BEADED IBEELS I N.Z. VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORING SE PT E MBE R, I 9 6 3

o pr

I ....

I ~, "HORSELESS CARRIAGE"

In 1893 the first succe ssful gasoline powered motorcar in the United Slates cruised down the main streets of Springfield, Ma ss., at a speed of five miles an hour! This car was made by two brothers, Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea.

In 1896 Henry Ford drove his first car out of the machine shop in Detroit. Later, his system of machine-made, interchangeable parts, and assembly line production, put motorcars within the price ran ge of the man-in-the-street.

By the beginning of the 20th century, 8,000 motorcars were registered in the United States. These were powered by steam, gasoline or electricity, and even then they did not look much like the original "Horseless Ca rr iage."

Some of the laws passed in the early days of the motorcar make us chuckle today. For instance, one community ruled that if a horse refused to pas s a motor­ car the driver of the car must "take the machine apart • •• and conceal the parts in the grass." In some places motorcars were banned entirely, and angry farmers guarded their livestock with shotguns against these "contraptions of the devil."

It is easy to see that early motorists were indeed brave pioneers, often running risks th at would be hard to imagine today, for they also had to contend witb the discomfort of rough roads, open driving seats and temperamental engines. Times have changed and those first motoring enthusiasts would be the first to appreciate the advances made both in car and tyre design since the exciting, stimulating days of the "Horseless Carriage."

FIRESTO NE Tyres since the earliest days of motoring, have set the standard of reliability, economy and safety. Today's motorist, like his father and grandfather before him, looks to Firestone for EXTRA mileage and EXTRA reliability. Beaded Wh eels is th e voice of the Vintage Car M o vement in N ew Zea land and of the Clubs whose efforts are fostering and ever widening th e interest in this mo vement and form rallying poin ts for that ever increasing band of enthusiasts. T he fascination of age itself or revulsion from the flashy medio crity of our present day is drawing an increasing num ber of motorists back to th e individuality, solid worth, and fun ction al elegance that was demanded by a m ore discriminating genera tion and it is to th ese that we dedicate-

V OL. IX, No. 35 SEPT., 1963 " BE ADED "'lIEELS" DIRECTORY TO THE V INTAGE CAR CLUB'S OFFICERS Na tiona l Executive: P resident, A. A. Anderso n , Ch ristchurch; Beaded W heels is Pu blished C lub C a pta in, L. G . Witte, -d B.) qn jJ-;JJIt\ ~ u o l iJ U1 P P ;) .L Quar terly by the tain an d " Beaded W heels"Ed itor, M oll ie A nderson, Ch ristchurch; Comm ittee, L. B. Southward (W ellington), VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF N .Z. I NC. R . Porter (Carterton), H . B. F oste r (Ch ristchurch), N. C. 20 H ACK THORN E R OAD Adams (A uck la nd ). C URISTCHURCH, 2, N EW Z EAL AND All correspondence to Club Secretary, E. A. Bailey, P .O . Box 2546, Ch ristchurch. Yearl y Subscription 10/ - post free . Northhmd Bran ch :C ha irma n, P. V. Mc C rea dy ; Secretary, Individu al co pies 2 /6 eac h. W. J. Voyce, 13 K owha i A ven ue, Kaikohe. Auckland Branch: Cha ir ma n, H . Rob inson; Secr et ary, H . D . Editor: M rs M . J. ANDER SON . K idd, P.O. Box 3382, Auck la nd. A ssistan t Edit or: R . P ORT ER. Ba y of Pl ent y Br anch: C ha irm a n. L. Coupe; Secretary, A. A nde rsons Lin e, Car terton and D . Carneron , 97 C hurchill Ro ad, T au ranga, Hawkes Bay Br anch: C hair ma n, T. B. La wr ic; Secr eta ry, L. Copy must be typed o n one side of paper 1. D. P riest, 305a Co l tinge Road , H as tings. and sen t to the Ed itor, 20 H acktho rne Wellington Bran ch: Chairm a n, R .Ivin;Sec ret ary, J. Elworthy , R oad , C hr istchurch. 6 Pemp sey St reet, Silverstream . Wanganui Branch: Chairma n. B. A. Ta skcr: Sec retary, J. B. K irkwocd , 12 G odwin Crescen t, W a nganui. COp y DECEMBER ISSU E CLOSES M an aw atu Bran ch : C ha irma n. H . C. B. Wychcrlcy: Secretar y, N O VEM BER 15th M iss C. S. T ownshe nd, 300 R uahine Stree t. Palrnersto n Nort h. . Taranaki Bran ch: Ch a irma n, K . K ireher; Secr et ar y, C. K irk by, IN THIS ISSUE P.O . Box 486, New P lymouth. Page Editoria l 1 Marlborough Branch: C ha irman: L. G ifford; Secretar y, J. D. Road Test 2 F inn ie, 114 M uller Road , Blenheim. Was It Reall y Worth It 5 Ca nterb ury Branch: C hairman . E. J. S. Walker; Secretary, " A pres rnoi le Del age " 7 J. S. P .Pal mer, 10 T orquay Place, Bry ndw r, Christchur ch. International Rally, 1963 11 South Canterbury Branch: Cha irman, 1. Sullivan; Secreta ry, Vintage and Veteran Motorcycle T. M. Wi lso n, P .O. Box 2010, Wash dykc, Notes 13 Book Review 15 North Otago Branch: Cha irma n, W. G . Sp ite; Secre tar y. Camera Review ...... 16,17 J. T. O 'Br ien, 18CR .D ., Oarn a ru. The Heavy Metal. Part 6 18 Otago Branch: Cha irma n , R .E . N. Oukley; Secretary, S. M . Photo Quiz .... 19 Joh nson , 46 M a itla nd Stre et , Dunedi n. A Bit of Motoring History 20 Guess Who ...... 21 Southland Branch: C ha ir man. E. R.E unso n; Secre tary, J. W . Auckland Notes 22 Barn es, 206 Bluff Road , In vcrcargill, Northland Notes 22 The Veteran and Vintage Car Club (Waikato Inc.): Secre­ B.O.P. Notes 22 ta ry, L. D eath, p.a. Bcx 924, H am ilton . Waikato Notes 23 Tarana ki N otes 24 H awkes Ba y Notes 24 Wanganui Notes 24 EDITORIAL Wellington Notes 26 Nelson Notes 26 ON TH ECOVER of this issue you will find a Canterbury Notes 26 shot fro m the Presidential archives which is South Cante rbury Notes 28 North Otago Notes 29 part icularly apt at this mom ent in the Club's Southland N otes 29 story. At the Annual Meeting just concluded G eneral N otes 29 we say " Vale" to Past-President Rob Shand, Letter to th e Editor 30 who has guided our destinies for the past ten COVER years and "Salve" to a new class of vehicles to See Edi to rial our ranks- individual exam ples of Post Vint­ ll )' courtcs v A. Anders on age T horoughbred s. 1 PA GE TWO SEPTEMBER. 1963 The cover shows Rob in the first Maire­ primary aims a nd obj ects. He took office as hau Road R ace in 1951 in his famous "work s" President in late 1953 when membership had Railton, th e light sports machine of Brooklands dwindled to a mere 36 and initiated the poli cies fam e which should be a worthy subject for the which have led us by hard work and not a Club's attention under the new category now few disappointments on the way, to our pres­ that Rob is a ble to devote some time to his cars ent position on the threshold of an Interna­ in place of the cares of office. tional Event of almost unbelievabl e scope. To many members Rob will be relati vely It is entirely to R ob that we owe the fact unknown as an active competitor, largely owing that a strong nation-wide org anisation will to the ten years he has spent on the task of greet our visitors in 1965 and not the dis­ building th e Club up to the position it now jointed parochiali sm that marks New Zealand­ occupies. ers' a pproach to almost every other sport or In the late 'forties and early 'fifti es how­ hobby. Only an exce ptionally clear-sighted ever he was familiar on most circuits and mind could hav e devised the con stitution that sprint courses in N.Z. and your Club wa s in unites us all from North Cape to Bluff , just the forefront of organ ising major sporting fix­ as onl y a tactful yet vigorous personal ap­ tures, culminating in our organ isation of the proach could have ensured its adoption a nd N.Z. Hill Climb Ch ampionship in 1951, at successful application. which we were host to overseas drivers as well We owe R ob a grea t deal of gratitude for as the cream of all N .Z. competitors. In spite his work over these past formative years of of his close interest in open motor sport, Rob our Club and trust that his well-earned respite wa s the first among us to see how thi s type of will allow us to see again that unmistakable event was detracting from our prime interests jaw jutting out over the bonnet of the TT. of Vintage and Veteran activities, and led the Sunbeam in full cry ! mov e towards complete concentration on our

1926 14/40 VAUXHALL ROAD TEST By Brian A . Goodman

Rally results South Island Easter Rally and 4-speed box added . Production finished in 1963. Second plac e Vintage concourse. Jim 1927. In that year (1925 1927) it was sold in Sullivan. Vauxhall!!! Mmm, must have a Britain for £650. Now for some technical closer look at that car ; and it so happened details :- that a few weeks later the Vauxhall wa s made Weight: Slightly over 1 ton . available to me for a Beaded Wheels Road Motor : 4 cylinder side valves . Test. Max. revs. : 3200 . Develops 42 b.h .p, When looking at the car one notices its Four speed gearbox. very English sporting lines and the very nice Ca pac ity: 2297 cc. Battery: 12 volt. finish in general. Knock on wire wheels, alu­ Stroke : 130 mm . 13.9 h.p. minium bonnet, brass Lucas lighting, etc . Bore: 75 mm . Tyres: 525 x 21. This car was built April-May 1926, and A feature of the car is the gre at use of alu- its serial number LM3380. Originally owned minium right through the car, the cylinder by a Mr Samuel Ellis, of Eskdale. Napi er, the head . crankcase, sump, gea rbox casing, rear car passed through about 16 hands until Jim axle housi ng, and body all being constructed acquired it 13 months ago from Trevor Timms of this metal. The spa rks are supplied from a of Dunedin, who had done about 90 % of the Watford magneto and the cooling is done by restoration work. a fan and a water pump, which is cast onto Production by Vauxhalls of the 14/40's the head. An interesting point is the radiator reached 30 cars a week in 1925. The model temperature gau ge which is cast into the win ged started in 1921 with di sc wheels and three­ radiator ca p. This is the mod el that had heavy speed gearbox and lat er had the wire wheels filled weights attached to the lower half of the SEPT EMBER. 1963 PAGE THREE

