no air filters on ca rs until owners found the linin g. Betw een mud and dust and frequent advantage of keeping out dust. Then home crossing of strea ms br akes needed constant mad e filters usually made from oil drums atte ntion. Often after crossing a stream the with linen sheeting stretched inside, were brakes becam e non-existent. They then had used and with these, some cars actually to be applied and dri ed out before becoming doubled the mileage between engine over- effective again. By th at time, another cross- hauls. Brakes on most of the olde r cars were ing was in sight and so th e story was repeated the outside type lined with various types of again and again. (To be continued. )

HAVE CADILLAC, WILL TRAVEL By Noel McMillan With the approach of Easter and another rejoicing, but we followed him for a wh ile National Rally I began to form plans for my just to make sure that he was all right. grand New Zealand tou r whi ch I had been As we had not mad e any hotel bookings promising myself for man y years, but various we were a little appre hensive that wc may not circumstances, such as fallin g foul of the vin­ be able to obta in beds for the night, but we tage Cadiliac, had very effectively thwarted spent a very comforta ble night at th e hotel any such plan s and prevented them from aft er consuming a few " nightcaps." This was reaching fruition. a contrast to the expe riences of some of the This time, however, I was determined that Auckland contingent who, I was told, spent nothing was going to prevent the fulfillm ent the night on th e side of th e road! What Spar­ of a long-cherished ambition to take th e tan enth usiasts ! Ca diliac on a R EAL trip and so gradually Nex t morning th ere was a gene ral assem­ the preparations were mad e and the stage bly in the main stree t of T aupo and eventu­ was almost set for the dep arture. ally we all dep arted for Napi er over the M y famil y were wh oleheartedl y in favour notorious T aupo-Nap ier road. of this tour and considered that it wou ld do T he re was a short sto p at Tarawera so th at me goo d to get away for a good holiday, but everyone could fort ify th emselves for th e long I stro ngly suspect th at what they really meant hill ahead, th e ascent of whi ch was accom­ was th at it would prove to be just as good a plished without any undue trouble by the holid ay for th em . .. ! Vintage Brigad e, but near the summit some As th e Easter week-end drew nigh I mad e "c hromium encrusted, formless tin balloons" arran gements to finish up at my plac e of em­ were observed presumabl y admiring th e view. ployment on the Thursday night before Easter I wonder. and so (mo re or less) straight after work that As we neared Napier wc were enthusiasti­ night I collected my navigator, Neil Bieleski, cally welcom ed by one of their members wh o and set sail for Taupo, hoping that this time guided us all to the H astings Showgrounds, I would have a bit bett er luck than on my last where we were all able to mak e many new visit th ere. friends, as well as renew old acq ua inta nces. Nothing very mu ch of interest 'happened As th e H astin gs Nationa l Rally has alread y until we were abo ut T okoroa , I think, been described in fuller detail th an I could, when we ca me across Barry R oberts and I can only say that the weather was perfect, his navigat or with the bonnet of the La­ the meals first-class, and th at everything went gonda up , peering furtively within. \'Ve off perfectly without a hit ch. I will take this stopped to see if we could rend er an y assist­ opportunity of th anking th e H awk es Bay an ce, but it turned out that we couldn' t as Branch, and particularl y R eg and Olive Kil­ there was a hole in the radiator core, fortun­ bey, for the prodigious am ount of work th at atel y near the top, whi ch was permitting the must have gone into makin g it the success esca pe of th e coolant. Not reco mme nded ! that it undoubtedl y was. However, Barry had bunged it up temporarily At the conclusion of th e R ally, I bad e farc­ and so was able to proceed on his merry way well to my navigator, and all th e Au ckland DECEMBER. 1%1 PM;E ELEVE'" boys, and headed in the general direction of early vintage Buick, as well as a restored hot Wellington. The Grand Tour had begun! air engine, and assorted steam traction en­ My first stop was at Waipawa where lunch gines, various car engines, gearboxes, spares, (of sorts) was assimilated, after which I, too, etc., etc. I could have pottered about there surveyed the still smoking ruins of the hotel for days! that Rex Porter mentioned in his Hastings As it was I had to get the car, and myself, write-up. From there I dawdled down to Mas­ shipped off to the South Island, so at the terton where I called around to see Ken Bull wharf I appeared on the day I was to leave, whom I had met at Hastings, and who is a and left the car there to be loaded on to the very keen V. and V. motorcycle man. Un­ Tamahine, while I went shopping as I didn't fortunately when I arrived at his home he had think I could have endured the sight of the not arrived back from Hastings, but was due car dangling on the end of a rope AGAIN at any tim e. Sure enough he soon appeared as it would bring back painful memories. and in great jubilation informed me that the When I returned to the ship the car was cause of the delay was the discovery of a Blue firmly ensconced at the bottom of the after X Excelsior motorcycle of about 1921 or so. hold and I breathed a sigh of relief. Ken is a very keen Excelsior man, having just I then made myself comfortable on board about completed the restoration of one "Bix and waited for the Tamahine to sail. Sailing X ," and so a very pleasant evening was spent time came ... and went! So did the hour animatedly discussing Excelsior lore which after sailing time, and the next hour, and the will be of great benefit to me when I start on next, leaving us still firmly tied up at the the restoration of mv own "Bix X " which will wharf with no sign of moving this side of get under way upon my return to Auckland, Christmas. Most of the passengers were get­ I hope. ting restive , yours truly included! The ship's Next dav I called at Carterton and said R~x officers could tell us nothing, except that there hello to Porter and his wife, and spent was an argument going on between the cap­ an enjoyable time talking over Rally topics tain and the crew which showed no immedi­ with him. ate signs of being settled, and about tea time After this pleasant interlude I motored off we were calmly informed that the Tamahine over the Rimutakas to Wcllington, and filled would not sail 'that day as scheduled but that in a couple of days there until the sailing date passengers would be accommodated aboard of the Tamahine for Picton. that night, if desired. Of course, this news While filling in time in Wellington I called made the end of a perfect day complete and at General Motors and had quite an interest­ cheered everybody up no end to learn that ing chat with some of the old hands there who they would have to sleep on board the wretch­ used to drive Cadillacs in the old service car ed old tub and most people, myself included, days, and took one of them for a drive in the had all their clothes in their cars which were car during which he took the wheel himself, firmly battened down in the holds and with th ereby bringing ba ck to him many happy no chance whatever of getting them out. memories of a car that he last drove thirty years ago. Next morning we all trooped around to the shipping company's office and were told to I th en called on Len Southward who very come back at eleven o'clock, whereupon we kindly showed me around his cars and his ex­ were told that the Tamahine was not going tensive factory, both of which were extremely to sail, which we had guessed, but that we interesting. The cars were far too numerous would all be shipped on the Hinemoa which for me to mention in detail as space will not would sail for Lyttelton that night. The permit too lengthy a description, but briefly, trifling fact that most of the passengers didn't and from memory, there were a 3-litre and a want to go to Lyttelton was a mere bagatelle 4Y2-litre Bentley, a Steams Knight, of the and of no importance whatever. The Hine­ late vintage period with a Cadiliac motor of moa goes to Lyttelton, and that's where you about the same year as mine in it, a single­ cylinder Cadiliac with a spare motor or two, will go, SEE? a Reo of about 1906, a Ford T fire engine, a Back to the good ship Tamahine, see about superb Ford T sedan, a Chrysler Airflow, an getting the cars off, PAGE T WELVE oECE:\lIIER. 1961