The Vauxhall family "baby" By co urtesy D. D. Goodman

big ends and the se had a habit of breaking off you ca n hear is tyre noise but thi s ca r has quite by the big end bol t head s and goi ng throu gh a bit left after th at speed. At 50-55 the car is the sump with the grea tes t of ease and mu ch very ha ppy. No vibra tion a nd no noises exce pt noise. Becau se of thi s J im has fitted different for a wonderfully healthy exha ust note . T he rod s a nd pistons and subsequently ha s a mu ch steer ing has just the right amount of feel a nd is higher compression rati o now . This has mad e deadl y acc ura te (l ~- turns from lock to lock) the differ ence of on e gear on hills, i.e. where although the turning circle is very poo r at slow the Dun edin motorway required second gea r speed. The four wheel brak es are quite spongy before, it can now be taken in 3rd. It is prefer­ but can with the help of the hand brak e, wh ich a ble to ent er the car from the left hand side op erat es on a separa te set of interna l ex pand ing ow ing to the position of the hand brake and shoes in the re ar drums, pull the car up very the cha nce of gett ing the gear lever up the leg qu ickly and smo othly. Maybe the ca r was built of your trou sers (be o.k. for Scotsmen though). for tall peopl e as with my 5ft. Ilin. frame 1 Th e seat ing seems just right and all controls are seemed to be lookin g through the steering very easily reached. Release the hand brake whee l instead of over it. and yo u ja m your hand in between the lever Even so the red leath er sea ting is extremely and the side of the bod y. Try aga in, being comfo rtab le. The ride is very smooth, du e to. mor e careful of tho se already bru ised knuckles, no doubt the long (5ft. approx) cantilever and eve rything goes fine. The big mom ent has springs on the rear and semi-elliptic on the arrived and you engage first gear. R elease the fron t. Th e 14/40 corners quite fast and with clutch and you reali se you are driving a thor­ no fuss or bother. A very light vibra tio n is felt ough-b red . Up through the gears, accelerating when accelera ting ab out the 45-50 mark and smartly. and the car proves that it is all it that was the on ly sha ke I co uld find. looks. The gea rbox wo rks nicely but has three A very attracti ve mahogany dashb oard con­ noises, 1st , 2nd , and 3rd gears, Jim mutters ta ins on the left a rev. cou nter, on the right a that the teeth are just a bit worn . Into top and speedo, in between oil pressure an c! amp. you find that it is very qui et. At 40 m.p.h. all gauges . a cho ke and starter sw itch. Up top a -

PAGE FOUR SEPTEMBER , 1963

dash light which switches on when you twist the hood is down. it, and a round knob whi ch operates the air The V auxhall crest on the radiator too k my vent in front of the wind screen. Along the bot­ eye a nd Jim explained its origin. Fulk L e tom is a row of black on-off switches. Breant, soldier of fortune in King John's time. When usin g the high speed reverse you have bore the Griffon crest, and was given the Man or to make sure that the shift lever is hard back of L uton, and an heiress bride, M ar garet De against the seat, or it will jump out of gear. Redvers, for services to the Kin g. Fulk took This happened at a recent displa y and spec­ over Margaret's Tombeth home whi ch became tators were heard to rem ark, "That car must known as F awk-Hall and so Vauxhall. On ha ve a two speed reverse" as the gear was Kin g John's death Fulk was exiled and died bein g re-engaged . No acceleration tests were penniless in Fran ce. But V au xhall thrived and made as both the owner and tester belie ve that became a famous pleasure garde n in L ondon. this is unn ecessary flogging of a fine old car. Alexander Wilson, founder of the Vauxhall The Vauxh all averages 24 m .p.g. at its cruis­ Iron Works nearby, used the Griffon as his ing speed. Th e interior deserves mention also; trade mark and so when Vauxhall came to the red leather sea ts are very comfortable and Luton in 1905, Fulk's crest returned to its the floors are covered with wine carpets. The original home. Very interesting, we say . doors are covered in the same leather with Well th at ended our Road Test? and my varnished mahogany woodwork. The fold down thought s were on a very nice car as we left. tool box behind the front sea t also provides rn my o pini on, thi s is most definitely the mo st a comfortable foot rest. The rear seat back desirable vintage car in this part of the mo ve­ pushes forward to reveal a space for holding ment and on e whi ch must surely give countless the side curtains. These can be left on when hours of pleasure to its owner.

By co ur tesy R. D. Cr oss Under the bonnet. SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE FIVE IT REALLY WORTH IT? The Story of An Old Motorcycle WAS By G. Bull "The only bike I can remember seeing After a while we had a check with the detector was an old 1906 MINERVA about ten years and were amazed to find no contact. A careful ago. It's buried in a dam and when I collected check of the equipment confirmed that it was the ZEDEL the handlebars were still out of operating sati sfactorily, so we concluded the the ground. Been buried about 30 years some­ original contact was the metal studs in Jack's where out near TINUI." boot s. 10.30 came and Bill decided to go to The topic was vintage motorcycles and I the homestead to get his father and give us the was speaking to Lou Rinaldi one evening as I approximate locality of the bik e. While up collected some beaded edge rims he had prom­ there he would put the starter batteries in the ised me. "The farm is on the right-hand side tract or and brin g that down also . of the road and you have to cros s a creek to H e eventually arrived back witb his father get in to the homestead," he continued. and a large International bulldozer, quite pre­ Well! It wasn't much to go on but if still pared to spend all day if necessary to find the there it would be worth ha ving, so I decided to bike. Mr French thought the bike lay some try and locate the farm. After a dozen or so yards from where we had been trying, so after toll call s I eventually found the place and a short discussion Bill mounted the dozer and actually spoke to the person responsible for the began to cut a trench between the two esti­ act of destruction. mated positions. The first hour and a half saw "Any chance of getting it out?" I queried. us eagerly following the blad e of the tractor as "Not at the moment. It's under about five Bill went back and forth scooping out a large feet of mud and water, but wait until next sum­ trench in the bed of the creek. A large mound mer when it's dried out , then you can ha ve a of dirt gradually built up at one end as Bill and try," Mr French replied. the tractor slowly cut deeper and deeper. E vent­ Came the summer and one day I was yarn­ ually the trench was cut to about six feet deep, ing to a friend, Jack Hounslow, and the subject twelve feet wide and sixty feet long. Jack. of the MINERVA came up . After a while Michael and myself were by now of the opin­ Jack said he could borrow a metal detector for ion that the bike was now some place else or a day, which would make the job a lot eas ier. that som e person had acquired it yea rs ago . A ring to Mr French that evening resulted in However, Mr French and Bill were not to the all clear being given, so we arranged to be put out by this, and decided to cut the meet him that Sunday. trench back into the hillside from wher e the Sunday dawned overcast and drizzly but bike was thrown. Another hour saw the not bad enough to postpone the trip. I col­ trench progressively moved sideways about lected Jack and Mich ael, another vintage en­ thre e feet into the hill without any sign of the thusiast, and away we went , arriving at the bike. farm a little after 9 a.m. Bill French. the By mutual consent an adjournment was owner's son, met us and after a general intro­ taken for lunch at this stage, and whil e Bill and duction all round we visited the scene of his father disappeared in the direction of the operations. homestead we sat down on the tractor and sur­ The dam was a dried up creek in a gully veyed the havoc we had cau sed as we had our situated between two paddocks with several lunch. The rain which had been falling at odd willow trees and scrub and manuka along the times during the morning started again and I sides. The rain didn 't help much but it eased thought of wha t I could have been doing at off and we set to work. Jack set up the de­ home instead of being on a 'wild bike cha se'. tector and began a systematic coverage of the Jack however was more optimistic of us ground where Bill thought it lay. Variou s findin g it, and aft er we had had our lunch he sounds came from the detector headphones but donned the detector head phones and began no definite whine giving us the locality of the coverin g the sides and botttom of the trench, machin e. At one place we had a good contact while Michael and I had a general ramble for about six square feet, so Michael and I through the undergrowth along the sides and reached the shovels and commenced digging. ends of the creek. No luck however. and PAGE SIX SEPTEMBER, 1963 eventually our farmer friend s appeared over on the petr ol tan k, find ing out its shape and the brow of the hill and we discus sed the next size, as with veteran motorcycles the tank shape ph ase of opera tions. The exact area of gro und often gives a good ind ication of the mach ine's where Mr French estimated the bike lay had age. not been exea vated so we de cided to try there A trench was du g co mpletely around the as a last resort. The only snag was that by bike so we could get under it and lift it up the now several tons of dirt from the trench lay right way . This we eventuall y accomp lished ove r the spot. A sha tte ring ro ar from the tra c­ and gazed upon the obj ect of our search. No tor ech oed along the creek as Bill comme nced rims, spokes or rnudgards, se veral holes in the to remove the dirt fur ther along. tank and a badly co rroded a lloy crankcase, but This took ab out an hour before the orig­ otherwise appeared to be in reasonable order inal top so il was exposed and he could start in spite of its twent y-seven years buried , as it cutting down into the hard ground. Jack and I was in 1936 that it was discarded.

The "unearthing". By cou r te sy F . B ull were qu ite excited again and ke pt follo wing The only hard work left wa s to carry it up behind the blade keenl y wa tching for any parts the bank to the tra iler , and thi s we did as Bill to be exposed. brought the tractor up from the creek onto the "Can't be far aw ay no w," said Mr French. flat surface of the paddock . F inal thanks and "T his would be about the place from what I good byes were sa id, a nd some tim e later we can remember." Suddenly Jack leapt for ward were back in town. A ho se soon washed off the behind the tractor blade and ca me back grin­ last of the mud and revealed the machine in all nin g all over his face as he sh owed us a pedal its glory. During the week I di ssected the bike with a bright shiny thread one end where it and was quite pleased with wha t I fo und. The had been wrenched out of its crank by the tank wa s of no further use, but as it' s complete tractor blade. Bill eased the tra ctor back till with all edges and corners it is perfect as a pat­ it was well clear of the spot, then we tried with tern for a new on e. The fr ame and forks the detector , bein g rewarded with a very sa tis­ a ppear quite sound, a pa rt from the usual ru st fying contact. Spades and shovels were seized pitting. Both wheels hubs can be used. together and within a few minutes the engine and sun­ with the ped alling gear a nd va rio us frame dry frame parts were exposed. I conce ntra ted brackets. Th e magneto, exhaust pipe, muffler, SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE SEVEN handlebar levers, and carburettor are all in Two-lever Brown and Barlow carburettor. repairable condition. T he engine ha s "had it", Magneto driven by double eccentric crank. The alloy crankcase was corroded away com­ External contract ing rear brake operating pletely and the fins on the barrel break off at on hub worked by cam act ion when back ped­ the slightest touch, Flywheels and the pist on a lling on pedals. are in good sha pe, together with some engine Seat sprung by action similar to Indian pa rts whi ch are made of brass, a nd Harley-D avidson. A brief specification of the machine may At the time of writing all parts are away be of interest and is as follows : Approximately bein g chemically cleaned and deru sted, so there 500 cc. en gine. I leav e you with one thought: Variable sp eed engine pulley. (Th is could Wa s it really worth five hours' digging be an optional extra.) with a bulldozer ? Fully sprung lead ing link front suspension.

IIAPRES MOl LE DELAGE 11 Shivering beneath three complete sets of up proc ess for the "big haul". Nothing like clothing, with a blanket over my legs, and getting your hand in. gla ncing venomously at the stuck open window Came the day. We (two eo-fools and in the left hand front door through which an myself) set out from Auckland on the morning icy blast blew str aight off the frozen centre of of a dismally wet F riday. We should ha ve the North Island, I muttered :" You MUST taken the weather man's grim omen at face be mad! " value and stayed home. After all , 540 mile s Only madness, I thought a t that moment, in the rain and freezing cold is a bit of an would drive any normally sa ne person to set ordeal. .. . Especially when you are setti ng out out on such a fool's errand as this. Fi ve hun­ in a "d irty-thirty" Morris Fifteen Six that lack s, dred and fort y miles. half of them towing a a mong other thin gs, a window in the dri ver's second vehicle. in the middle of winter sure ly door. However, this hole in the wall was ren­ represent ed some form of insanity. dered a little less of a nu isan ce by the Hom­ The whol e thing started some months pr e­ burg that was produced out of nowhere for the viously. " I think I' ve found a car for you ." dri ver to wea r. E ver worn a Homburg pull ed said someone who I had always thought of as do wn over your right ear while dri vin g a some­ bein g a friend. " It's a Delage that need s a what loaded vehicle out of a large city? Try body." it sometime . . . you' ll be am azed a t the variety " Oh, good ," I replied. This had long been of look s that will be directed towards you . my hope: to obtain a suitably noble vehicle Mercer for lunch. Cambridge for after­ for restoration. Now , apparently, fortune was noon tea . Taupo for dinner. By thi s time the really directing a smile in my direction. I was weather had won, and we had called on a later to think that perhaps I had been wrong. friendly and commiserating wrecker on the side and that the smile wa s really a machievellian. of the road. Not to get rid of the Morris. you a sad istic, grin of sheer malignancy. But as und erstand. but simply to add a side window I say . that came later. F or the present I was to our equipment. Ju st as well we did! engross ed with the prospect of joining the Taupo on a dark and very windy mid­ ranks of those who have dili gently forsaken winter's night. Icy blast from th e lake sending all in the cau se of finis coronat opus. spray over the road . Fro st beginning on th e T he fact that in order to obtain this rev­ verges. The whiskey under everything in th e ered mon ster as my own I had first to procure hack! Onward, onward. . . . and barter with certain parts from yet a nother automotive conveyance, a nd that thi s other Turangi, tall-treed astride the road. N o machine was situated a good day's tra vel in the light s 10 gree t us, no welcome co ffee-stall. Fish­ opposite direction, did not deter me one bit. I erm en's baches closed for the winter. So uth­ did that part of it gladly. A sort of warming- ward to W aiouru. PAGEEIG HT SEPTEMBER. 1963

If ever the Tourist Publicity Department Breakfast out of a cold flask of soup . wan ts to draw tourists away from the soft life By the time we had rounded up one of the lake s and streams and get them into the George Gibbs in Taihape, downed several hot cities to boost their holiday spending, I hope cups of tea and gladly accepted the toa st his they come to me. I'll give them an opus on the good lad y provided, I for one was willing to subject of snow on the Desert Road at night forget the rigours of the previous day and night. tim e.Guaranteed to put anyone off travelling So back out to the farm, where we checked by road in winter for the rest of their natural tyres. oil levels, brakes and steering, before lives. Anyone who doubts my reasons for this hitching up to George's Landrover for the tow should drive south along this fro zen Sahara of up to the new devi ation out of Taihape. Ju st a road with a wes terly blowing rain, sleet and as well George offered to set us so far on our eventually snow horizontally across their path. way, because eo-fool two drove behind in the Wip er blade putting up a game struggle Morris, only to report when we stopped that to right, and racing across with a thump to one of the Delage's wheels was wobbling in the left .T he sheer savagery of the wind showing spokes, and it was doubtful if we'd make it up all the flaws of body construction of the anywhere on that one. thirties. Brittle-cold hands on the wheel. Wheel changing on the side of a busy road. Thankfully fewer than thirt y miles to go. Raw, bitt er cold eating through to the skin. And then Waiouru in the middle of the Rigid tow bar like an icicle held horizontal night with (you guessed it) no petrol pumps by the wind. Hands numb. open, and the only sign of life the soldiers col­ Once we had the wheel changed, George lecting their baggage from the stationmaster. bade us farewell and good luck, and we were Incredulous looks from them when they spot off back up the long road to Auckland. In day­ this 'orrer approaching, and only dumb stares light , the Desert Road is even more bleak than in answer to my question about obtaining pet­ it seems in the dark. Once I got used to the rol. Back to the car, where eo-fool No . One feeling of running up the tail pipe of the Mor­ has located bottle of whiskey, and is proceed­ ris when we slowed, 1 had time to look around. ing to pour large dollops into quarter full bot­ Snow tussock filled the landscape. To the tle of ginger ale. Two of those and we'd get to north and west the mountains rais ed their Taihape on the sme ll of the bottle, and to hell snow-ca pped slopes above the cloud. The sun with the petrol. shone down, but there was no warmth in it. Taihape duly surrounded us, and I hope the Waiouru was twenty miles away, and the wind blok e at the side of the post office didn't mind was whistling through the stuck window in the when I shared his temporary and very urgent passenger's door. The window in the driver's desire to inhabit for a short time the sheltered door was non-existent. "You MUST be mad," spot behind a shrub. I muttered to myself. Then I tempered thi s Cold night. Tortuous rain-wa shed track with the thought that I would hav e been even winding upward out of Taihape into the hills. madder had I followed my ori ginal intention Farm gates and a muddy path. Co-jool two and thrown the non-original balloon body int o gets left in rain at the gates-too muddy to risk the ditch before setting out. That would have stopring. been sheer insanity! ~ ourney's end was the tractor shed , seem­ Snowman by the side of the road. Tank ingly given over to the permanent storage of tracks in the black earth. Cold air turnin g the assorted cars of great age. The hour was that Morris's burbly exhaust into ([ crackle of sound. of the witch es-though what witch would ven­ No other traffic; only our two cars elephant­ ture Out on a night like this with her broom­ walking the long ribbon of road-the blind stick? It was here and at that hour that I got leading the blind. my first glimpse of the car we bad come 270 At Waiouru, a friendly service station miles for. We were all tired and cold, but that hand allowed us to make use of his shelter didn't stop us from crawling into, over and while we tore the door lining from the Delage unde r this veritable prize. and tried to get the window up. Succe ss! Hayshed on a L]lcL ',hillside. One wall open Lunch was obtained at a mist-windowed, to the wind, rain Cll1d\'heltering sheep. Hay­ closely shuttered stall that was like an oven bales digging into our ribs all the weeping night. after the Antarctic we had left outside the door. SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE NINE It was here that we found that a mixture of grades that had made the trip between Tokoroa half a bottle of brandy went well into half a and Taupo smooth downhill dri ving were seem­ flask of steaming coffee; the first sip was hard ingly endless grinds now, when we couldn't get to take, but the rest was luverly. out of third. Boiling came easier , and water On to Tura ngi, Co-fool one joins me in was needed more and more often. We didn't the Deluge, and supplies cigarettes and stimu­ know then , and weren't to reali se until much lating conversation. Snatches of song to the later, just what was happening under the bon­ tune of "A 11 clair de la Lune" escape from his net of that ma chine. We simply shook our frozen lips:" A pres moi le Delage ..." heads and said to ourselves that she was "worth . . . he sings in a cracked baritone . Con­ her weight in rocking-horse droppings". sider putting this comic out on the road, and I again toyed with the idea that there were change my mind. He could be helpful in a lot s of places on the side of the road where an jam; a few pounds of sugar and him in the pot old saloon body would never be noticed. But should boil up well . .. each tim e I thought seriously about it down At Turangi we had a change of drivers in came another shower of rain. It was all added the Morris, and eo-tool one, who had been weight with the bod y on, and although weight suffering from an ear complaint, and had spent wasn't one of the problems, it would have the previous day and night hidden within the made the going easier had we beeo able to fold s of a voluminous scarf and parka, emerged leave some of it behind. to tak e his turn. So long had been his sojourn Tokoroa on Sunday morning. Church for within the various garme nts that covered his the children running uncaring in the wet grass face that I was surprised to see just what he and the biting cold. Steam from mill digesters look ed like in the raw. Headwise. Not a pretty making a little weather condition of its own. sight, what with stubble on his chin , and Flat, barren town in a fertile plain. Timber and tousled hair. Then realised with a shock that bricks house humanity, but don't represent it. 1 probably look ed the same beneath the Hom­ More rain ahead. burg that was still jocularly known as the In spite of the growing reluctance of the "driver's hat". Morris, we were making much better time than Up, down, round, "Danger, Ice On Bends", we had the previous day. Atiamuri, standing rain lip ahead. Bottom gear lip the hills. Mohican-headed at the side of the road, had Juggling for the line throu gh the bridges. Steam flashed by, and Putaruru wasn't really so very screaming [rotn the overilow pipe on the far ahead . Yet it wasn't more than mid-morn­ Morris. ing. At this rate, it looked as though we would Lake Taupo from the south wasn't any be in Auckland for afternoon tea. It was calmer than it had been th e previous night. around this time that I found that the small Spray still whipped across the surface, and the pump affair in the centre top of the Del age's wind hadn't dropped. E ven at three in the af­ da shboard was for activating the big Le N ivex ternoon the temperature was only just above petrol gauge. Ah , the wonder of it! freezing point. So we decided to spend the night Putaruru deserted in the rolling slopes of in Taupo. rather than travel on to Tokoroa. We hills. Coffee and biscuits by the railway sta­ had no light s on the Delage, and it would have tion. Change of drivers. We'r e all fools together been more than just dark by the time we ar­ in this . . . . rived there. Anyway, the chance to stop for a The run down from Putaruru to junction hot meal and a warm bed for the night was just with the Great South Road near Cambridge too good to miss. Tomorrow, as has been said was easy . Plenty of time to try winding the before, was another day. clock and find that after stand ing for so long it Dim light of early morning. Shivering still worked. Other traffic was becoming more hands holding the can of radiator water. Chill frequent now, and many were the inquiring wind whisking the drops around. Skies lower­ glances that tried vainly to read the house ing to the north . Long drive ahead. nam e on the big blue-enam elled radiator badge By thi s time the Morris had clocked up of the Delage. well over 300 miles, and the strain was becom­ Cambridge was another water stop, and ing obvious. Those hard climbs out of Taupo ominous crackles and spitting sounds were had her down in bottom gear, and the long easy issuing from the Morris's engine-room. There PAGE TEN SEPTEM BER, 1963 was no sign of anything gravely wrong, though, a nd we drove on toward Hamilton for lunch. Bare poplar s near the river bank. Dry cows out in wet rain. Hamilton folk on church steps. Clock stri king noon. Hungry, We sto pped for lunch at the house of fel­ low vintager Eric Browne, who was naturally cur ious as to where we had found thi s prize of 'a car. Eric's Standard. dr iven eithe r by himself qr ju st as capably by his wife Joan, is no new sight a t club events in the area- and beyond­ ~ n d the spontaneou s greeting we got was warm­ ing on the now -sunny but still chilly day. W e put through ph one ca lls to Auckland Home at last. (The body is now off!!) from there. "H ome a t 4.30," we told them, and By courtesy W . Ca p per-Bta rr set off to make the for ecast a reality. from the bonnet louvres. Power, never there in T e Rapa out of sight behind. Petrol , oil an y grea t qu antity, dr opped to almost nil. and water. Boiling already. Wh at to do if . . ? Worried looks from front car to rear. ' .. R angiriri found us pulled in at the sid e of Hopeless shrugs.No clues. "Loud was the din (he road. Co-foo ls On e and Two ha ve po int ed of hissing, with com plicated monsters head to ~u t that the Morris is overheating. "S he's boil­ tail . . ."-Dante. ing all the time , and pinking like mad ," they We limped to Takapu na to deli ver Co-foo l say. It's a vicious circle. R etard the spark to One. Wh at to do, what to do? We'd brought stop pinking, and that makes her run hotter. the Del age a long way , co uld I bear to ha ve .IH as the tim ing slipped?" "No. If it had it to leave it now, des erted, o nly two mil es from would have been toward retard , and wouldn't hom e. N o! cause pi nking." So we wen t on to Te Kau­ The so lution was provided by a modern ~ h a t a , where we di scovered that the spitting we car. It wa s a slow drive. and a hard pull for had heard earlier was co ming from a water leak the small saloon, but some time lat er we roll ed on to the exh au st manifold. Bung in a sea ler the Delage down the drive. The Morris limped co mpound. fill up a nd hope. lam ely, minus oil press ure, power, evenness . Taupiri, Huntly, Mercer. Rain. Bombay and grace . int o her ga rage, and stopped with Deviation coming up. A uckland beyond . "l the stench of baked oil hanging around her like hope I hope 1 hope . . ." an aura. The sealer seemed to have done its job Hot soup. Warm fire. Clean clothes. temporarily. We topped the deviati on in sec­ Questions, answers. Consolations. Worry. ond- wonde r of wonders-and so mehow the Ne xt day we inspected the Morris. She 'd journey, with less than thirty miles st ill to go, reall y fou ght on to the grim end, a nd it was see med a lrea dy over. Slowly th rough the really on ly that small leak that had led to a ll town s: Papakura, pa st , and o n to the new the troubles. It had eventua lly widened , until motorway. the whole to p of the motor had been drained A uckland at last. Over the bridge and of water. Result was that the he ad of the mot or home. No t far now. Tr ick y in the traf fic. Car­ had got almos t red hot, oi l had turned to the filled Sunday afternoon. Int ersections a real con sistency of wa ter, and the he ad gasket had problem . blown. As well, the ex ha ust va lves had burnt Our forecast looked like being correct. It out until the y looked like halfmoons on hat­ wasn't lon g after four when we started up the pegs, and the ignition wiring had baked to bridge, and the downward free-wheeling was a powder. rest for the Morris. But d isaster lay ahead. Madness? More than likely. L ong haul As we pulled slowly, so very slowly, away that. Big job ahead. Bod y to build. T wo years' from the toll plaza, everything seemed to hap­ work , Mental pictu re growing of the result . pen at once. A phutti ng so und started a nd grew Open four-seater. Delage D.I. Series 4. N ice. quickl y to the complaining shriek of a blown Perhaps after all you don't have to be rc"j 'T,<,ke t 1111 der oressure . Blue smoke issued mad . But it he lps.. .. SEPT EMBER, 1963 PAGEELE VE N INTERNATIONAL RALLY, 1963 A. Dray "T he I nternational Rally began in Bri ght on with a big wh ite Me rcedes close on its ta il, and on Friday morning, 10th May, where all cars later Mr Stanley Sears' 4-} litre supercharged were expected to be assembled on M aderia Bentl ey was run around the track with a similar Drive by 9 a.m. M alcolm D ickens, my brother type car, a sup ercharged M ercedes, following Colin and myself arose very early, had break­ closely. fast , then left Putney for Brighton at 6.15 in After th is dem onstr at ion all the ca rs went Mr L. B. Southward's 1904 Wolseley, which on to the track and assem bled for the grand he had very kindly left in England and loaned parade, and some were sent the opposite way to us for this event. It was not a very nice for the final conc ours judg ing. We were for ­ morning, quite overcas t and wind y, and it tun ate enough to be in this group and when it rained lightl y on the way to Brighton, but the was whittled dow n to five cars and we were still car was running very well indeed and with in we were quite thrilled . They picked wha t very little traffic about we mad e Bri ghton in they wa nted and we were sent to join the 2t hours. Cars of all ages and type s were grand pa rad e, which filed past the stand s very , running around Brighton, but we mad e our wa y orderly, and then everyone began to take off to the assembly po int on M ad eria Drive. The around Goodwood at their ow n spe eds. Th is Wol seley was filthy , so we had an hour to do was quite exc iting and a bit dangerous bu t it all cleaning etc., and we started off on time at went off well and we had another go on our 10.15.The Mayor of Brighton, Mr W. H. G. own later on . Everyo ne then dro ve back to Button, prese nted eac h car with a very n ice Butlins, par ked, and we wer e given the most plaque and wished all competitors good luck fantas tic Buffet Dinner, where we had every­ and a reliable run. th ing and it was a wond erful sp read . Soon The route went through some lovely after this they held the prizegiving and speeches countryside and was 56 m iles for the veterans, in which the Wol seley won the concour s pri ze with a lunch stop at the country estate, R et­ for the whol e rally and an other cu p for being worth Park. This stop gave us time to look the best car from New Zealand. E ach foreign at some of the car s and what a beautiful select­ country received one of these for its best car, ion there was- 300 altogether, and I would so we co uld n't miss. think it must hav e been the first time that such Sunday morning the rally officially fin­ a collection of cars of thi s type had been as­ ished. but some went to Lord Montagu's at sembled anywhere in the world. Beaul ieu. We set off for London at a quiet We arrived at Bognor Re gis at 5 p.rn., pace, only to be passed ab out 30 miles on by a where we were directed to Butlins holiday roar ing 3 litre Bentley which pull ed up and ca mp . which had und ertak en to pro vide all the stop ped us. It was M iss E lizabeth Navle and acco mmodation for the rally . The place norm­ she has a very nice boat-tailed 3 litre with a ally hold s 10,000 people but we had only 750 4-} moto r. We were invited to lunch with Miss drivers and passengers and 180 mar shals, so it Nag le and her nephew, where we had a good was relatively em pty. On Friday evening after chat about everything under the oak beams of a very nice dinner we saw the Shell films, a lovely old E nglish pub. 'Heroic Days' etc., wh ile the International Fed­ We arranged to ca ll in at Miss Nagle's eratio n held its meeting. house on our way throu gh Wa king, whic h we Saturday morning we were up ea rly, had did aft er seeing some other friends. and con se­ breakfast, and drove out to Goodwood, ten quently left from Waking at 9.15 p.m., so wc miles away. for the day's events. We arrived at lit all the lamps and motored u p to London, Goodwo od at 9.30 and the co ncours was at 11 so ful filling one of my pet ambitions. a.m., so we cleaned the Wolseley frantically for We met N.Z. membe r Bill T urn bull at the 1-} hours and by the tim e the jud ges turned up rall y and he was busy with the Bugatti section it was looking quite respectable agai n. During but was very pleased to see the New Zea land the day we did a series of the usual type of car participating. A ll in all, it was a wonderful dri ving tests and later in the afterno on demon­ rall y and the orga nising was superb. T he Wol­ strations were given a ll the track by the faster seley ra n very well and covered over 200 miles ca rs of all periods and th is proved most popu ­ during the weeke nd. T oday we greased the lar indeed. The 1908 Itala of Mr Sam Clu tton ca r and packed it into the case for its retu rn ca me burning down the straigh t at abo ut 65 home to New Zealand." PAGE TWELVE SEPTEMBER, 1963