After abo ut an hour, a ga ng of wat ersiders un abl e to leave Christch urch much before 3 appeared, looking very bad-tempered abo ut p.m., so most of th e trip was underta ken in having to work at all, mu ch less on a Satur­ th e hou rs of darkn ess. day, and proceeded to unl oad th e ca rs, and Aft er leavin g K aikoura th e country became none too ca refully at th at. One of th em vent­ rea lly rem ote, an d having not seen a car or ed his spleen on th e " funny old bomb" (ooh, any signs of life for a long time I began to th at aw ful word !) in th e bott om of the after experience a feeling of great lon elin ess a nd hold , by th e simple exp edi ent of s w i ng i n~ it could see in my mind's eye the two sets of aro und on the hook a nd bashing th e n ght distributor points openin g a nd closing in time front mudgard against a steel upright. Your with the steady beat of th e mo tor, and all scribe was watch ing thi s in ang uish on th e those eight connecting rods flying up and wh a rf. W e th en drove aroun d to the H ine­ down. H owever I eventua lly drifted out of moa an d hung a round th ere whil e th ey were this state of reverie in time to notice th e ca r load ed on yet ag ai n. And thi s time, THIS beh aving in a most un-Cadillaclike manner. It time we actuallv sa iled ! was climbing up th e ca mber of th e road wh en un e~ ' entful Quite an night was spent on th e th e stee ring wheel was let go, so I stopped and Hinem oa ca tching up on th e sleep that had had an investigation. The left rear tyre was been lost th e night before, and on a nice calm half flat so out with all th e gear from the Sunday morning, I landed in Lyttelt on as the boot, an'd put on one of th e spares which I shipping company threat en ed that I would. had had rep aired in Christchurch, and I As soon as th e ca r was unl oad ed I d rove pressed on. Ab out ten mil c~ fu rt~ er on I sa w stra ight to the home of Hugh Turtill to view at last relief from th e lon eliness In th e shape his excellent 1922 Cadillac Phaeton (type 61) of a girl hit ch-hiker. Whacko , I th ou ght ! which is full y up to expec ta tions and th en As I drew closer I could see th at th ere were some. Both Hugh and his son T yrrell and I two of th em . Curses, foiled ag ain! It was have been correspo nding for some yea rs now now abo ut 10 o'clock at night so I could n't but had never met , so a g rea t old ya rn was just drive past and leave th em th ere, so th e indulged in th ere, followed by a drive in each kni ght in shining Cadiliac stopped and helped othe r's cars, including a little jaunt to L ake the damsels in distress. It turn ed out th at Ellesmere and Leeston , wh ere I had hoped to they we re heading for Blenheim , whi ch was a see J ohn M cL achl an wh o was unfortunately h appy coinci de nce, so in climbed th e tw o away at th e time, but who I have since ca ught girls, com plete with an enormo us pa ck ~a c h . up with. Those readers who have seen my ca r Will no T he next day I presented myself at Club do ubt realise the enormity of this un dertak ing, headquarters, wh ere I was cordially received , two-seat er coupes tend to be a trifle conges ted ~ eet and arra nge ments wer e mad e for me to when containing three fairly well built people 1930 Rob Sha nd, and to tak e his Cadillac and two voluminous packs. 35 3 sedan for a drive whi ch I duly did with­ out delay. This is a fine example of th e When everyone was as comfortable as pos­ model an'd is in excellent health, a nd performs sible we set ~ ff ag a in and had gone about like all Cadillacs should, perfectly. eight mi les when th e peaceful nig.ht ai r ~ a s Aft er thi s I consumed a convivial glass or shatt ered by a sound like a howitzer gOIng two with D ave Bowman , Don Oddie and off. I had' th e advantage of knowing wh at others and lat er had a repeat perf ormance had caused th e noise, and conseq uently was with 'Dave M orle y, Hugh Foster, Mich ael relativelv ca lm and collected, but I am afraid M cLeod, Dave Barker , Ron Hasell, Peter my two cha rming travellin g companions Clarkson, old U ncle T om Co bley and all. If nearly became th e new record hold ers for th e I have om itted to mention anyo ne, please sitti ng high jump. Yes, you have guessed. it, accept th is as a person al acknowledge me nt. th e spa re I had ju st fitted about ten miles By th is time I th ou ght it a good idea to back had blown out, which wasn't a great continue on th e tou r before my funds ra n surprise as it was pretty old a ~ d rotten , but out , so witho ut any fur th er de lay I departed whe n a 600 x 21 blows out carrYlllg 40 pou nd s north to, no, not Alaska, but Blenheim. I of air it makes a fair bit of a row, and I am had int ended leaving early and ge tting th ere inclined to th ink that th e ext ra weight had by tea time, but due to unforseen delays I was something to do with it. Out everybody gets, DEc nlllER , 1961 PAGE T IllRTEE:" and I fit th e last remaining spare, after, whi ch That evening a picture evening and noggin we all squeezed ba ck in again (don't ask me and natter had been arranged, and I need ed how ), and eventually arr ived at Blenheim no coaxing . There I met so many of th e ab out ten-thirty or so where th e two girls, who Nelson chaps th at I am afraid I can't remem­ were Aucklanders, too, str angely enough, dis­ ber wh o is who ! Some very interesting movies embarked. were show n of some of the Nelson Club runs, While in Blenheim I looked up my oId to the accompa niment of ribald comments friend Maurie Hendry who own s a magnifi­ from certain members regarding th e abilities cent Pierce Arrow V 12 of 1934. This car is or oth erwise of the members and th eir cars in supe rb condition ha ving don e a negligible appearing on th e screen. Earl Gill would mileage. have had a wow of a time if he had been I was also delighted to meet Noel Sprosen there! who owns an imm aculate 1928 Stutz seda n The next morning I said farewell to all and which I was fortunate enough to go for a set off for Motueka where I found the re­ ride in. This car runs beautifully and is a mains of a 1920 (type 59 ) Cadillac fitt ed credit to its owner. The Stutz ca r won grea t with (Rolls-Roycc own ers please note ) praise from the grea t W. O . Bentley himself Rudge-Whitworth centre-lock wire whe els, for its excellent corne ring ability. with fine-splined hubs, which are original as they still have th e Ca diliac crest in th e centre. On th e Saturday aft er mv arrival th e Blen­ While in Motueka I called on M r Max heim Bran ch held 'a run to Nelson in whi ch I .Mc Na bb who is the proprietor of one of th e took part. Cars participating in th is run in­ local gar ages. H e has a Cadillac of similar clud ed a 30 h.p. Renault, a Ch ev. 4, a couple model to min e wh ich his son plans to restore of very nice Ford T's, a very 'nicely restored soon . This ca r was imported by Mr M cN abb Buick 6 circa about 1916, an Austin 12/4, a when almost new and has been in his posses­ little Fiat, and a Dodge 6. Any members sion ever since. Just out of Motueka a ser­ whose cars I have missed I must apologize to vice station owner has a 1929 or 30 La Salle as I am writing this from memory, in wonde rful order, whi ch was used until re­ Wc were greeted by Dermis King and his cently as a school bus. This one is a seven­ sta lwa rts, and most of the Nelson cars, just seater model. Near there is a vint age Nash out of Nelson. These included the splendid in pri vate use, and another ga rage owner is Marion tourer of about 191 3 I think; this ca r restoring a vintage Armstrong Siddeley. is in wonderful condition even to the origin al On the way out of M otu eka I called in and paint, having done onl y a ver y low mileage. saw J ohn Hurley who is busy restoring a There was also a very sma rt 20 / 60 Vauxhall KRIT as a sta blemat e for his Beauty Ford. in excellent cond ition, a neat Chrysler, and a John will also be restoring a 1906 Reo when Saxon whi ch I heard coming long before it he acquires the othe r half of the diff . case came into view, and to whi ch distance un ­ which is urgently required. Can anyone doubtedl y lent encha ntment. Anybody got a assist? new Saxon diff ? Again if I have missed any­ My next stop was at Tapawera wh ere I in­ one, my apologies. spected th e old ex-Newmari's buses at Wad s­ Wc were th en escorted to a secluded picnic worths M otors. These are ind eed a sorry spot, but unfortunately " ra in sto pped play." sight, but at least are a source of spa res to (Shades of Hastin gs. ) After some delicious remember. cake had been consumed, the entourage de­ Murchison was the next port of call where parted for Nelson to lay the dust with a little I eventua lly located Clive M ockett afte r two liquid refreshment. Here I was lucky enough false starts and findin g myself up a really wild to meet Arthur Gregory, one of the old Cadil­ and woolly road in the never-n ever country lac men who was foreman at Newm ari's Gar­ at night and having to turn about 16 feet of age in Nelson , and who started working on Cadillac on a " road" whi ch is little more than Cadillacs in 1906. He and I had a most in­ a tr ack, with only some rabbits and a few ter esting talk and it really took him right back 'possums for company. Fin ally I did find to th e old da ys to see mv car and reminisce . Clive's place and a good talk took place. I M r Gregory i~ now , of course, retired, and is hear that you have got a La Sa lle, Clive l ! about 75 years of age . Goo d work! PAGE FOURTEEt\ DecE~lBER . 191;1

From there I moved on to Westport via the activity in Greymouth is conce ntra ted in one Buller Gorge, where a copious amount of small area. I thought I heard you boys say glutinous reddish-brown mud was collected, you were going to Irishman 's? and indeed is still to be seen on the chassis in After I left Greymouth I journeyed down pla ces. Coming down from Westport to the coast to view the gla ciers, and well worth Greymouth I was mumbling to myself about the trip they were, too, as were the very prett y the inadequacy of my lights and finally lakes on the way down th ere. hopped out to investigate, and found the By this tim e my funds wer e running low, lights emitt ing a mere dull glow beneath a so I made straight ba ck to Christchurch via generous coating of aforementioned horrible Otira and the Arthurs Pass. At times I mud. wasn 't at all sure which was the road and Arriving at Greymouth after dark I called which was the Otira river bed because they and spent quite a bit of time with Ron Clarke both looked the same to me, although I think who has got a 1928 Stutz coupe in mint con­ the river bed looked smoother if anything. dition, and has just finished a truly wonderful As for the Arthur's Pass itself, it involves a restoration job on a veteran Alldays & Onions climb of som e 3000 feet on shingle roads in which is a joy to behold. appalling condition, with terrifying shee r Across the road from R on's place is found drops and no fences. Not the sort of stun t for the home of Ace Boustridge who is a well cars prone to overheat, but at no stage did the known trials driver. Ace has a very nice Cadillac even look likely to boil. Hupmobile 6 of the lat e vintage period, and And so I eventually arrived ba ck in Christ­ is engaged in th e rejuvenation of a 1914 Cal­ church, after having completed one stage of cott, and a 1900 Loeomobile Steamer. Next the tour, and having covered between two and door to Aee lives Merv Dunn, who is well on three thousand miles, maintenance being con­ the wa y with his 4-cylind er Cadillac, so as will fined to the usual greases and oil changes, and readily be seen, just about all the V. and V. repairs being nil.

AN ALVIS ADVENTURE By Rob Gunnel!.

Continuing Rob's account of his journey snapped a half-shaft in a vain effort to get across Asia in "Smokey"-his faithful 12/50. out. This river had a sandy bed rather like Wc reprint these articles by kind permission my Indian river crossing whi ch I described in of the Alvis Car Club of Australia. my earlier letter to Manson , but not nearly as wide . After a great deal of thought we Although we faced the crossing of Iran decided to have a go.Wc emptied all our with certa in trepidation it was not from fear gear out, removed every bit of weight that of Smokey's capabilities, as it had given us was rem ovable, nipped up the "shoc ks" tight enormous confide nce following its wonderful and charged th rough as flat as a tack in low trouble-free performan ce through Afgh ani­ gear. Smokcy came out the othe r side with­ sta n, wh ere wc encountered flood conditions, out a falt er. The Afghans were delighted at with most of the bridges either washed away this and helped us to carry our gear to the or ab out to be ; and severely pot-holed roads. other side, and being more hospitable types Betw een Kabul and Kandahar (a pproxi­ than the Indians, did so with out expecting mately 350 miles ) we saw no other cars­ pa yment. Curiously enough , th e Afghans, onlv a few tru cks and four-wheel-drive vehi­ who haven't been generally used to ca rs ex­ cle; . Am ong the latter I include a Russian­ cept in recent years, never seemed to regard mad e car whi ch looks rather like a pre-war Smokey as an old car, but rather just another Ford but has a four-wheel-drive and a full new one of poor design because of its narrow l 8in ground clearan ce! Particularl y suited tyr es. to these roads! Since our average speed over these " roads" One river crossing we came to had a total was only about eight miles per hour we had of four tru cks or buses bogged down ; one had ample opportunity to see the countryside, DECE;\1BER . 1lJ6 PAGE FIFTEEK whi ch is quite picturesque. The peopl e are desert itself, but th ere were traps here, too, often very wild and primitive, but being un ­ as we'd come to soft stretches and it was spoiled by mod ern civilization, are very ra the r more ne rve wrackin g th an th e road. likeable. D espite its bad roa ds, Afgh anistan Just out of K erman we encountered a is one country we'd like to revisit. severe sandstorm whi ch lasted on and off Iran was an entirely differ ent " kettle of for th e wh ole day. Even with th e side­ fish ." The ma in road from Zahidar to Isfa­ scree ns up I had to drive with goggles on, han is a " made" road , havin g been exce l­ and the sand got into everything.I t was lently scree ned with coarse gra vel ( which impossible to see more th an six feet ahead cho ps lumps off the tyr es ) a t some stage. and it wa sn't rea lly much fu n . H owever th ere is no railway throug h her e, so ' Veldt th e main road near Yczd and that eve rything is transported in absolutely head ed south for Shiraz and th e famou s eno rmo us trucks, mostly Sw ed ish Vo lvos, ruined pal aces of Pcrsep olis, th e scat of th e

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

- .... ,; . . --

Indicative of the roads encountered by the Gunnells in Afghanistan is this picture taken of Rob driving ac ross a recently repaired sec tion of the road betw een Kabul and Kandahar.