MANUFACTURED BY ­ PRESCO PISTON ·RING. CO. LTD. WELLINGTON

Douhles the Life SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE THIRTEEN By Geoff VINTAGE & VETERAN MOTORCYCLE NOTES Hockley A Forgotten Feat.-The story of the Christ­ rect, for earlier in the same year one A. E. Catt, church-Hanmer record in the previous issue of of Northampton, England, rode a Triumph 400 "B.W." reminded us that some time ago we miles in six consecutive days (and incidentally came across some rather scanty details of a finished a physical wreck). But there were feat­ quite remarkable endurance feat , accomplished, ures of the Cnristchurch man 's effort which as near as we could recall, about the 1911 or made it compare very favourably with Catt's '12 era. We had made such a careful job of record. For one thing, the latter used a course filing this information away when we first came which did not include any hills. And it would across it, that when it occurred to us recently also be pretty safe to assume that although that it might be of interest to "B.W." readers, English roads in those days were far from we had considerable difficulty in unearthing it. good, they were boulevards in comparison With The few details we finally brought to light sent Canterbury's in the same period. It seems to us off on a sleuthing expedition in quest of us, therefore, that Mr Dendy's effort was no further information, though when we finally emerged, dusty and grubby-fingered, from piles .. G' DAYS RELIA BILITY NON STOP RUN of ancient newspapers, we hadn't added much ONA 3zh.p.TOUR S ~REMIER . more to the record. We came to the conclusion PROGRES S RESl/aS POSh'l) HERE. . that a really outstanding feat of endurance, both human and mechanical, had received less publicity than it had deserved, and it was only by the medium of the few advertisements in connection with it that we were able to form a clear enough picture to present to our readers. A Remarkable Ride.-At 4 a.m. on Monday, November 20, 1911, a Christchurch motor­ cyclist, Mr A. E. Dendy, left the city on the first stage of an attempt to cover 1500 miles in six days under official observation. Engine and frame numbers had been checked by the club officials supervising the run (probably these ~ .... were members of the Christchurch Cycling and Iron Man 1911. An inspiration to prospective Motorcycling Club, which conducted motor­ cycle events at this period), and the rider's pro­ Haast RaIly-ites. By CO la tes y G. H ock lov / gress was checked at intervals along the route. mean one, and that he was deserving of a little Just what the route was, the advertisements more kudos than he appears to have received very tantalisingly omit to mention, except that at the time. it included "some of the roughest and hilliest A "Premier" Performance.-For his long ride roads in the South Island." Daily progress re­ Mr Dendy used a 3} h.p . single-cylinder Prem­ ports were posted in the windows of the J. A. ier, a make which sold here in moderate Philp Motor Company in Gloucester Street, the numbers in the years prior to the 1914-8 war. agents sponsoring the attempt. And apparently Although our memory is slightly hazy on the this ambitious project went off without a hitch, subject (at the time of Mr Dendy's feat our as an advertisement in the "Press' of Monday, motorcycling activity was confined to vieing November 27 (a week after the start of the run) with other equally motorcycle-crazy kids in proudly announces the successful conclusion of collecting lists of makes) we do recall the Prem­ what was undoubtedly a remarkable effort. ier as being quite an attractive and well­ "1501 miles in six days (it ran) including a finished machine. In workmanship and finish world record one day ride of 390 miles, without it was probably the equal of some of the more a mechanical stop of any kind , and with only popular makes, such as Triumph, King Dick, one puncture. using Continental tyres and belt." and a few others, and in one or two design The claim of a world's record was hardly cor- features it may have been superior-its front PAG E FOURTEEN SEPTEMBER, 1963 fork, for instance, wa s considerabl y more many cou ntries of the world- the Clyno, manu­ " springy" than those fitted to so me of its rivals. factured in Englan d by the Clyno Engineering T he very early Prem iers used White & P oppe Co . in the years 1911-23, after whic h the makers en gines, but later models. as used by Mr conc en trated on car m anufacture. The earliest De ndy, were eq ui pped with th eir ow n power specimen which we recall seeing on loc al roads uni ts. whic h featured (on th e single-cylinder was a 191 3 model, as dep ict ed in the accom ­ mode ls) th e unique auxiliary exh aust valv e pan yin g photo. In thi s year, too, the makers wh ich for some years wa s a feature of thi s introduced a well-made little two- stroke, dis­ marq ue . T he two exhaust pipe s (one fr om th e tinguished by its slop ing cylinder and unit norma l exh aust port and on e from the sma ll engine-gea rbo x co ns truction. But th e Clyno is extra exhaust va lve mounted on the front of remembered for its larger twin-cylinder "5 -6 the cylind er) may be seen in the photograph. h.p ." model, which won fame as a sidecar It was consider ed by m any de sign ers of the hauler, more than for its light solo model. A s period th at a little extra scavenging of th e ea rly as 1911 a Clyno ou tfit driven by Frank exha ust ga ses paid di vidend s, as witn ess the Sm ith mad e th e first ascent of Porlock. the aux iliary exhaust ports on many early ra cin g notorious British trials hill, wh ich had hitherto machi nes. T he device used by Premier pr ob­ defeated all efforts by sidecar outfits. The ably kept the engine a little cooler, an import­ Smith-Clyno com bina tion was a con sistent gold a nt factor in those day s, whe n the av erage side­ med al winner in the major English trials for by-side val ve cyl ind er di storted conside rably, severa l years- and, stra ngely en ough, at abo u t and there may have been some basis for the the same period a Clyno outfit piloted by a Pre mier slogan- " W hen you see a '3}' climb­ driver of the sa me nam e was performing cr ed­ ing like a '6'. it' s a Prem ier !" itabl y in our own local reli ab ilit y tr ials. Prob­ Sixty-Quid Record-B reaker.- The loc al pri ces ably man y old-timers will recall the po pul ar for Premier mod els in those d ay s see m pr ett y "Smil er " Smith piloting his Clyno an d "cha ir" reaso nable when looked a t more than fifty in man y Christchurch club events. years lat er. The 3} h.p. single "fi xed engine" An Apt Slogan.-Like mo st motorcycle manu­ model sold for £60, a nd a hub clutch model facturers. th e C lyno people used a slogan which set you back a n extra tenner, while for just was featured in all their advertising (we think fifty bo b mor e you could indulge in the luxury we must compile a list of sloga ns one of th ese of a 2-spe ed gear. Al so a va ila ble wa s a 3} h.p. d ays)- some of them readily lent themselves to twi n to the sa me specifications as th e single at di stortion, with results generally humorous a nd an extra Iiver in each ca se. Premier sales ap­ sometimes unprintabl e, and in the cas e of the paren tly received a considerabl e fillip as a Clyno it was sim ply " CLYNO-THE SIDE­ re sult of M r Dendy's ride, as in an advertise­ CAR MOTOR CYCLE". And that it was a men t in th e "Press" of D ecember 9, 1911, the lust y eno ugh puller IS ev ide nt by th e accom­ ... ".; agents reported th at sa les had doubled and that extra ma chi nes had been ca bled for. Well, it was a stout effort, an d we should blush for sha me when we find ourself wondering if our garga ntua n gas -gobbbler will cart us aro u nd th e H aast R ally route without letting us down! Remember th e Clyno ?-A s L yell Boyes re­ marks in his qui z session, " one thin g lead s to a not her", a nd we encounte red an exa mple of the tru th of this pr ofound sayin g when. while engaged in di gging up some dope on the " Premier" story which you ha ve ju st read (we hope), we came ac ross anoth er clipping wh ich we had filed aw ay and for gotten . Although it doesn't refer to a ny feat of end ura nce, it' s int er ­ est ing in tha t it recall s a make which wa s once ll ;:.' co u rtesy G.H ockl cv Class-s-and a Clyno, co nside rably po pular as a sidecar machine in But how did those hats stay on? SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE FIFTEEN panying photogr aph, whi ch was taken on the sta te of th e Christchurc h-A karoa highway in occasion of a demon str ati on of the machine's those d ays-it was bad en ou gh when we first capabilities sho rt ly after it had been introduced sa mpled it, some five or six yea rs after thi s. in Christchu rch by the agents, Cycle and Motor But su rely the crew of the C1 yn o didn't brave Supplies Ltd. An ad vertise me nt accompanyin g the rigours of the trip attired as in the photo ? the picture sta tes " T he king of motorcycles for M ayb e, of course, the picture was tak en before sidecar wo rk is undoubtedly the 1913 model the sta rt-in whi ch case, we shudder to think 3-sp eed twin-cylinder Clyno. This wonderful wha t th e gents' tasteful dark suitings, win g col­ machine acc omplished an a bsolutely non-stop lar s and "as now worn" headgear must have run from Papanui to Akaroa and return. Time looked like a t the finish. And as to the state taken wa s 2} hours each way, and a howling of th e be-furred lady occupying the nose of th e side wind wa s encountered for most of the sideca r and cudd ling the sup ercilious-look ing journey. The sidecar carried two adult passen­ lap-dog, it simply doesn 't bear thinking about! gers and the weight of the driver and passen­ But our guess is tha t they pu shed off home for gers amounted to more th an 30 stone." An a shower a nd a ch an ge a t the conclusion of the excellent performance, ind eed , considering the trip, befor e having their pictures taken. BOOK REVIEW AUTOMOB ILE QUARTERLY Publishers: Doubleday & Co. What a n extraordinary mi xture ! This was in the H enry F ord mu seum, a nd finally an ex­ my immediate impression on op ening and cellent a rticle written by Jan P.Norbye, "T he rather hurriedly thumbin g throu gh the pages A ston M artin a t th e C rossroads", which is a of " A utomobile Quarterly" , th e American con­ well writte n a nd illuminating history of David noi sseurs' period ical of motoring. But ha vin g Brown's influ ence in the marque. settled myself comfortabl y, I was pr epared to I can recommend th is book for the ma g­ revise my rather hasty o pinion formed at a nificent pl ates it co nta ins and feel it is excep­ quick gla nce at the co nten ts. tion all y suitable for tho se who enjoy light and Yes, the bo ok is still a mi xture but a lot easy reading. of research has go ne into its prepa ratio n. It ha s for read er s who are interested in There is no "WAITING LIST" if you have Overseas Funds. Let New Zea­ early motoring and th e evolution of the motor­ land's oldest F ord D eal ers help you to car, Renault F reres in th is instan ce wr itten by get your new Van Varner. The article covers the life history of Marcel and L oui s, although recounted many ANGLIA CONSUL 315 times before, but supported by some excellent CONSUL CORTINA photographs of production and experimental ZEPHYR 4 ZODIAC ZEPHYR 6 models. And aga in, very suita ble for those more or one of tho se a ttractive spec ial models like the stylish Co nsul Capri, or the interested in pictures are copies of truly ma g­ Zephyr Convertible. nificent action paintings by Roy Nockolds of some of the world's leading racin g drivers, but FALCON SEDAN salted wi th the odd Vi ntage and Edwardian FALCON STATION WAGON subjec t. H ar vey B. J an es expounds his th eories on the merits of front wh eel d rive; his ar gument GORDON HUGHAN that a horse pulls a ca rt and does not pu sh it, I feel is not very co nvinc ing. Body de sign LTD. of Pininfarioa by John Wh eelo ck F ree man I P.O. BOX 48, CARTERTON found very interest ing a nd well com piled , also PHONE 8099 suitably illu str a ted by outsta nd ing models to (After hours, R. Porter, 8452) date. There ar e exquisite photogr aphs of vehicles Licensed Motor Vehicle Dealers PAGE SIXTEEN SEPTEMBER, J963 WANGAI

B y cour tes y K. w ri zh t Same pump, same Rally, Ross Jones' rare 505 Fl at and the Chrys ler 77 roadster of " Dexter" Bassett. MORE HI

By co urtesy \V. Brown The Hooker Thomas, well known Muriwai competitor taken at Oreti Beach, 1926. SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE SEVENTEEN I RALLY

By court esy K. Wriuh t Len Southward within 1913 Austin, replenishing fuel supplies prior to start. fY METAL

By cou r tes y \V . Brow n Irvine's Bugatti, wiuner of the Light Car Cup 1925, again taken at Oreti the following year. PAGE EI GHTEEN SE PTEM BE R, 1963 THE HEAVY METAL-Part 6 By W. Ca pper Starr FEBRUARY 21, 1925- age of 72.5 m.p. h.. with a clocked fastest run The nam e of C. W. F. H amilton is prob­ of 85 m.p.h . abl y not an unknown one to most of the vint­ T he day' s rac ing programme turn ed in the age enthusiasts in th is country. He is, as well, follo wing results : known both here and overseas for some boat Touring Car Handicap, run over 5 miles or other that has n't got a propeller. But if we with one turn. This was won by C. Paine, driv­ could go bac k 38 yea rs, to February 21. 1925, ing a Bui ck, ahead of C. G. Goodman 's Chand­ we would find a somew ha t younger Mr Ham­ ler. Both cars sta rted off the 40 second mark. ilton at Muriwai Beach. T hird place was tak en by F. Ballin in a Stand ­ Mind you , there wo uld have been a lot of ard, (1 min. 20 secs.). T he scratch man got a oth er peopl e there as well, though a comparison bit lost at the pos t and lost, as well, all chance of th e specta tors at the Muriwai Beach Motor of the race. The main field of eight sta rters R aces in 1925 with those of the previous year departed down the beac h in a bunch, but the would ha ve show n a dr op in atte nda nce. This limit men were a long way out after the turn. was not, however , du e to an y lessenin g in the Pain e won the race with a time of 5 minutes popularity of the races, but was instead du e to 25 seco nds, 50 yards ahead of Goodrnan, wh o the infantile paral ysis ep ide mic that was raging in turn was three times that distance ahead of around at that tim e. Bal/in. An yway, C.W.F. wo uld have been there won­ As we've said already, the next race on the dering just wha t the outcome of the da y's run­ prog ramme, the 50-mile Li ght Car Cup, was ning was to be. He need not have worried; won by Ir ving's Bugatti , and behind him came 1925 was the yea r of the Sun beam ; it was the H. Holliday in a Ru gby, and a Rollin car en­ year that saw the seco nd win by an En glish tered by Dexter Motors and dri ven by Cy ril car of the cove ted Ne w Zealand Motor Cup; "Rusty" Rusden. F rom the rolling start the and it was the year that Mr C. W. F. H amilton Bugatt i seemed to have the advantage , but J . took the prize that was to go for keeps to Mr Buchanan in a Ho rstma n was push ing it rather R . B. Wilson the next yea r. hard-perhaps too hard, as will be seen From a spectator point of view, 1925 was shortly. Some 8 minutes aft er the start, two an interesting year in that while there were dots rap idly screa ming down the sand turned few of the neck-and-neck strugg les of the pre­ out to be the sa me two cars, still in the same vious years, du e to the sho rtening of the racing orde r. but at the second turn the Bug got int o circuit so that no fewer than seve n turns were trouble and Bu chanan took the lead. A minute required for the 50 miles of the big race, there later the Rugby appeared 100 yards ahead of was compensati on in the clea r views available the R ollin and 200 yard s in front of an from the natu ral grands ta nds behind the judge's Ar mstrong-Siddeley. An A ustin 7, piloted by box of all of the turning. No more d id the Man gham , was sticking gamely to the race, but cars rac e awa y out of sight to reappear for the another of the sa me breed had already fallen checkered flag with no-one the wiser about how by the wayside. By the time the next turn at much tussle and rou gh driving had passed the bott om of the beach was reached , there was between start and finish. As well, the starting a sur prise for everyo ne. The Bugatti whined system previously used in the cu p events was into view a clear two miles ahea d of the Ru gby. changed to mak e way for a rollin g start that which was in turn half a mile in front of the had every comp etitor away at the same time Rollin. Shortl y afterwa rds . the Horstman, its with no danger of any collisions. brief hour of glory go ne like Khayyam 's snow­ The Light Car Cup Race, run ove r the flak es, pulled in with a dry petrol tank.F rom same 50 miles as the New Zealand Motor Cup there on in the race was a procession, and the race, was won by Mr A. lrving's Bugatti, and littl e French product won by 3 minutes 22 man y were the people who were taken by the seco nds. with 30 seconds between the remain­ sma ll car 's perfection of running and smooth­ ing ca rs. T he H orstm an was the same car that ness. The ca r returned a time for the event of Dou glas Hawkes had dri ven in the 1923 J.c.c. 41 minut es 18 seco nds, giving an overall aver- 200-mile race . SEPT EMBER, 1963 PAGE NI NET EEN The Ladies' Handicap, over 2J miles, was failed to ap pe ar until aft er the following race. won by Miss E. Selby in a Buick. Second was (Per haps toheroas were popul ar even in those Mis s H. Butcher in a Studebaker, a nd both days. H e co uld have kn own a go od " possie'") cars started off 8 seco nds . Miss V . L ove, in a O ver the sa me distan ce as the previo us Chandler, drove into third pla ce from scratch. eve nt, the Ope n Handicap sa w L. Bedford As in pa st years, the lad ies' race pr ovided a (R ugby) off 2mi n 49secs, A. Haydon' s F ord good finish, with all th ree of the girls only off 39 seconds, a nd C. W . F. H am ilton 's Sun­ slightly sepa ra ted . The winner's time was 2 bea m off scra tch in the first three plac es. A lso­ minutes 43 seco nds. ra ns were the H olliday Rugby, a Jewett, a n Ne xt o n the agenda for the day was the big A us tin, the Vauxhall, R oll in and An d rew' s race that so many people had come to see. Ford. Aft er a cert ain am ount of bother at the As well as Mr Hamilton's Sunbeam, Hope star t, which saw the Sunbeam held up and Bartlett's V au xh all (second) and S. An dr ew's unab le to get away, Mr H amilton had a lot of Ford (third), the field included Irving's Bu gatti , gro und to ma ke up . But by the tim e the Bed ­ D. Beau chop in an Itala, A. J. Bell in a Stutz, for d Rugb y passed the flag there was still a a nd Haydon in a sec ond F ord. qua rter mil e of track ah ead of the Sun beam, Again a rolling sta rt saw the competitors which only ju st fai led to make second place in awa y together , with the Vau xhall- a Sydn ey spi te of some fine driving a nd in increasing ca r over to try and gain the hon ours-bein g pace. first to get into the clea r. By the end of the F or the last eve nt of the da y. G. Smith a nd first lap. ho wever , the Sunbeam had 100 yards C. Goodrnan, in a pair of very evenly-ma tched on the Bartlett Vauxhall , with the two Fords Cha ndlers, fou ght it out over 175 yards of the clos e together and just holding the ir own over accelera tion test. Smi th got a thi rd of a length the Bugatti. T he Stutz was well behind eve n in fro nt right fr om the sta rt, and both ca rs at this early stage, and looked to be we ll out maintained their positions a ll the way. of the running. The on ly cha nge in the pos i­ As far as the Sa turday's racing went. that tion s from then on was whe n Haydon 's Ford ended proceedings. and most of the spe ctat ors dropped back , together with the Bu gatti. T he were on the ir way home again by four in the V au xhall. which had give n the impression of af ternoon. There were none of the delays that biding its time unt il the end, just di dn 't mak e had marred the depa rture of the crowd in pre­ it over the Sunbea m, which won comfortably vious yea rs, and no co nges tio ns were report ed by 38 seco nds . Andrew's Ford led H ayd on 's a ll the wa y back to Auckl and . to the po st by 200 yards, and the Bu gatti was T he follow ing day , however , two ca rs were a close quarter mil e aw ay . agai n out of the beach-this tim e to contest the T he Junior H andicap. a 3-turns. 16-miles Austral asian F ive Mile Speed R ecord, a nd farce of an eve nt. proved a bad entry for the again it was the day of the Sunbeam. The two Ballin Standard that had taken a thi rd placin g cars were those of Mr H amilton and H ope ea rlier in the day. Appar ently only three cars Bartl ett. and the tim e returned by the V au xh all . sta rted thi s race, and H . Armitage in an 3 minutes 19 3-5 seconds, was no good against Arrnstrong-Siddeley, star ting off 30 seconds, led the Sunbeam's run of 2 minutes 59 3/5 sec ­ a ll the way af ter the first tu rn. J. Bu chan an in o nds . The Sunbea m's tim e gave a speed of his Horstrn an , off scra tch, looked like being a 100.27 m.p.h., almos t 16 m .p.h . faster than the winner for a while, but he lost a tyre and had tim e set up in 1924 by S. A ndrew's Ford. a nd to limp for mos t of the race fo r seco nd plac ing. Mr Ham ilton justly ga ined the reco rd . M r Ballin' s fate is ob scured by time , but he (Next : 1926-27-28 : Stutz R ampant.)