Ge rman Biissing, M .A. N. , H enshel and M er­ Persian Empire from abo ut 550 B.C. to 330 cedes-Benz. These trucks, and in fact th e B.C. ca rs, too- of lat est American design - arc O n th e way here we decid ed to do some­ d riven a t th e m ost ferociou s spee ds with th e thing I suppose sho uld never be don e in consequence th at this country sports, I have places like Iran-we took a short cut. The no doubt, th e most consistently bad corruga­ road was marked on the m ap all right, but tion s for the lon gest stre tches in th e world. turned out to be no more th an a few tyre They never cease.In Austra lia it is usually marks through com plete dese rt. Just to possible to spee d up and iro n out even th e make it interesting, th ose tyre marks occas ion­ worst of th e corrugations. But in Iran I think ally fork ed ; until in desper ation we decid ed th e only way to do this would be to speed up to look at our com pass and head in th e to a little over 140 miles per hour and add a d irect ion we wanted to go across th e desert pair of wings ! Poor Smokey suffered a co n­ a nd hope we stum bled ove r th e right tyre sta nt shaking and rattling. At times it was marks to follow . After several miles of thi s better to leave the road and drive on the non sense a mirage in the form of a ch ap on PAGE SIXTE E:-: DEC DlBER, 1%1 Camera

The winning veteran pair at the Canterbury Branch Annual Rally: J ack Newall's 1911 Wolseley (top) and ( bottom) Ronson Clark's Alldays and Onions, ( See Canterbury Bran ch not es.) DECE:-'lBER . 1961 PAGE SEV E;\,T EEl" Review

Motoring III Otago III early da ys. Other deta ils not available.

Best Vintage car at the Canterbury Rally. Ace Boustridge's immaculate Hupmobile. ( Pho((J by I. Satlll' rl,'y ; PAGE EIG HT EE1\' DECDIBER. )%1

a mot or cycle appeared as if from nowh ere Our course through T ur key was quite in­ and directed us to the right way . terestin g an d occupied some 2,500 miles. Persepolis is a wonde rful place, and I feel Until Ankara we had no idea wha t there was it was well worth the trip th rough Persia to to see in this country, but there we man aged see. to obtain a tou rist booklet which persuad ed By the time we ar rived in Teheran we had us against rushing stra ight th rough . I might a little work to do on th e car. T hree min or say that at this stage we had litt le idea of the leaves in the front springs were broken and political situa tion here. Fro m th e Turkey­ th e aluminium core plug on th e top of the (ran border we drove via Er zuru m to Trab­ cylinder head had corroded th rough. We zon (o n th e Black Sea) . H ere I replaced "c am ped" in a lar ge parki ng lot for th e dura­ three min or leaves in one rea r spring. I had tion of our stay here and this saved a few to pay for these, but not too mu ch. From hotel bills (don;t I make poor Ann suffer?) . Trab zon we followed the beautiful Black Sea I removed the front spr ings and the cylinder coast along to Samsun where we headed head and some kind gentleman arranged to south th rough Co ru m to Ankara. From have th e new leaves mad e and a core plug Ank ar a south again through K onya to Ant­ machined up , an d in the same day brought alva on the Me diterranean Sea . 'V e were all the new bits back and said th at I mustn't fo'rbidden to leave Antava for 24 hours, and pay for a thing ! Which , you mus t admit, we lat er learned th at 'th is was when the could n' t happen at home. "coup d'etat " by the Army took place. We motored onwards through Deni zli, Izmir to Teheran gives the impression of being a Ca nnakkali. H ere we took a fer ry across very modern city with the lat est huge Ya nk car~ the Dardan elles and drove via Ga llipoli to and mode;n buildings. It is a pretty Istanbul. T here was mu ch of interest to see hectic place to d rive in, as there doesn't through th is way from Ank ara, mostly in the appea r to be any traffic rules and good brakes form of ancient ruins of Greek and Roman are essential. T here are no ca rs olde r than cities suc h as Side, Perge, Aspend os, Ephac­ about 1952, and these latter are invariabl y sus, Pergamun an d H omer's T ray. At Istan­ severely battered. Therefore, yO U can imag­ th ~t bul , I took the oppor tunity of removing th e ine Smo key was regarded with some eamsha ft timing gea r: a two-pi ece bronze int erest. Unfortunately th e Iranians have as affair which I bought chea ply from H oust on littl e regard for other' people's property as some years ago . The rivets holding th e two th ey have for their own ; and I am in doubt wh~ther pieces togeth er had becom e loose and the Smokey suffered more by the roads noise was awful. I bored out the holes and or by the kickin g and sha king of th e inhabit­ re-rivett ed it. T here was still a lot of noise ants, who were appa rent ly anxious to see just th ough , as the gears had become badly worn. how solidly they "made them in the old Vle then drove to Ath ens via Edirne, Alexan­ da ys." dropolis, T hessaloni ki, Larissa and Thebes. We head ed for the Cas pian Sea after At Larissa ou r first 10,000 miles turned lip T eh eran and followed this along from Chalus on th e speedo an d na turally we were most th rou gh Resht (whieh was interesting be­ jubilant. cause there I saw for the first time AIfa On the run to Athens for the first time we Rom eos used as taxis ) to Astara, right on the felt slightly bored! Asia, to us, had been a border of U. S.S.R . This area of Iran (along grea t adve nture, and we never got tired of the Cas pian) is very gree n and fertile and at it and somehow it was always interestin g. times there is quite a jungle grow th. This is And now we felt th at the be;t part of our a ra ther sharp contrast to the rest of Iran tour had finished. we saw, whieh is virtua lly all desert. From Astara, we climb ed, through beautiful scen­ H owever, we got over this, as Ath ens is a ery, a very stee p and tw isty mountain pass' most fascin at ing place and th e people pr ett y to Ardabil. First gea r was required for quite wonderful indeed (they can look at th e ca r long' stretehes at a tim e. From Ardabil we without kickin g it ab out! ) made for T abri z, and then to the Turkish We had a nice rest for three day s just out border righ t by Mt. Ararat of Noah's Ark of Ath ens by th e beach, and th en, as I had fame. promised Srnokey I'd do after 10,000 miles, DECEMBER. 1961 PAGE K1N ET EE:\ removed the sump to see how things looked . for us to endeavour to follow when we get About this time I had begun to convince going aga in. It inclu des a complete tour of myself th at all the engine noises were not all Norway, Sweden and Finland, but I can't see timing gear an yway, and unfortunat ely I was it coming off. right The alu minium ca p of the cen tre main In closing I must say th at I'm sorry th at bearing was broken in half and th e bearing this lett er mu st be so mu ch a summary, as it had been allowed to rotat e. I propped the hardly reflects the man y adventures we have sump back up and drove carefully back to had and I hope it is not too un interestin g as a Ath ens wh ere I found a large ga rage and result. I am including some photos whi ch pulled the engine righ t out and str ipped it. I may be of int erest. feared that the unsupported cranksha ft may Perh ap s you' d like to know wh at we've easily have developed some crac ks so chased been up to since we left Ath ens. We'll tell all over Athens to try to locate a Magn aflux you anyway ! machine. Eventually I discovered the only On the 16th July, we set off from th at one in Greece-at the Athens Air Force place and believe me it felt almost strange workshops. The C.O. was most co-operative to be a dri ver (of sorts) again. We made and agreed to check the sha ft for me and for the Pelopponese and visited the ancient luckily it is O.K. sites of Corinth, Mycen ae, Tyrins and Epi­ I h'ave written to the works in Engl and for daurus. We wer e going to do the round trip new bearings and things, and while waiting to Spa rta and O lympia but decided against for their reply we dashed over to Crete for th ese extra 400 miles, since we believe that a few days. H ere we visited the famous Palace and ruin s of Knossos and Phaestos, The latter being on the other side of the island, th e bus trip gave us an opportunity of seeing something of the Crete countryside, wh ich is very mountainous but th ickly culti­ vated . As I write this we are still waiting the new parts from Alvis Ltd. Unfortuna tely for us, Alvis didn't have any bearing caps in stock, but typical of their wonderful service, they have chased up a secondhand one for us, These parts are on their way now and should arrive in a couple of days. We decided to regrind the main cra nksha ft journals and fit new main bearings as the wea r on th e centre main probabl y ca used the ca p to break, and as we still hope to tuck a few more thousands of miles under our belts we felt it was worth fixing properly while the engine was out. What we didn't account for was the fantasti c tim e it takes for air mail lett ers to get from England to Ath ens and vice-versa- ab out six days. In the case of th e par cel of parts (also sent by airmail by th e Works ) eight days have already elap sed since they were sent! We both ag ree that th is is the hardest part of the trip so far: just sitt ing around an d wait­ ing and seeing all the valua ble tim e (and money- we're stay ing in hotels of course wh ile th e car, wh ich is also our house, is in the ga rage ) going down the drain. Fo r the last couple of days Ann has been "S ahib" GunneH- incognito while vacating on the busy planning out a course of huge mileage Continent. .I',\G E . T WE:-IT Y DECEi\IllER . 19fil