QUIZ - WHAT IS IT? Once aga in we have room for a qui z pho to. Send yo ur an swer with as many de ta ils as possible to the Editor, 20 H ackthorne R oad, Christchurc h 2. N ex t issu e we will let you know just how r ight you are.

ny courtes v C. D . Gcarv PAGE TWENTY SEPTEMBER, 1963 A BIT OF MOTORING HISTORY By Re x Porter A friend came across th is old photo and The windsc reen on the Mercedes is a one­ brought it along to see if I were interested. I piece affair hinged from the top and in the sure was, and man aged to extract some rele­ pho to it is shown swung forward and up, sup­ vant details. The sa id friend, Jim Svenson, is ported on two tall side-pillars (pr esumably to the lad in cap sea ted in the middle of the Mer­ allow the photographer a good view of the cedes. and the pho to was taken in Feilding occupants). The hood on the Singer is an about 1911 or 1912. He was then an apprentice immense affair, and Jim says that against a mechanic at the ga rage of Wh ackrill and head wind it cut the car's speed do wn to a mere Stewart. 10 mph. Equipment includes gas headl amps, The Mercedes belonged to Mr E .Short or oil tail lamp, and appa rently no side -la mps. A Mr Knight, and the driver is T ornmy Ryan. Stepney wheel is mounted on the side . "I often who is thought to be now in Taihape. It has had to use the Stepney, but on a back wheel four cylinders with O /B inlet and side exhaust. we had to put a leather strap round the spokes

By cour tesy J. Svenson

The car behind the Mercedes is a Singer to stop the Stepney from creeping round. It and the oth er one, only partly see n, is that steered all right even on a front wheel , but we rar ity, a Wei gel. The ga rage own ed three Sing­ had to kee p the speed down. The old Singers ers and also the Weigel. all of which were used were quite reliable and they kept the dr iver well for hire. The tract ion engine shows A rchie occ upied, what with frequent gear chan ging Keir at the helm. B e was at one time Mayor and attention to the lubricat ion system, which of Masterton. Standing behind is eith er Bob con sisted of a pump and four taps, one of Martin or Tom Fowler. This steamer was ser­ which had to be turned on every four mi les viced by the garage , and my friend has vivid and one stroke of the pump ad ministered. The memories of the very dirty job of re-tubing the other three were opera ted at various long er bo iler periodically. intervals, usually when the driver thought of SEPTEMBER. 1963 PAGE TWENTY-ONE them. or if the bus seemed to be complaining engine oil and several chains and sprockets a bit." could be seen moving in the oil carrying it up "One day I was driving a party of ladies into troughs to feed to the engine. The oil-box to a wedding at Cheltenham, and going down was belt-driven from the engine. It was quite the steep hill out of Collerton I ran in low gear impossible to crank the engine unless the de­ but still could not quite get round Devil's compressor had been set, and even then it was Elbow. We went gently over the edge of the a real strong-arm job. In fact, starting was a road and down the bank, but not my passen­ two-man job-one on the crank and the other gers. All six ladies had jumped out and on the decompressor lever ready to release it promptly fainted in the middle of the road." when the cranker had it turning, or, as more The Weigel had a very big engine rated at often happened, to swap places and give the about 60 h.p. and the car itself weighed about cranker a breather. At one time the Weigel was two tons. It was hard on its "Palmer Cord" converted to a bus with seats arranged in tiers, tyres. It had no spark plugs, ignition being by the rear one very high above the road. It held low-tension magneto and mechanical make­ 16. However, it was not a success. there were and-break inside each of the four cylinders. A not enough customers, and it was re-converted big glass-topped tank on the dash held the to a 7-seater car.