very little remains to be seen there. Anyway, they ca ught us up and said they had been we are getting tired of seein g the remains of nabbed for parking soon after we left them Dorie columns cru m bled at our feet. How­ and ordered to pay a fine which th ey knew ever, on the way north again we didn't fail to to be in excess of the normal for a first see Delphi. This we found interesting. It is offence. They refused to pay it and at gun­ also set in rathe r rugged but splendid scenery. point were tak en to the police stati on and Our way north through Greece took us told to leave th e country within 48 hours­ through Meteora, famous for its mon asteries and pay th e fine, by this tim e doubl ed . So built like birds' nests on top of rocky out­ the y were in rather a hurry. crops; Kastoria and Florina. Not very good We also hurried through . Despit e th e roads and continua lly climbing up and down bad roads and numerous mountains an d th e mountains. Then into Yugoslovia . lack of third gear, wh ich lost a tooth soon Irnmcd iat elv ove r the border we wer e after Dubrovnik , we drove the 1,000 miles greeted with ;o ad s even worse than th ose of in five days. Northern Greece although these were in Losing third gea r made me very sad in­ patches. With an a ppa rently large pro­ deed. It was like losing a good friend , as th is gra mme of roa d constru ction in hand there ratio was responsible for our progress for a were also sections of very good new road. sizeabl e percentage of th e trip. It certainly But mostlv the former! took a caning th rough Greece and Yugo­ From Skopjo we head ed for th e D alma­ slavia. Still, it's sur prising how you manage tian coast at K otor. There was some fine to overcome such a blow- we have covered mountain scenery through here, as well as . 2,000 miles without it now, although admit­ picturesque people dressed in their tr ad itional tedly it isn't such a loss in Europe, exce pt in Macedonian costumes. K otor itself is situ­ the towns. ated in a fjord , and the descent to it is via Crossing into Austria gav e us our first taste some twenty-two hairpin bend s. We follow­ of the steep passes we might strike in Europe. ed the coast all th e way, th rough Dubrovn ik, The ascent from the Yugoslav Cu stoms post Split and Rej eka . T hen inland through entire­ to th e Austrian at the top of the Loibl Pass ly different country via Postonja, Ljubpan a to was one and a half miles of 1 in 312 followed the Austri an border at the top of Loibl Pass. by a descent of I in 4 on th e other side. Very T he M acedonian end and the north of Yugo­ beautiful wood ed country though. From slavia is very green and rich-looking country, Klagenfurt we drove via Semmeri ng to especially the north. But the main part of Vien na . Our stay in th is city was cut short the run up the coast is very ba rren and rocky. by a mad idea that we shou ld dash to th e However the road usuall y closely follows the N urburgring to see the German Gra nd Prix. sea and there are little islands to be seen to Sever al things contributed to our failure to make it int erestin g. No t only did the coun­ get there. The first was that we left our de­ try ch an ge for the bette r north of Rejeka, but parture till a bit lat e, as we met some Aussies the road did too, being excellent ind eed . in th e camping gro und, th e second was a We couldn' t help feeling th at all this beau­ slight miscalculati on resulting in our under­ tiful country was spoiled by peopl e. O ften estima ting the distan ce by abo ut 150 miles, th e Yugoslavs were friendly, particularl y th e and the third was that, because of the first Macedonians, but they have a rather severe two, it meant a lot of night driving and dur­ police system. Seve re at any rate on tourists. ing th e first evening out of Vienna, the gen­ We stopped a few miles from Skpje to talk erator chose to burn out! Yes, it has hap­ with a fellow from Sydney who was on his pen ed to me aga in at last. Fan cy me going way to Greece with some fellow Cambridge on a trip without having some ignition and students. After a tim e a "special police­ generator trouble ! The Aussies we met at ma n" appeared and ordered us to disperse, the camping gro un d in Vienna were very in­ and said if we wanted to talk we should go to terestin g. The first lot, a man and his wife th e town to do so. and son have done a pr ett y comprehe nsive The following day we sto pped in a town tour of Euro pe from North Cape (up in th e and met a couple of Pommies who had top of Nor way to Gibralta r, the British Isles, dri ven th eir Landrover up from Capetown. Russia, Poland, Czec hoslova kia, etc., and We left before th em , and th e following da y were on their way to Australia the wav we DECEMBER . 1961 PAGE TWEN T Y· O N E have come! The second was a gentlema n in I had the gene ra tor rewound. Then, as it a twin-cam MG. His name is T om ] ackson. will tak e a while to get a replacement gea r, H e used to own a Ch enard-''',1 alcker an d I put th e old one back and at pr esent we are wondered if I knew a fellow named David on our way to see Berlin. M anson whom he knew in the ea rly days of the V. S.C .C. Our future programme is a little uncer­ When we realised we wouldn't get to th e tain. We 'll return to H amburg when an d Nurburgring we tou red round th e Salzkam­ if a gea r becom es available, but whethe r we merat Lakes near Salzburg and then dro ve will go to Norw ay an d Sweden rem ain s to be up to th e grey -bro wn Danube at Linz. Then seen. It is supposed to be summertime at the to Passau into Ge rma ny, th en through Nu r­ moment but it is nearly as cold as a Sydney emburg, Frankfur t, Hanover to Hamburg, winter and wet and miserable most of th e with two or three detou rs to places of int erest. tim e. This mak es us wonder just what win­ At H amburg I removed th e gea rbox an d ter will be like, and since we scare easily, we tried to get a gea r made but without success, may return to sunny Australia sooner than so wrote to England to try to locat e one. Also we originally planned!

by GeolI Vintage and Veteran Motorcycle Notes Hockle)' A VACANCY FILLED fewer th an 139 excellent photogr aphs and It 's always seemed to us that in view of drawings leave little to criticise in this re­ the man y publications available on the sub­ spect. All in all, the a uthor is to be con­ ject of veteran and vintage cars, it was high gra tulated on his effor t, which is obviously the tim e th at somebody stepped into the breach result of extensive research, and whi ch fills and produced a work dealin g with the motor­ a long-vacant ga p. It 's a welco me addition cycle side of the hobby. It is with great to any V . & V. motorcycle fan 's bookshelf. pleasure, therefore, th at we arc able to report that at last someo ne has come to light with AKAROA RALLY a most readab le work on the subjec t. (In T he combina tion of perfect wea the r, passing, we confess that once or twice we appreciative specta tors, and excellent accom ­ toyed with the idea of attempting such a pro­ modation for competitors mad e th e week-end ject ourselves, but we're devoutly th ankful rall y to Akaroa, on O ctober 14 and 15, one that it never progressed beyond the pipe­ of the most enjoy able events in whi ch we dream stage- it would have been a puny ha ve had the good fortun e to particip at e. effort compa red with the volume which we The Banks Peninsula hills were looking th eir now commend to your notice. ) « Veteran greenest and the recently-scaled dust-free & Vi ntage Motorcycles," by ] ames Sheldon, highway mad e th e 50-odd miles a ple asure . and published by Batsford , reached us a few Although the motorcycle entry was ra ther weeks ago from London (wc had ordered a disappointing, th e five machines wh ich made copy from the publishers after readin g some the trip (two Triumphs, a Douglas, and onc tim e ago of its impending appeara nce ) and each In dian and Harley-D avidson ) attrac ted it impresses us as being an excellent 30/ ­ plenty of attenti on from the onlookers, and worth. Jim Sheldon, a pro minent member evoked mu ch reminiscing amo ng the man y of the Vintage M otor Cycle Club of Eng­ ex-motorcyclists present. Let's hope that land, and with a lifelong associa tion with the Akaroa becomes an annual date on th e V . & motorcycle industry, has done a fine job of V. ca lendar. tr acing the history of the movement from the very ea rliest days up to 1930, and the devel­ THERE'S BIKES IN THEM THAR opment of scores of famous and not-so­ HILLS! famous makes is dealt with in as detailed a Nee dless to say , during the all-too-brief fashion as possible within the confines of 300 sojourn in Aka roa, inquiries were instituted pages. In a work of this kind, illustrati ons as to the existence of any inter estin g machin­ arc almost as important as th e text , and no ery in th e localit y, and on the Sunday morn- PAGE T WENT Y-TWO D ECE:\'1BER. 1961 ing, ac ting up on information received, a ha ven 't had the pleasure of inspecting the small task for ce scaled the heights above the bike, now nearing completion after a restora­ Maori settlement a few miles up th e har­ tion pr ogramme whi ch has covered not bou r. And if there wasn't any gold in them months, but years-we feel certain that when thar hills, there was something almost as in­ it has finally received the sea l of approval te. estin g. Eve r seen a Willi amson motor­ from its owner, the com pleted job will rank cycle? No? Well , although our int repid with th e finest exa m ples of vint age motor­ cliff-scalers were denied the supre me thrill of cycles in this or any other country . R eport s un earthing a complete specimen of this hav e reached us from time to tim e from peo­ alm ost legend ar y make, what rem ain ed of the ple who have inspected the work carr ied out machine was interestin g enough , and the big to dat e. " O ut of th is world! " drooled a water-cooled flat twin engine and its radiator recen t visitor, and proceeded to wax lyrical attracted mu ch attention . This, an d the rega rding its umpteen coats of hand-rubbed petrol tank, is unfortunat ely all that remains laquer, amo ng othe r thi ngs. K en has prom­ of a unique model. We can remem ber at ised us pictures when the job is completed, least two Williamsons whi ch used to pull but in the meantime, as a matter of int erest, oversize familv sidecars around Christchurc h her e's another exam ple of a superb restora­ abo ut 1914 ~r 1915. This Coventry-ma de tion jo b on a machine of identical mak e and mach ine was introduced in 1913, but we are model-the work of old ma estro Ted H odg­ not sure wh en manufacture ceased. The don, of Nutley, New Jersey, D. S.A ., whose hefty 964 c.c. flat twin eng ine was specially beautiful restoration jobs hav e been com­ manufactu red for the Williamson conce rn by mented on previously in these columns . Looks th e D ouglas Co., and was available in both as if T ed and Ken haven 't got mu ch on eac h water- cooled and air-cooled versions. The other when it comes to making old X 's into Williamson was designed primarily for heavy new ones ! sideca r haulage and we should imagine th at it filled th e bill admirably. The impressions FEUDIN' AND FIGHTIN'! we retain of the few which we saw so long We doubt if it's possible for anyone who ago are of their extre me silence and smoo th­ wasn't connected with th e motorcycle busi­ ness, as would be expected of a water-cooled ness in the early 'twenties to rea lise just how opposed twin. Two bad th at the Akaroa bitter was the rivalry betwe en dealers in the " find" wasn't com plete- it would have been two most popular Am erican makes, Indian a really unique veteran . and H arley-D avidson , which in those days accounted for a goodly slice of th e total V. & V. PERSONALITIES motorcycle sales in New Zealand. Not that Meet M asterton's Three M usketeers (vin­ there was mu eh love lost bet ween any of the tage variety )- the Bill brothers, Ken and motorcycle firms in those times, but th e riv­ Glennie, and eo-enthusiast Neil Skeet, who alry between the representatives of these two between them account for most of wha t's makes was of such a cut-throat nature as to coo king in local V. & V . activit ies. Now, we make the celebra ted feud between " those had intended this bit of scandal to deal solely reckless mountain boys, th e M artins and with Ken and his doings, with particular re­ M cf. ovs" seem like an essav on brotherly love ference to his ma gnum opus, the Big X res­ in compa rison, Nor was 'the binemess con­ torati on job , but with becom ing modesty, fined to the firms- almost as acute was th e Ken assur es us th at the oth er two members partisan feeling between man y riders of the of the trio are every bit as keen as he is on rival makes.( We are referring to the situa­ the hobby an d deserve honou rable mention tion in Christchurch, where we happened to for the pa instaking restoration jobs on whi ch be in the thi ek of th ings at th at tim e, but it th ey are at present engaged- the subjects was mu ch th e same in most oth er centres. ) being a 1915 Triumph, a 1926 350 c.c, Har­ We were reminded of those times when look­ ley, and-a rea l rara avis !- a 191 2 Brad­ ing over some old newspaper adve rtisements bury. An int erestin g threesome ind eed­ the othe r da y (incidentally, th e amount spent keep up the good work , fellows ! Well, to get by dealers in trying to convince th e public, back to the origina l subjects of these rem arks not so mu ch of the superiority of their own - Ken and his Big Blue Ex.- although we machines, but of the utt er worthlessness of the DECEMBER. 1961 PAGE T WE:"T Y·T lI REE other fellow's, must have gladdened the COUNT THE INDIANS ON THE hearts of the newsp aper proprietors of those ROAD, but with a little remodelling from da ys !) Here are a few samples ( racing suc­ the H arley back-room boys this became YO U cesses seem to have spurred the ad- concoct­ CAN'T COUNT THE HARLEYS ON tors to special efforts, incide ntally !). HAR­ THE ROAD! And so the feud went on­ LEY SCORES AGAIN shrieked the large senseless though it ma y seem tod ay, when, black headlines after the defeat of Indian happily, an altogether different spirit prevails rivals in the local beach races. Alas! next amongst representatives of different makes. time, the tabl es were turned, Indians were H ealth y business competition, of course, will triumphant, and the victors really went to always be with us, but the cut-throat rivalry, town. THE ONLY SCORE ANY OTHER bitt ern ess, and ill-feeling of the " roa ring MAKE GOT M UST HAVE BEEN IN ITS twenti es" has long since faded. And though CYLINDER, sneered the Indian ad .(a sly no one regrets its passing, it must be admitt ed dig at a Harley rider who retired with a that those were exciting times! seized engine ) . The next little bit of un­ pleasantness was the result of a thinly-veiled PUT A RING AROUND IT! inference that the star local Indian rider was As soon as you get your 1962 calendar, using an oversize ca pacity engine, which grab your pencil and put a nice large ring caused the Redmen to fairly foam at the around JANUARY 27-the occasion of the mouth with indignation, and challenges and first ALL MOTORCYCLE V. & V. RALLY counter-challenges flew back and forth for at Christchurch . Roll up, fellows, from near weeks, until the Harley lads, findin g them­ and far , and let's make this a day to remem­ selves rather in a spot, slid out from under ber! with the sta tement that what they'd really meant was that the Indian engine, of 998 c.c. was larger than the 989 c.c. Harlcy ! The dust had hardly settled when another first­ class slanging match ensued concern ing the running of a flying mile record atte mpt on the beach, in which the timek eepers appar­ ently didn't enjoy the wholehearted confid­ ence of the Indian camp. (A Harlcy rider returned the fastest tim e of the da y, too, which didn't exactly improve the situation !) WE LEAVE THE PUBLIC TO JUDGE FOR THEMSELVES THE ACCURACY Rhapsody in blu e. Coming up-a Kiwi version. OF OPPOSITION CLAIMS, said a quar­ ( 1)11010 hy (; . Hockh-v) ter-page spread, WHEN IT IS REVEALED - // - THAT THE TIMING OF THE RECENT FLYING ~v[JLE EVENT ''VAS IN THE HANDS OF THREE BROTHERS, ALL ''''HO ARE PRINCIPALS OF THE QUIZ RIVAL l'vIOTORCYCLE AGENCY! An­ Sorry , no room for an additional block this other bout of sniping ar ose from the fact issue. However, the car displa yed in Septem­ that the very fast Harley 350, which was a ber was a " trick" entry, and thus no correc t pretty consistent winn er, was always proudly answer was received . The car was a large referred to by its sponsors as the "little won­ Edwardian Daimler, probably a 4S h.p. six­ der." cylinder car owned by Mr Pidgeon of Good­ On one occasion however it struck trouble year tyre fam e. The char acteristic radiator and didn't finish-which caused the opposi­ and bonn et shape was replaced by a fash ion­ tion-to remark, per mean s of another quarter­ able prop rietary unit of Vee sha pe, hence the page ad., that it was " LITTLE WONDER" confusion. We hop ed that the equa lly char­ THAT THE PUBLIC PREFERS O UR acteristic petrol tank with its protective slats MACHINES. A sloga n which had appeared would have helped the cognoscenti ; but, alas, in Indian advertising for many yea rs was they were missed. 1'..\ ( :1' TWENTY-FOUR DECEMBER. 1961 Calling all Wolseley Owners I would appreciate informati on a bout ca rs a nd /or parts, from owners who have not been contacted person ally. Also am very willin g For some yea rs I have been tr ying to col­ to help- wIth inform ation , etc., for restor a­ lect a register of New Zeal and Wolseley ca rs tion . and parts. At present known-mostly within The ph otograph shows M r Edgar Stead the Club- are twenty complete cars either of Christchurc h in his early Wolseley fitted on th e road or in th e process of resto ration, with special stormcov er for two, of his own plus parts of at least ano ther eleven others, design. This proved better in theory th an suita ble only for spares-all vetera ns; and as practice, as the va lley betw een the two occu­ well a number of vintage models. pants produced a delightful pool of wat er! Dermis Field, historian of the V.C.C . of H ave been in contac t with an owner in Great Britain, was most surprised to learn of Can ada who last yea r found seven Wolseleys the number of W olseleys still in New Zealand, of the period 1912-14, and who has numer­ and has requested details. This has prompt­ ous spa res he is prepar ed to sell. For further ed the note in "B ead ed Wheels" to hurry the details get in touch with me. job along . JACK NEWELL.

...... -- .. _- .- test was held and it was the hand sta rters CANTERBURY NOTES which proved to be the quickest-Jack Ne w­ Bent. all with his Wolscley Siddeley even beat the The opening run this year was to Akaroa stop-wa tch. After lun ch and th anking the on th e week-end of 14th-15th O ctobe r. hotel proprietor, most of the competitors Some 18 vetera ns, 6 vintage and 5 motor­ motored hom e quietly after a very enjoyable cycles participated , all vehicles arrived under tim e. their own power after very interes ting motor­ On La bour Week-end a few members ing over various routes. The Sa turday after­ motored up to \\'aiau an d had a relaxing noon was spent dicing on th e village gree n; break. A few mor e members mad e the trip the evening was spent having a very relaxing to Mt. Cook and from wh at I have heard tim e. On the Sunday morning a cold sta rt wild horses won 't keep th em away next year. DEcniBER. 1961 PAGE TWE:-;T Y-F1V E

Instead of our usual Noggin and Natter Sum p Rumblings in November we visited the Firestone factory H arry Williamson has sold his 3-litre Bent­ and were shown how tyres were made, also ley to Warren j ordan. By now a M odel T a very int erestin g film of veteran and vintage owner may have also become th e pr ivileged vehicles in North America . It was a most possessor of Bentl ey. Dave Barker has been enjoyable two and a half hours. seen motoring his 5 10 F.I.A.T. Co ntrary to local opinion Dave is moving in the right Show Week-end, November 10th, 11th direction ; he may even beat Andy. Another and 12th, we held our major rally of the str ange vehicle seen recently was \'" arner year. On Frid ay night the vehicl es assembled Mauger's Sunbeam, and what was more un ­ at th e King Edward Barracks and about 800 usual, R an H asell was not using it, for once peopl e inspected a sta tic display while Andy his Bentley is mobile. Canterbury, I believe, Ande rson gave his usual excellent commen­ has another first-that is, its ra lly was tele­ tarv. At 8.30 a.m. on Saturdav the driv ers B a rra~ks vised and members were able to view it on and crew ga thered at the and pro­ the Satur day night. The editor will be after ceeded to outside the Museum where H is me for this soon, so I must stop. Worship th e M ayor (M r G. Manning ) The writer feels that the time has arr ived flagged away the first of the veteran vehicles. for th e formation of a Bent ley Drivers' Club T he vehicles arrived at the Bromley Schoo l in N .Z., or at least a register, and is prepared after followin g three different routes for a to keep a record of pr esent or past owne rs very pleasant lun ch break. After lun ch the throughout th e country would send in full vehicles motored to Brighton whe re for the details to R an Hasell, 78 T otara Rd.,Christ­ first tim e th e Christchurch C itv Co uncil had churc h. authorised th e holding of the rally in a pu blic str eet. Three tests had been arra nged after these and a final parad e we all returned to NEW APPOINTMENTS the Barracks where we disbanded and com­ petit ors returned hom e to get cleaned up for AT FIRESTONE the dinn er and dan ce. T he M ayor presented Mr Derek M . Hume who has been ap­ the trophi es to the winners who arc listed pointed sales man ager at Firestone Tire & below . All we can say at this point is it was Rubber Co. of N.Z. Ltd ., Christchurch. NII' just as well only three cars came over from Humc, who was educa ted at K ings Co llege, th e Coast. The dan ce unf ortunat ely came Aucklan d, joined Firestone, Auckland, in to a close about 1 a.m. on Sunday morning 1943. Lat er he served in th e Royal New when some of the hardier types were just Zealand Navy and, after his disch arge in getting going . T he rally finished with what 1946 , worked in the Fireston e factory at your scr ibe was informed was a very qui et Brentford,England . H e atte nde d a sales picnic he unfortunatel y was un able to attend. course at Fircston , Akron , O hio, D.S.A., be­ R esults: Over-all winner (concours, per­ fore returning to New Zealand to becom e for man ce and tests )- Gordon j elfs' 1915 No rth Aucklan d representati ve for Fir estone M odel 1'. Conco urs awa rd (over-all condi­ in 1949. Mr Hume is married with three tion )-dead heat , Ran Cla rke, Alldays and children. H e is a keen Rotari an and was, Onions, and j ack Newell, Wolseley-Siddeley. for some yea rs, a prominent Ru gby referee. Best vintage ca r (concours and perform­ Mr William B. Deavoll, recently a ppoint­ ance )-Ace Boustridge, Hupmobile. Best ed sales administra tion man ager of Firestone veteran ca r (over two cylinde rs) - Gm'don T ire & Rubber Co. of N .Z. Ltd., has been in Jelfs, 19 I5 Model T. Best vetera n car (one the tyre business since 1936. He joined the and two cylinders) - john M cLaehlan , 1907 Arm v in 1940 and served with the 4th Arm­ Ca dillac. Best over-a ll performan ce by vin­ oured Brigad e in Egypt and Italy. He joined tage motor cyele-Geoff H ockley, H arl ey­ Firestone in Wellington in 1946 and was Davidson, 1920. Best performan ce by vet­ transferred to Christchu rch in 1948. He has era n motor cyele- J. Gardine r, 19 I0 Rov er. been sales office man ager since 1954. Mr Deavoll is married with four children. H is Our thanks go to th e three judges for the interests outside work are swimming and excellent job they did . moto ring. PAGE T WEN 1Y-SIX D ECEMBER. 191i1