GUESS WHO by George Woodward

One evening not long ago I was sitting seemed to be rather interested in No. 5. in the lounge of a Rotorua hotel sipping my 5. A somewhat handsome looking gent post-prandial coffee and idly contemplating a who was sitting at the writing desk and mak­ small company seated there. ing notes from various small pieces of paper. Earlier in the evening I had run my eye Obviously a commercial traveller. (This re­ over the line of vehicles parked outside. These minds me of the story of the commercial trav­ were : eller and the dirty shirt, which, however, can­ A sleek-looking Jaguar Mk. VII; a 1956 not be repeated here.) Vanguard. covered in mud; a 1961 Morris Ox­ 6. Two old ladies very busy talking about ford, with a coathanger on a hook inside; a the weather and the obvious. neat little 3-cyl. D.K.W.-clean; a Bel Air 7. A quiet man of about 45 who was Chev.; a Harley-Davidson motor-cycle of per­ rather amused by the antics of the children. haps 1927 vintage, with sidecar; and a Rabbit 1 became so interested in this speculation scooter. that 1 made it my business next morning to be Looking at the folk there, 1 tried to fit on hand after breakfast to see who went in them into the various vehicles outside. These what. folk were: 1 was right about the holiday family and 1. A man of about 35 with his wife and the muddy Vanguard, but was surprised to see two charming youngsters, a boy and a girl. the two old ladies enter the Bel Air and drive They seemed to be on holiday as the boy was off with the utmost sang-froid . rigging a model yacht, probably for sailing on 1 was amused to see the commercial trav­ the lake tomorrow. eller and the attractive girl having a look to 2. The inevitable honeymoon couple, ob­ see if the Rabbit scooter could be accommo­ livious to the rest of the crowd. dated on the carrier of the Oxford. 3. A balding austere looking gentleman, But who do you think mounted the vintage probably a banker, obviously nearing retire­ Harley-Davidson and roared off with a happy ment. grin? Why, the balding, austere looking bank­ 4. An attractive girl of about 25 who er nearing retirement-me. PAG E TWENTY-TWO SEPT EMBER, 1963 NORTHERN NATTER was non e other than Georg e Gil trap and his After the number of times when var ious Tran spo rt Museum near Surfers' Pa rad ise in club member s throu ghout New Ze aland have Queen sland. Seems the local s (a nd tourists as deplored th e fac t that a few of our better ca rs well) are enjoying the busine ss of popping in are sold ove rseas , it's refreshing-and a nice to see just wha t there is there-and there's a cha nge to boot- to find so me intere st be ing lot. J ust goes to show that quite a lot of people shown in the ca rs that ar e ava ilable in other will ac tually pay good mone y just to stand an d co untries . This has largely been brought about look at old motor-cars. Co me to thin k of it, by someone havin g noti ced that the Sydney it's not a bad way of spe ndi ng the time of day Morning Herald run s a special secti on, a t the at that. .. . tail end of its "Cars for Sale" columns, devot ed to whatever Vintage mach inery happens to be RESTORATION IN offering. NORTHLAND On e in par ticular tha t has attracted some The Car: Austin 12 x 4 Tourer conc rete interes t is a 1922 It ala sports, an d the Owner: Wally Nisbet interes ted party is ardently hopin g that it will The old lady was carried on a trailer be­ eve ntua lly arrive on the wha rf in Auck la nd hind a Ferguson tractor fro m 20 miles away, at somethi ng like its true value- inclusive of at the usu al storage plac e of scrub, gorse and freig ht costs. weeds, on 15 October, 1962. By the tim e the W ithout ha ving gone into the qu estion Nor thland V.e.e. was fo rme d the car was ver y tho ro ughly, it's hard to sa y just wha t the stripped of eve rything str ip pa ble ready for the actual cos t of tran sporting "old cars" from fun to stop a nd work begin . Th e d iff., gea rbox, A ustra lia wo uld be, but in th is case the mem ber engine and running gear were d ismantled and hopes that it will not be more th an £50-£60, thorou ghly overha uled. The whee ls needed and Cl reason abl e figu re tha t doesn't kn ock him out received a lot of at tention too. Those item s of the picture entirely. are all reassembled , installed and painted and +:. * the mo tor ru ns oh so nicely. in fac t it makes Here in the North th ings are getting away my ow n Ve teran (1962) sound like a train on a agai n as the new season op ens out. By now bridge. T imin g chain-but the A ustin's got one one run , to Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, has too! Th e body is about read y for painting a nd been held , the ho pe bein g that our own support the uphol stery an d sea ting acc ommoda tion are of Tauran ga's eve nt will pro du ce a sp ri nkling due for some surgery too. of the ir cars at our own H unu a Hundred in F ortunately, becau se of our isolat ion up here, October. tyres have no t been too grea t a problem . If T here's a lot to be saicl for interclub par­ he ca n get a lea ve pass, Wa lly hop es. with ticipation in eve nts like these, and A uck lan d in others from here. to co me down to the H aast part icul ar look s favou rabl y on the scheme. We Pass R all y next year a nd that , friends , is quite can even point with so me pr ide at our achieve­ a way. ments at New Plymou th , whe n A uck lancl ca rs drove home with a lar ge share of the ho nours B.O.P. NOTES Jack Hoven - after deliverin g the tail- end rem ark tha t T he biggest eve nt since our las t not es was " You ca n ha ve them bac k aga in when we see a ru n to Wh ak atane, on which 16 ca rs and one some mor e of you up our way." Facetio us motorbike took part. perhap s, but I doubt that anybody will take T he wea ther was exce llent a nd helped to um brage. make the trip very pleasa nt. . As well, there has been a certai n amount Ju st outside the town, we were met by of ex peri menta tio n with the " pla n yo ur own" Whakat an e members, who showe d us the way type of ra lly. So far we have had one very to Awa keri hotsprings, a love ly spot. where well-planned mystery run on the North Sho re, we spent the rest of the day. man y of us ta king a nd Sel Bonney, our new clu b ca ptai n. has said the oppor tuni ty to go for a swim and all of us that he has four mo re und er conside rat ion. making new friends and talk a nd talk and talk . T his run will now becom e a yearly eve nt An interesting thin g turned up in the latest and a tro ph y, don ated by J. White, will be co py of that Aus tra lian magazine "Walk ­ presented to the winner each year. about" . Feature d as a centre section sp read This yea r, th e trophy was wo n by Da ve SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE TWENTY-THREE Shand, who stole the show with his beautifully the Waikato River, was officially opened on restored Douglas motorcycle. Saturday, June 29th, and for this the Club Now. let's get around the stables. It must turned out in strength. After the official party, be said that many a good car has been sitting the Club's vehicles headed the procession, and in many a shed for many a year and that many made an impressive showing on this bright cold a member has had many a talk about restora­ morning. In the afternoon the Club held a tion. gymkhana at Te Rapa, which attracted quite a But, fortunately, we can say that several large number of spectators. members have done more than talk, and over The Club's Winter Dance was held at the the past year we have been happy to see a Nawton Hall on July 27th and the theme this beautiful Stutz, perfectly restored by Bruce year was the "1920's". Some very amusing Catchpole, and Allan Cameron has shown us costuming was seen, and the award for best just what a Model A can run and look like couple went to Joan and Ernie Brown, best when in perfect nick. single lady Miss Cynthia Clark. best single Both these cars were in poor condition gent Mr Stan Nolan. when bought and are an example of what can On August 12th the Club was host to Mr be achieved by skill, and, mostly. determina­ Geoffrey Roche, a noted Waikato historian, tion. who taught us all a good deal about the his­ Nearing completion are a Vauxhall and a tory of this area and its transport problems in Model T doctor's coupe owned by Bill Janes the early days. and John Inder-these two cars are in the On Saturday, 31st August, the Club is vis­ hands of perfectionists and we look forward iting Matamata for a Concours d'Elegance and to seeing them on our runs in the near future. display in connection with the 1963 Matarnata Noticeable is a very high standard of Exhibition. workmanship and it looks as if, in the near Several cars and motorcycles, new to us, future, for a car to be old is not enough. and are appearing on the Waikato scene. to keep up with the rest, condition will matter John McCraw has brought his 1903 Cadil­ more than make or age. lac Model A up from the South Island. As a result, several members have woken Alan Orr, Tirau, who has a 1928 Packard up and are reported to be busy tidying up, cars sedan, has now acquired a Chandler of about are being repainted and spokes varnished, and 1925 from Northland. the results of all this we hope to see on our Wally Jelaca, Hamilton, is working very birthday run to Katikati in August. and we will hard on his Henderson 4 motorcycle and has tell you all about this in the next B.O.P. notes. now also a Francis-Barnett Super-Sports Vill­ iers of about 1928. WAIKATO NOTES L. H. F. Death Bruce Catchpole, Matamata, the owner of The last three months have been very the fabulous Stutz 8 phaeton, is busy on the active ones for the Waikato Club. During May restoration of a Packard phaeton which he we held an observation run to Waingaro and hopes to have out on the Tokoroa Rally in about a dozen members turned out in rather November. uninviting weather. The Sunday chosen fol­ Barry Brant, Tokoroa, is well on with the lowed several days of real Waikato downpours rebuilding of his large Harley-Davidson, and so that the well-planned two hour run was fol­ this also will be out at Tokoroa in November. lowed in most cases by another two hours or Roy Hicks' little 1926 350 cc. Harley­ so cleaning off the yellow clinging mud. The Davidson has been bought by Barry Russell. Hon. Sec, very wisely, had left his Douglas at Hamilton, who being a motorcycle mechanic by home that day. trade. is making an expert job of the machinery. The June general meeting, held at the His­ Barry Cardiff, a refugee from New Ply­ torical Society Rooms in Hamilton, was enliv­ mouth, has added to his 1915 Triumph 4{- h.p. ened by John McCraw, who showed slides of motorcycle a vehicle from the opposite end of South Island club events. Most of the cars the scale-a 1935 Lagonda "Rapier" sports car. shown were new to us here, and John, whose This car is certainly no sluggard, as was dem­ running commentary was that of a first-class onstrated at the Te Rapa Gymkhana. raconteur, kept us both amused and spellbound. Other p.v.T.s to appear are John Stanley's The Cobham bridge, the new link across 1939 Triumph "Dolomite" from Meremere and PAGE T WENTY-FOUR SEPTEMBER, 1963 his brother's 1937 Riley "Lynx". HAWKES BAY NOTES Future Rallies A. J. Scarrott Planning for the Waik ato Annual R ally, Well, all seems to have been rather qui et in which is at Tokoroa this year on November 9th our branch ove r the past 12 months, but and 10th, is now well under way, and entry desp ite seeming a ppearances we have had quite form s should be out shortly. an act ive year. At one stage we even had in Also in pro spect is the Hamilton-Pukek ohe hand a backlog of Time Trials prepared and Rally, on the 10th Januar y 1964 (th e da y waitin g to be run .T hes e were held once a before the Grand Pri x), and a new R ally to month with lar ge entries, which must have been Taumarunui which is expe cted to take place very hearten ing to the individu al orga nisers. late in F ebruar y 1964 for a whole weekend. During the yea r we held a Barn Dance and an Old Time Dance-both of these event s TARANAKI BRANCH NOTES prov ing so pop ular we all hope they will be The Annual General Meeting was held on repeated in the near future. the 19th July. Officers elected for the followin g R estor ations are prog ressing well, the year are: President, K. Kir cher; Secretary, C. Haast Pass R all y being the goal for man y of Kirkby; Treasu rer, T. Kearns; Club Captain, us. Norm Findlay has just reason to be proud R. Kitney. of his 1913 Morris- a fine job, Norm. During the past two years the Club ha s Our branch will also welcom e an y outside grow n stead ily, wit h present member ship at entries for the annual L ab our Week end R all y approximately 33. and Gymkh ana . for which entry forms will be Although it has been said that neighbour­ posted to your branch secretary in due course. ing branches scoo ped up the cre am of the car s The Br anch A.G.M . was held in the A.A. in T ar anaki, there ha ve been some interest ing rooms in N ap ier. There was a large atte nda nce finds of members , who welco med in the follo win g Colin Berry, wh ile mot orin g in his 1927 committee: Cha irman, B. Lawrie;Club Ca p­ Bui ck Tourer. is looking fo r a coupe bod y for tain , K. R eiper ; Secretary. L. Pri est; Commit­ his 1928 La Sa lle Cad iliac. tee, G. Howard , D . Lang and W. Sinclair. Bill Shannon, while locating parts for his colon ial-bodied 1913 Bui ck Tourer, is proceed­ WANGANUI NOTES Cr ankhandle ing with restorat ion on his 1927 T albot 14/45. Queen's Birthday Rally A very rare ca r is Jack Castle's 51 litre Th e 7th annual running of this rally to 4 cylinder 1920 H .C.S. (there are onl y two re­ be held by the Wan ganu i Bran ch attracted 29 corded in the U.S.A.) with Delco-Remy battery entries-a jolly pleasant turnout. For the seco nd ignition, double-nutted big end s, a com pressor year in successio n the Gon ville Ser vice Sta­ on the side of the gearbox, and float-needle for tion , under the manage men t of enthusiastic and the oil-gau ge. helpful Mr War wick Bain, sponsored free Our sole P.Y.T. is Geoff Powers's 1937 Shell fuel to all competitor s for the run to Mar­ Al vis. This mod el ha s independent front sus­ ton and return. plus a ta nkful of the necessary pension, three carbure ttors, twin fuel pump, to all out-of-tow n ent rants for their homeward self-adjusting shock-absorbers, and one-po int jou rne y. We are all grateful for his generosity. greasing system . The four forward gears are Th e hea rty thanks of all members, especi­ all in synchro mesh. The body has no central ally visitors, goes also to the firm of Wri ght door pillar s, and the wire wheels have knock-o n Stephens on and Co. Ltd., thr ough whose hubs. generosity there were no parking and storage Ba ck in 1920 a special two-seat road ster problems ove r the long weeke nd . Ample space bod y wa s built on a Humber 15.9 chassis by in thei r huge woolsto re was ava ilable at all Johnson and Smith of Christchurch at an esti­ times and it was here that the jud ging of the mated cost of £2000. Until rescued by Batch Concours was conducted on the Saturday aft er­ Collins last year this vehicle, believed to be noon . the sole model in N.Z ., was destined to be No light task it was for the two judges, Mr scrapped . It is now undergoing a complete J . Lee and Mr D. H . Lill icrap, who so ab ly restoration . carr ied out their scru tineering and allotting of SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE TWENTY-FIVE points for the Concours. With an ever increas­ at the Marton Motor-camp the ca rs prepared ing number of restorations reaching a high to leave for the return run with one member of standard, these two judges spent considerable the party missin g. The "M" type M.G. be­ time on the inspection of the finer details of longing to D. Conlon of Wellington developed finish and authenticity. camshaft troubles at Turakina and unfortun­ The coveted Prix d'Honeur for Veteran ately had to withdraw. class was won by N . Findlay of Hastings, who For the 7th and what was to be the last must feel justly proud of his superbly restored time , Mr W. Meads, the Mayor of Marton. 1913 Morris Oxford . Well don e, Norm! acted as starter for the return run. It is with There were several veterans in very close sorrow that we record his sudden passing a competition for the first few placings and all few days ago. He was always mo st willing to the following are worthy of special mention assist the club in any way. having gained 90 per cent or more of the total The weather gradually worsened through­ number of points. Rex Porter's 1907 De Dion out the afternoon and those who had the com­ Bouton, Len Southward's (ex C. Ma xwell) forts of enclosed cars sympathised with those 1913 Austin, W. Watkinson's 1916 Perry and keen enthusiasts who battled home exposed the quite rare 1917 Grant "Six" belonging to to all the elements. A. W. Jones of Ma sterton. The final count up of trial po ints resulted In the Vintage section Mr E. A. Holm­ in the following placings:- wood's 1926 Ford T gained a well deserved Wadey Cup (single and twin cyl. Veterans)-­ first place and other notable restorations in this R. Porter, 1907 De Dion Bouton. section were the . 1923 Ford T of J. K. Harvey, Rountree Cup (all other Veterans )-L. Levin, and W. 1. Jones' very fine 1924 Cross­ Southward. 1913 Austin. ley which cam e from Wairarapa. Vintage Section winner-R. Jones, 1923 In the final judging of the vehicles, safety Type 505 Fiat. features were also taken into consideration and Aggregate Challenge Cup (for highest aggre­ several cars lost points when castle-nuts were gate points in rally )--W. C. Watkinson , not secured by split pins , a small omission 1916 Perry. but nevertheless important. Rally After-thoughts: A welcome re-appear­ The Trial section started from the Gon ville ance in Club events was the ex-Wa dey 1914 Service Station on the Sunday morning and a Buick now owned by Tom Glasgow who also devious route to Marton was selected by the entered his well-known 1916 Overland, dri ven Club Captain, Dick Lyth, who handled the job this time by new member A. W. Hirst. Tom is of mapping the course and acting as starter. currently engaged in the restoration (almost A series of driving tests was conducted at two completed) of his 1914 Rover. of the checkpoints en route. Some rather comi­ Vie Case1ey, stalwart member of the cal confusion occurred at Bulls with cars driv­ branch, started with his 1926 6 cyl. Buick ing in all dir ections looking for the check (only Roadster which is looking very nice indeed, those who, of course, did not interpret their a nd final touches only are needed to complete instructions correctly!). After sorting them­ the restoration. This car's appearance was a selves out from there, the last leg of the journey last minute change as his 1914 mod el of the to Marton was uneventful, however, a sighting same make developed mechanical troubles was reported of a vast Edwardian Daimler shortly before the rally. tourer majestically wending its way through the The weekend's activities wound up with upper reaches of the Turakina Valley, which the annual Dinner and Pr ize-giving held at the probably explains why it approached the Mar­ Palm Lounge and a record number attended ton checkpoint from the wrong direction! The for a plea sant social evening. Bert Tonks en­ earlier part of the morning was not too un­ tertained us all with a most interesting show­ pleasant for winter motoring so perhaps the ing of colour slides taken during a recent holi­ owner had ideas of heading back to Woolon­ day in Australia. Majority of pictures shown gong then thought better of it when that cold featured of course-yes you can guess-cars wind and rain threatened! taking part in Vintage rallies on that side of After a general chit-chat and bite to eat the Tasman. PAGE T WENT Y-SIX SEPTEMBER , 1963