REGISTER AND DATING COMMITTEE L. G. W. Wittc well! Well! Well! Once again we appear ed all the attention deserved (o nly fou r being in print, and wh at has the Regist er and Dat­ " dated" since Sept ember ) a lot of routine ing Committee been doing since September ? work has been carried out suc h as Vehicle In spite of holdin g meetings almost every Register bein g brought up to date, photo­ fourteen days which sta rt early and usuall y gr aph album being filled and edited, and never finish till approaching m idni ght, we what an int eresting and enlightening volume do seem to cover some of the work , answer this is going to be! Our next few meetings all the lett ers, date the old vehicle, end eavour are going to be fully occupied in assisting in to catalogue information from a recently re­ the compilation of a new membership list, th e ceived journal or book, allocate and record a acc uracy of sa me will dep end entirely on register number, advise some members where informa tion sent to us firstly in register forms, to obtain such and such, and so on. secondlv dat a taken from th e membership In regard to the proposed sche me of cir­ ca rds and the previous lists, an d thirdly from culating books, etc., approved at th e last those conside rate and thoughtful members annual genera l meeting, our thanks go to Mr who have written eithe r to the secretarv or N. Findlay, secreta ry of th e Hawkes Bay to us advising a change of ownership or a Bran ch , the only branch so far to ha ve sent fresh addition to their sta ble, our th an ks to to us dat a and useful information regarding them are recorded herewith , and to th e meth ods of controlling valua ble books let out others, "get cracking," or do n't complain of on loan . inaccuracies in the list. We wish to record our th anks to Mr T ed What the blazes! Everyone seemed inter­ Major of Roots Ltd. who recentl y supplied ested, an d yet wh ere are the lists of books us with accurate and authentic informati on available? Wc are perfectly sure the scheme whi ch enables us to dat e veteran and Ed­ can work, but not unless it is supported by wardian Humber cars. (No comme nts all branches. Please get movin g, so that a please. ) Surely some members ha ve similar circular ca n be prep ared . data whi ch would be of grea t use to us? So A stead y influx of Register and Dating far we have received from members serial forms, supported in most cases by photo­ numbers and yea r of production on M orris, graphs, has been received and although " Da t­ Wolseley and Regal, etc., how about some ing" of vetera ns has unf ortunately not receiv- more, please?

EARLY ENGINEERING IN MARLBOROUGH By Ron Osgood PART 3 also fitted with " Pickcring governo rs. Bill (Sec past issues of "Bead ed Wh eels" for designed special mufflers for the se of cast ea rlier acco unts of the " Marlbo rough.") iron . Igni tion was by H .T. trip magneto. He Some of th e old er generation will remem­ arranged double trip gea r for starti ng and ber the engine and ma chinery running as running. A decompressor was also fitted , they passed Bill's premises past three o'clock also two four-foot flywh eels. The name in the morning. Bill used to come out to " M ARLBO R OUGH " was cast diagonally work at a litt le after 9 a.m. The youngest across the cra nkcase doo r. So beautifully apprentice's job was to clean the lathes, oil balan ced were th ese engines th at a glass full th e sha fting and mix soa p suds for a coolant of water just on overflowing was placed on on the lathe tools and dr ills. the cylinde r head, also a penn y on its edge, T wo sta tiona ry engines were bu ilt. The without spilling or fallin g over while the dimensions of which were similar to the big engine was runnin g. marine eng ine; th e cylinde rs were made from The Rev. John Cru mp at Port Under­ the same pattern . "1''' head design , 6in wood bought one of these engines, and as bore x 8in stroke. 400 Lp.m. These were far as I know, it is still there. The other nE C E~ B ER . 19li l PAGE TWE:" TY-SEVE" was bou ght by Mr Ern Middlemiss, wh o told ing some of his patterns. Unfortunately th e me th ey cost £ I00 each . This eng ine was flour mill caught fire one night and was burnt used on a NIcE wan flood pump on Pratt' s to the ground, incl uding the Alldays car and farm for years. During the first war I most of Bill's patterns. About 20 yea rs ago remember it drivin g a large dynamo at a I was over in Ne lson and met NII' Bill Thom­ gala for electric light at th e High Schoo l son wh o was their for eman moulder. He (now M a rlborough College ). wa s retired th en , but came back to help I acq uire d th is eng ine abo ut 20 years ago th em temporarily whil e th e war wa s on. "Ve and recently presented it to th e M arlborough were talk ing abo ut Bill a nd he took me up to Soc iety of Engineers who have restored it to th e pattern loft and showed me a lot of Bill's its form er cond ition . patterns. A ma rine eng ine was bu ilt for a Mr In the workshop were large posters of Nicholls of K aikoura. It was a conve rsion D a rio R esta and K enelm G uinness dri ving of th e ca r engine- the castings were the Su nbeam ca rs and breaking world's rec ords. sa me except th e sum p, whi ch was cast iron, An other showing R alph de Palma, Indian­ Lat er on it was in the hands of Mr Pat apolis cha m pion using Gargoyle mot or oil. M onro who had it in a boat in th e O pawa The sign outside the buildings read "B irch 's far some yea rs ; he used it for trips ove r to Garage " and in letters about four feet high , Part U nd erwood. Eventuallv it was owned " NIA R LBOROUGH AUTOMOBILE EN­ by NIr H . H ebberl ey wh o l;sed it in T ory G INEERS ." Channel as a whale-chaser v-s-wherc it ende d There was a shop in th e front. Let us look up I do not know . th rou gh th e windo w for a few moments­ Bill wa s very frien dly with Mr Fred R ed­ some of th ese articles displayed will awa ken wood of Spring C ree k. Mr R edwood was th e mind of th e very ea rly mot orist, long considered a mech anical ge nius. H e had sinc e forgotten. an Alldays and Onions car-one of the first In the ba ckground was a large poster of a to come here. As Bill was out the re a lot he " M axwell" ca r in mid air between two preci­ built a big water wh eel for th e flour mill and pices after leavin g a ramp at speed.Some he also had a lot of gear stored ther e incl ud- em pty packing cases and sha vings, several

The Marlborough Motor. (Photo by R . O sgoo d ) PAG E TWE",TY-EI GHT DE COIIlER. 1%1 tins and cases of Pratt's deodorized benzine, at th e tim e. I could not get one of the bolts White Rose kerosen e, 600 W ., steam engine off the sump by the flywh eel, so I used the oil for gearboxes and diffs., "Favourite" axle 81b sledge-hammer. T he hammer bounced grease, "Oildag" and " G redag, " oil cans, off the aluminium cra nkcase without effect. measures and funnels in different sizes, drip Then my conscience smote me, the hammer feed lubricators and grease cups, " Monarc h" fell from my unsacriligiou s hands. What and "White and Poppe" carbure tto rs, 4 and would Bill think after th e thousands of hours 6 volt accumulators in celluloid cases, " Ivy" and mon ey he put int o her ? So I left her. carbide, " O leo" and "Splitdo rf" spark plugs, After joining the Vintage car club people are spa rking dynamos, "Sapolin" and " Bon now getting int erested , wh ere years ago no Accord" ena mels, Boa Constrictor bulb horns, one both ered. T oday, after many yea rs, I exhaust whistles, Whittle fan belts, " Contin­ hav e got her ba ck in almost her origina l con­ ental," "Clinche r" and "B at es" tyres, tyre diti on, but she is not in running order as yet. gaiters, sm all "Shalcr" vulcanisers, heated Bill had several patents taken out, one of with ben zine and alcohol, " Hy d ry" hood and which was sold to the Bradbury motor cycle leather dr essing, "Watford" speedo meters, people. This was where th e aluminium coils of coppe r pip e and rubber tubing, tyre crankcase was brazed int o the tubes and th e levers, "Footprints," screw wrenches and entire engine could not be removed from th e pin cers, and th e good old stand by Colonial frame. Another was th e Fairy motor bike. spanners (i.e., cold chisel and hammer ) . This was an opposed twin with automa tic Bill had a great love for Sunbea m cars . I inlet valves. The pat ent s were sold to th e think he must have had some connection with Douglas Bros. of Bristol, the outcome of them in England. The Marlborough car whi ch was th e Douglas motor bike. In ciden ­ engine was designed from an old 16-20 side tally my un cle, the late Stan Osgood of valv e Sunbeam engine, but where my oid Dannevirke, broke world recor ds on a Doug­ Sunbea m had a bore of 3 3-16 x 6 inch stroke las in 1914. the M arlborough was enlarged to 4 x 7 inch As for th e twent y-five pound shells Bill stro ke. M ost of the dimensions were in my made during the first world war-the Army first article, the timing gea r was dri ven by a autho rities were afra id they would blow th e

2Y2 in morse chain and fibre inserts in th e guns to smithereens, so they eventually gave tappets for silen ce. T he clutch was of th e Bill permission and held him responsible for invert ed cone type and was proprietary. any damage done. The car was sta rted about 191 2 and fin­ F rom the information I can ga the r it ished in 1919 and with the exception of a ppea rs that Bill was a professor of engineer­ wheels and gea ring would have made a good ing in En gland and came out here mainly three-ton truck. While under trials she be­ for health reasons. He, with others, was came involved in a collision with model T instrumental in designing the big twelve-in ch Ford near th e lower High Street bridge, nav al guns at Woolwich Arsenal. Of course, was hit in a vuln erable spot and came off the Army Dept. did not know of this. second best. Eve ntually she was finished and In the early par t of this century Bill mad e sold to Mr J am es Full er of Seddo n, who used a motor bike in En gland and while he was her for man y years. Altoge the r she was on still a young man rode it from Lands End to th e road for 21 years, and whil e th e wa r was John 0 ' Groa ts. I saw this engine about ten on was laid up in Scott's factory, owing to years ago while at a sale. It was an air­ the benzine shortage and tyre troubles. cooled single cylinde r with automa tic inlet I could ha ve bought her for £5, but was valve. It had a cast iron cra nkcase with th e not int erested at th e tim e. Eventually she name Birch cast across th e crankcase. was given aw ay an d pull ed to pieces. I got So ends the episode of Bill in ea rly eng in­ the engine with th e inten tion of fittin g it in eerin g in M arlborough. If he had not been my launeh " Adve nture," but put in a lighter the victim of circumsta nces M arlborough and more economieal one. The Marlborough would probably have been the seat of a large engine has been lying in the junk heap for motor manufacturing indu stry today. another 20 years in mv yard. After th e case over th e big marine engine About 10 years ago I deeid ed to break her Bill sold out to Milne brothers, took most of up for scrap which was bringin g a good price his machin ery and th ree unfinished cars up to DIOCIOMI\ER. 1%\ 1',\(;£ T WE:-;TY-:\ !KIO

Gisborne, wh ere he was foreman for Colletts Seven knows, everything is patented, even to Motors. H ere he finished th e other cars and nuts and bolts. This was another knock for sold them. Bill th en design ed and built a Bill. proto.ype the very opposite to th e M arlbor ­ H is life was in his work an d as I mentioned ough's . This was a small ca r to compete in my first article, in my opinion and many with th e Austin Seven. It was called th e others, he was one of th e finest engin eers ever Carlton. A company was float ed to manu­ to come to this country. facture th ese in qu antity, but the slump came on and as every owner of an Austin The End.

Waikato Notes Veteran and Vin tage Car Club (Waikato) Inc. President : R. H. Met calfe. Secretary: Mrs J. Roberts, p.a. Box 924, Hamilton.

We have been pleased to welcome six new A film evening was held du ring O ctober. members during the past three months, all This was well attended an d we a re inde bted with vint age cars. Three of them turned out, to "Castrol" an d T odd Motor Co . for th e coming quite long distan ces, to join our run loan of some very good films. to Ron Roycroft 's of Glen Murray . Mr N. M cAdam, onc of th e ea rly Autom o­ Sta rting from Huntly, with over thirty bile Associati on officers atten ded our last cars atte nding, on a beautiful spring morn­ genera l meeting for the year a nd gave a talk ing, we tr avelled on back country roads, on ea rly motorin g. H e brought along many whi ch in our everyday hustle and bustle we photographs which show ed th e conditions never hav e time to stray , and so m iss untold and ha zards of motor ing of th e 'twenties and beauty, to end up at Glen Murray, a delight­ earlier. If only we could find some of th ose ful peaceful spot. Au ckland Club join ed us cars tod ay. for lunch , having arra nge d their own run from that area. Mr Roycroft had arra nged We have one more run, our T irau mem­ a competitio n in connection with the large bers arran ging ano ther combined day, this an d va ried number of vehicles owned by him, tim e with th e T auran ga Club, before th e holi­ and this kept members really busy. If only days, our children's C hristmas party on the 9th December an d then our adults' party on some of th e trophies a nd pictures fram the 16th December. th at trophy room could talk, what a story would unfold. Waik at o mem bers take th is opportunity of The winners of the run were Mr and M rs wishing all vetera n and vintage enthusiasts Ernie Brown , first, 1923 Sta nda rd ; Ray the season's greetings and man y happy hou rs Rowe, second, in 1931 'Model A, and K en of V . & V. motoring in 1962. Gibson, 1924 Studebaker and Les Death, 1925 Douglas motor cycle tieing for third place. John Bayly of Tira u, was the winner of the competition organised by Ran Roy­ croft. At onc of our gene ra l meetings we spent an General Notes interestin g two hours in a qu estion and answers (not always th e answers we wo uld Humble a pologies to Mrs O akl ey for the have liked ) session with th e H amilton Chief om ission of a heading to her R egal story. It T raffic Officer, Mr Arthur. M an y gri ev­ certainly had one, but had mysteriously dis­ a nces were aired, matters eleared up a nd a ppea red during the final churni ng of the fresh kn owledge ga ined, an d all ag reed a press. Wc almost n eed a lost an d found most enlightening evening. column. I'A(;E THIRTY DECE~lIIER . 1961

WELLINGTON BRANCH NOTES Mr R. Porter and A. and C. Dray, had mapped out a route for the tim e trial whi ch With the advent of our November rally took the ca rs through some beautiful coun­ most Wellington members have begun to par­ try. The trial term inated at a lovely spot ticip at e acti vely again. Saturday morning near Gladstone. The winner of the vetera n the 14th November brought forth terrible section was Alien Jones of M asterton in th e weather whi ch prevented some Wairara pa M orris Oxford and the vintage winner was members from making the trip over the Mr Udy of Carterton, Studebaker, and the Rimutak as. A total of 23 cars were mu stered modern section winner was Mr T erry Falkner for th e conco ur in the morning whi ch was of Eketahuna, Humber Sn ipe. The Wai ra­ fortunately held in Mr Southward's new fac­ rapa members are apparently invin cible on tor y. lvl ~ H . Bott and Mr N . Taylor abl y their own ground. judged the conco urs and particular atten tion Nin e cars attended the Porirua Post was paid to the mechanica l condition of the Offi ce's Centennial run wh ich consisted of a vehicl es. Mr Bott in his remarks at the din ­ d rive through the H ospit al grounds, Titahi ner touched on "paint brush restorations." Bay and Porirua East wh ere a stop was made After lun ch the gale had subsided and al­ to hav e aft ernoon tea. though som e roa ds were still flooded the time A ra lly was run to Eastbourne and back in trial was started sharp at 1.30. Cars were conjunc tion with the East H arbour Fair. On directed over various routes to Upper H utt the return journey the cars were rout ed and back, most finishin g at approximately through the fair grounds where they paused 4.30 p.m . At each check point a driving test for a few minutes before continuing on their was conduc ted and drivers were qu estioned way. Roads crowded with people made run­ on the roa d code. The members ga thered nin g to a tim e very difficu lt. Mr E. Anneal' ag ain for the dinner whi ch was followed by in his 1930 Nash won th e Muritai Cup. The p~'i z e- g ivin g an d a social in the evening. A pri ze-list was noteworth y becau se of its demonstration run of a hot tube ignition en­ length, all prizes being donat ed by the East gine was a feature of the evening . H arbour Youth Group. Visitors who attended were Mr M . M ar­ enzi and crew with his Fiat from M artin­ borough , Lcs Fitzgerald and cre w from Feilding, Ford T , Mr and Mrs R. Pcrsson in There is NO WAITING LIST their immaculate Auburn from Palmerston wi th us if you have so me ster­ No rth and from Wan ganui wc had th at ling funds . Daimler man and M rs Tonks, Mr and M rs Lee with their littl e Hurnbcrctt c, an d Dickie ANGLIA, PREFECT, CONSUL Lvih in the ex-We llington Model AFord. ZEPHYR, CONVERTIBLE, . R esults: Aggregat e Veteran Trophy-M rs V . Southward, Ell 3 Austin. Veteran Con­ ESTATE CAR cours- M rs V . Southward, 1913 Aust in. Vet­ £300 to £600 sterling and the eran Time Trial-Reg Lee, 1913 H umber­ ba lance in N.Z. curre ncy. cttc. Aggr ega te Vintage Trophy-AlIan Dr ay, 1926 Ford. Vint age Co nco urs-Allan Any overseas earnings, shares 0 1' Drav 1926 Ford. Vintage Time Trial-E. legacy are O.K. An~dar , 1930 Nash . Vintage and Veteran LET THE VETERAN FORD driving tests were won by G. Darnell and DEALER HELP YOU GET YOUR Rov Southward respectively. NEW FORD QUI CKLY . Consult- The sta rt of the rallv was filmed and shown over Chann el 1 on M onday night, the commentary being provid ed by our treasurer, CORDON HUGHAN Hugh Webley. LTD. The W airarapa picnic run was held this P.O. BOX 48, CARTERTON year on the 15th of O ctober an d 45 Clu b PHONE 8099 ~emb e rs went over for a very enjoyable da y (After hours, R. Porter, 8452) in the Wairarapa sunshine. The organisers, DECDIIlER. 1961 Pr\G E TIIIRTY ·O:\ E

no shortage of vintage motor cars in th is Correspondence country for those who are prepare d to restore The Editor, and p reserve. "Beaded ''''heels.'' The argumen ts mentioned regarding metal Dear M adam,-I have recently read your fat igue and the Ford "V8" are obviously September editorial which comme nted on the completely spurious, and your comments on proposed extension of the acceptance years these statements are very mu ch to the point. of post vintage thoroughbred vehicles to 1946. Let me conclude by saying th at it is refresh­ This has apparently been sugg ested by an ing to know that a Club so highly esteeme d as Australian Club, I believe, in New South your own, shares the essential principles of Wales. this Club. Firstly, let me say th at I heartily concur O n beha lf of the Vin tage Drivers' Clu b with the sentiments expressed in your editor­ Ltd. ial, and secondly, I would like to point out ]AMESC. KELSO, P resident. th at th e V intage Sports Car Club of Aus­ M elbourne, tralia does not represent all of the vintage Australia. enthusiasts in Australia. Such a group of enthusiasts is the "V in­ NELSON NOTES tage Drivers' Club Ltd.," which was founded Rest oration proceeds ap ace in many parts in Melbourne in 1958, principally becau se of of the P rovince though we still ca n' t produce the derision accorded " non-thoroughbre d enough com plete cars to organise a run yet. vintage ca rs" whi ch you mentioned. Like "Ve recentl y enjoyed a film evening of very yourselves, this Club also sought the guida nce high sta nda rd, the films being by courtesy of of the Vintage Sports Car Club of Great Castro l an d the R ootes' Group. The new Britain and with the great assistance of M r Cas trol film of the London-B righton run is Carson, mo delled its constitution on that of first class and a " must" for all old car en­ the English Club, whi ch as you know, admits thu siasts. The writer was fortunat e recently all vehicl es manufactured between 1917 and in being able to spend several hours with NIr 1930 int o the vintage classificati on. The Vin­ K . L. K clly, th e Secretary-General of th e tage Drivers' Club Ltd. was formed in the A.A. of G rea t Britain. M r K clly is a very face of considerable opposition, but has cer­ keen and knowledge able veteran car dri ver tainly justified its existence having grown who has driven on the London-Brighton . It to ove r 160 finan cial members and is still was good to hear first-hand of th e move ment growing rapidly. in Britain, an d excha nge news and views in K nowing the history of hoth your Club general. I am now th e proud possessor of a an d this Club, it is not difficult to un derstand splendid ph oto of the aforesaid gentleman the marked similarity of their aims and idea ls. and his wife on a magn ificent 1903 M crccd es If I have deduced correctly from your re­ and am shortly to receive a genuine A.A. of marks, " restoration and preservation " whi ch Great Britain badge issued origina lly in 1909. is the essential clause of the Con stitution of the Vintage Drivers' Club is also th e essence of the principles of your Club. It is prob abl y SOUTHLAND NOTES tru e to say that if a sho rtag e of ca rs did exist RIVERTON RALLY in this country, it would be du e to th e non­ The annua l run to Ri verton will be held a pplication of " restoration" an d in particula r this year on Sa turday, 19th Februa ry. It " preservation:' Some Australian Clubs seem will tak e the for m of the usual tim ed run s to concentrate on racing vintage motor cars to R iverton an d hack with lun ch and driving in com petition with modern vehicles, so th at tests at R ivert on. A conside ra ble nu mb er of extensive modificati ons mu st be carried out our Northern visitors come back every yea r irom the original. Eventua lly, of course, a and we will be happy to welcom e more. most desir able vintage ca r whi ch has had the NOTES engine "souped up ," the chassis shortened, On the 29th O ctober we held our ope ning the gearbo x repl aced, the differenti al ratio run - a timed run to the Tussock Creek altered, etc., becom es a total loss to the move­ Scenic Reserve. Although there was only a ment. H owever, rest assured th at there is sma ll turn-out of vintage vehicles, a good P,\CiE T HIRTY·TWO DEC EM BER. 1961 number of members showed up in their mod­ The M arlborough Bra nch were not very ern cars. A count revealed twenty-one cars activ e during th e winter months, this period in all. A few driving tests were held and it being mostly used to work on cars, preparing would appea r th at a good tim e was had by th em for th e warm er wea ther, although this all. seems to hit us with the usual work still un­ This run mark ed th e debut of Russell completed. H owever some of the hard y M clvor's 1930 Aston-Martin. Russell re­ types br aved the elements, and went on a cently returne d from En gland and the Aston few impromptu outings on Sunday afternoons followed close behind. There is a fair bit after th e heavy frosts had thaw ed a bit­ of work to be done on th e ca r but it was th e there is no holding back the good keen man . subject of mu ch favourabl e comment at the There are several cars in the Club getting run. nearer to completion. Co lin Patchett has a T he locals were recently treated to the sight very nice 1916 Overla nd on which he is do­ of the enormous Pierce-Arrow sedan recently ing his usual thorough job, and Davc Bru cc road tested in " Beaded Wheels." It mu st is mak ing a good job of his 1922 4-cylinder be a long time since a motor-car drew such Buick. D ave M cD onald is still collecting crowds in Invercar gill. bits for his 1916 Saxon, while Alec Hill with My lcs Turnbull is workin g over the Metz, the 1924 4-cylinder Buick, Lin Lord with th e a bit of pan el-b eating, re-upholstering and so 1926 Chev . and R on Slad e with the 1926 on, the old girl won' t know herself when she Rugb y are all getting closer. Trevor M ay, takes to th e road again. This year's Riverton up till now a Model T boy, has acq uired a run we hope! 1925 Hup., an d is qui etly worki ng away on Robin Barnes has his 1913 B.S.A. motor­ it. All th ese ca rs should not be long now, bike going again afte r reconditioning the and will help swell the number of active motor. The run to Tussock Creek and back enthusiasts of our small br an ch of the Club . was made without trouble exce pting holding Our first activity of th e season was atten d­ her dow n to the required 17 m.p.h. ave rage ing the Rapaura Gala , at which we turned speed . on a few events to everyon e's satisfaction. A M erv Coutts and Ray Eu nson are working very satisfactory day, with a donati on to th e on th eir vin tage Austin Sevens and hope to Club at th e end of it. We have a full ca len­ have them finished about Easter. dar of events planned whi ch has been circ u­ Barry Bain is making progress with his lated to clubs, so if anyone is going to be in Au stin 12/ 4 Road ster but has struc k trouble the district when our ru ns are on th ey are in finding repl acement wood screws for the very welcome at any tim e. Prep arati ons are dash board. These screws have a square hole going ahead for the big Easter R ally, with the in the head in place of th e usual slot. Just very able help and co-operation of Sa m Sly­ the sort of " wog" arra ngement you strik e field. One of th e biggest stu mbling blocks with th ese vintage ca rs. has been accommodati on , as th ere is a N .Z. A strong band of enthusiasts has sprung up Bowlin g tournam ent on at Blenheim at this in Gore recentl y. Gordon Boult , Frank Rob­ tim e, whi ch is an annua l event, an d a lot of son, Fred Co llett, and Dick Collis all have accommodation is booked from year to year. M odel T's of va rying ages. Dick Collis also It looks as if we will be able to overco me has a 1911 Ov erland and a 1915 Republic these prob lems though , and we will be look­ truck. ing forw ard to seeing a good atten da nce next Allan Bryce has sta rted work on his M or­ Easter. ga n. At some stage in its life it had been Members and th eir families who require converted to a four-wheeler and it is now accommodati on in Blenh eim are asked to being converted back to a th ree-wheeler. contact their bran ch secre taries for details of - / /- accommodation available- it is imperative that those requiring hotel, motel, caravan or cabin accommodation send their bookings MARLBOROUGH BRANCH NOTES and deposit to Mr T . :tvl ay, 4 1 Muller Road , T ime flies, and there does not seem to be Blenheim , without delay. any tim e at all between one issue of our The Blenheim Bran ch look forward to be­ excellent " Beaded Wheels" and the next. ing your hosts for this ra lly. Classified Advertisements FOR SALE: M odel 'r Ford, 1912. Bod y­ work built in Australia, R estored and in ex­ C LASSI FI ED ADVERTI SEMENTS RATES cellent condition throughout. R. J. White, ~{EMBER S OF VI NTAGE CAR CLU B OF N .Z. I NC .: Free for first three lines (app rox. 25 R .D. 3, Whakatane. words); thereafter 1/ - per lin e (8 words ). GIVE AW AY: 1922 4- cylinder Bean engine NON-I'vlEM BERS : 5/ - for first three lines or less; com plete. Apply to D . C. Clark, 53 Donald thereaft er 1/- per lin e. Street, K arori, W ellingt on. To be accepted all adve rtiseme nts mu st be typed and bc acco mpa nied by th e necessary remittan ce WANTED: R adiator a nd inf ormation on a nd mu st be in the hands of th e Editor not lat er Hupmobi lc 32, 191 3 M od el. Some sp are than the 15th da y of th c month before publ ication parts up to 1917 availa ble. L. Lord, 30 dat e. Alabama Road, Blenheim. Sp ecial displ ay advert iseme nts of cars for sale complete wi th ph otos m a y be inserted a t special WANTED: An y parts for the "Grant" car a nd very reasonable rat es, for details of which ser­ made after 1920 . Smallest item s of interest. vice writ e to the Editor. Con tact C has. Bla ck, 8 Higgins St., Napier. WANTED: T yp e 4-CBX 12 h.p, Talbot FOR SALE: 1928 Durant sedan, com plete motor or sim ilar model. S. W. K idd , Ri ccar­ and running but unregistered. Reason ably ton Road, East T aieri. pri ced at £35. Enquiries to Rcx Porter , FOR SALE : M od el 'r 1926 Ruckstall. Back­ Andcrson 's Line, Carterto n. end needs restoring. Also Gardiner in same \NANTED: Scott or O .H.V. N or ton , will condition. Phon e 62-424 between 5 and 8 restore. Also M archal headlamps for Delage. p.m. Sun. to Thur., or v.... rite A. M. Hartigan , (Swap goo d P l Ofl's, suita ble late Bentley ) . 565 Dominion R oad , Mr. Eden, Au ckland. M . Rose, 6 Harbour St. , Auckland, W.I. \'V ANTED: To bu y or borrow on e handbook WANTED: M.G. or similar light sports ca r for 1926 O akl and. L. R . Green , Seddon . ( 1920-40 ) for resto ration. An y cond ition. FOR SALE: Bod y parts 1924 O akl and. L. U p to £40. Ple ase write giving full particu­ R .G ree n, Seddo n. lars to Mr Ian Fergus on , 14 Tummel St., WANTED: Parts or inf ormation re parts Invercargill. for 191 2 Daiml er. Also parts for 1910 and FOR SALE : Tyres, tw o 33 x 5 Trojans, 191 2 Sunbeams. Will buy or swap. A. sound, retreadable, and tubes ; on c Dunlop W allace, 131 Carruth Road, Papatoetoe. 700 x 23 retreaded . £ 19 new . Offers. Hugh Phone 324 ?vI. N evins, 47 Parkvale Rd., Wellingt on. FOR SALE: 1924 Bullnose M orris Cowley FOR SALE: 1926 Model 'r front ax le, diff, tourer , mobile; exccllcn t tyres and hood, wh eels and steering colum n. 1928 M od el A bod y fair, original upholstery; some spares. steering column . 1928 Willys Knight radi­ Would restore nicely. Best offer. C. D . a tor. Two unused Model A back ax les, suit Geary, 24 W oodl ands Road,Glen Ed en , 1930-31 . No rea sonable offer refused. Write Au ckland. R . Go od all , clo H . M. Scy rno ur, No. 4 R .D. , \'\TANTED TO BUY: For Overl and 191 6 Opiki, Palmerston No rth. mod el 85 1'. spee do with all co m ponents ; FOR SALE: 1915 Talbot complete exc ept front wh eel dri ve. Also an y manuals or othe r body back fram dashboard. 1925 Chrysler books on above car. C. Patch ett, Box 136, Club Coupe roadster with spa re eng ine and Blenheim. gearbox. Offers wanted. G. 1. Nikagevich , FOR SALE : One 23 x 60 0 tyre. Also an 7G Ve rmo n t St ., Pon sonby, Auckland. assortment of Bui ck 6 parts, 1917-1 920.C . \VANTED: Chrvsler 62 motor. R . Galletl y, Patchett, Box 136, Blcnheirn. T admor, No. 2 R .D ., W ak cfield, Nel son . WANTED : An y information on Cubitt FOR SALE: 4Y2 litre Bentley saloo n. Im­ ca rs, particularly photographs or information m aculate orde r throughout. Contact Gordon regarding bod y design s. M . J. Fraser, 1014A Sharpe, 5 Macn ee St., M orningt on , Duncdin, Fitzroy Ave., H astings. ph on e 35-70 I.

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Adver tising c n ~u i r i e s to be addressed to the Adver tising M an age 1'", 20 Hackthorne Road, Christchurch, 5 .2 . Published by V intage Car Club of N ,Z . In cor porat ed and pri nted by Simpson & Will iams Ltd. , 169 Sr. Asaph Street. Christchurch, New Zealand. Re gistered a t th e c .p.a. 'Vclli ngto n, for tran sm issio n as a mag al ine , e tc .