WELLINGTON NOTES NELSON NOTES D. King Since the last issue of B.W. there have The winter months have meant steady pro­ been two informal runs, one to Pauatah anui on gress with various restorat ion proj ects around Saturday 29th June to the home of Mr Lane, the district. Laurie Leyden's Coupe de l'auto and one on Sunday 30th June to the Waira­ Sunbeam replica is having its bod y framed up, rapa. Eight cars from the Wellington Club the engin e and back-end having been put in attended the Wanganui-Marton R ally on first class order so far. This will be a very use­ Queen's Birthday Wee kend. Both were fairly ful veteran to do some real motoring in. The well attended and an enjoyable time was had Dawson boys at Ruby Bay are making progress by all. with their Armstrong Sidd eley saloon while They were the : 1908 De Dion of Rex Por­ T heo Smith of Motueka has just finished a very ter, who drove both wa ys, Len Southwards creditable job on his veteran Buick six. I 1913 Austin which was trailered, Stan North­ hear that Jack Warn has started work on his cote-Bade's 1916 Dodge road ster, the Jo nes's vas t Stud ebaker. Recent acquisitions are a very 1917 Grant, David Agnew' s 28 Ford A Tourer, nice coloni al bodied Essex 4 roadster which Roger White's 1929 M G, Dale Co nlon's 1930 Clive M ockett bought from Raetihi. This car MG Mid get, and a very nice Crossley 4-cylinder is pretty sound and shouldn't need very much tourer. Only casualty wa s Dale Conlon's MG, work to bring it up to standa rd. Bob Helm has which suffered from Jack of oil in the overh ead taken unto himself a very smart Drophead ca mshaft. Thanks to the Wanganui Branch for Dodge 8. Of course the big news at the moment a well orga nised rall y, even though we were is the arrival of the fabulous Mercedes which presented with the usu al thunderstorm. Evan Mo orhouse has bought from Darcy Cars which should be ready for the Upper Nicholson, of Timaru. T his most impressive Hutt-Lower Hutt Rally in November are as juggernaut is a little on the tatty side at the follows :Ted Daunt's 1922 Renault roadster. moment but is in very good hand s and is about T his is a very commenda ble job, as when the to receive the full treatment. A pr os pective car was acquired there was no body, and it was member has gathered up quite a heap of Arrol­ generally in poor condition ; also we will prob­ Johnston parts (no pun intended), but not ably see a very immaculate 1925 Humber road­ enough as yet to make a car so an y clues ster, which is almost completed, and belon gs to would be welcomed. Another prospecti ve mem­ Mr V. Benge. Frank Unsworth ha s a very nice ber is completely restoring a Model A roads ter. 1925 Sunbeam roadster which is gradually tak­ Arrangements are al ready in tra in for the ing shape in an old house on the back of the Easter rally at Motueka, which venue should section. Eric Wood's 1922 Bean is undergoing break new ground for a good number of restoration , as is the Hardgraves' 1923 Ess ex." entrants. This car should be a concours winn er if the Congra tulations to Nigel and Irene Price bod y is done as well as th e chassis. Dale Con­ on the birth of a daughter and to John and Ion is attackin g a 1914 Fi at "Zero" and neigh­ Mary Hurley on the birth of a son. bour Roger White has a 1910 Renault. These Members will be sorry to learn that that two car s should be ready for the Haast Pa ss happy stalwart, Ivan East, has been confined Rally. Motorcycles und er restoration at the to Wellington Hospital for so me months with moment are: T he 1915 B.S.A. of Dick Gadd, serious injuries sustained in a motor accident. Tony Bruce's 1926 A.J.S. 350, Ivan Benge's We all wish him a com plete recovery and lots 1911 Rex and sidecar, and Ross Dyson's Hen­ of recuperati ve treatment behind the wheel of derson four. the Marion. Len Southward has bou ght a 1948 Daim­ ler stra ight 8 limousine which belonged to the CANTERBURY NOTES Governor-General. Another one for the ever­ This branch is away to its eighth year and increasing Southward colle ction. How many are we now have a committee of six members. The there now, "Len? A lan Dray will be in N ew Annual General Meeting dr ew onl y an average Zealand again in September, we hear , with a cro wd and the Secretary-Treasurer was the onl y 3 litre Bentley engine and other delectable person elected unopposed. items. and so will be able to resume his job The incoming Committee consists of Chair­ of preparing these notes.. man , Eric Walker; Secretary-Treasurer, John SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE TW ENT Y-SEVEN Palmer; Club Captain , David Bowman ; Com­ entry, consrsting of 3 F iats, and I each of mittee, Warner M auger, Al an Storer, Robin Dodge, Vauxhall, Bentley, A nsald o, Stutz, Beard sley , T om Clernents, Norm. King, and Studebaker, Hupmobile, Au stin , F ord, and H arry Wear. Chrysler. 7.10 in the morning saw the first car Bob Scott, who reti red from the Committee away, 7.45 the last, a nd we mad e our way after two years, was thanked for his services. south into cold wind an d rain, wh ich, however, In May we held an all da y trial around soon passed . Banks Peninsula, which appears to have been At Win chester, we left the main ro ad, and enjoyed by all, even though it is understood tra velled to T imar u via back roads, a nd one the weather was not ideal for open motoring. very deep river, which nearly submerged Bill The last Saturday in June we held our Lu xton 's big Stutz. He was extremely unf or­ usual end of regi stration dance. T his year we tun ate, as petrol ta nk, sump , everything was organised it in the form of a cab aret which filled with water, and he wisely wa ited for the turned out to be a great success, in fact the follow up L and Rover to pull him out and tickets were all sold a fortnight in adva nce. On tow him to the nearest garage, where eve ry­ the following da y some of the hardier mem­ thing was dr ained and refilled. On ly then did bers competed in the end of seaso n trial and Bill a ttempt to start the motor , which he soon picnic to Annat. After lunch a paddock with had running right again. a slippery surface was found and a short cir­ Peter Keir (Model A Ford) gave us a lau gh cuit laid out, the ca rs competing in pair s, the when we found he had arrived in Ti maru 2 only steering bein g done by the back wheels. hours before anyo ne else, ha ving read his route An yon e who did not know how to control a card wrong. Mu st be boring, ju st sitting on skid certainly did by the end of the afternoon. the side of the road , ju st wa iting. On the wee kend , 3rd and 4th Au gust, we After a short spell and som e lun ch, we were again host for the National A .G.M. and pushed on south again , a nd soo n left the M ain as usual we turned on beautiful wea ther. Dele­ R oad, on to undulating, wind ing country, up gat es an d su pporters from all bar the new through the Par eor a Gorge district. The weather Northland Br an ch were there and I think had turned excell ent no w and some thoroughly everyone had a pleasant weekend catch ing up enj oyable mot oring was had by all, including on the lat est news in the different bran che s and Keith Bradding, who was travellin g in a 1923 ma king new friends. Hup. in true vintage style. complete with 7 Sump Rumblings mechanics inside and all their gear outside on the mud guards. Bob Scott has at last got the motor mount­ Bri efly on to a main ro ad at Albury a nd ed a nd going in the Metallurgique and now then back int o the wilds again. and over the onl y has the bodywork to complete before famous Ma ckenzie Pass, which had just a Haast, so keep it up Bob, onl y eighteen months sprinkling of snow on it. T hen many miles left. of downhill running in sunshine, through T eka­ Da ve Morley has had the "T" motor run­ po town ship, a nd on to Mr C. W. F. Hamil­ nin g and I understand has go ne real American ton 's prop ert y, "Irishm an Creek " . with even a left-hand dri ve set up. (I don 't First arrivals got beds in the shearers' know if he thinks it will be easier to follow the qu arters. while lat ecomers got th e co lder wool­ gutter than the white line.) He hope s to have shed , an d soon everyone was tryin g their ha nd it finished by January. at cooking thei r tea. Norm King has sold his Dodge and has bought himself a Swift of ab ou t 1922 vintage. After a scratchy meal , radiators were I hear it has not been tou ched yet. d rained. This is a necessar y procedure as very Ted Loversidge has just finished the plans severe frosts are exper ienced at this time of for Da ve Bo wman's Bentley bod y and ha s a t the year. A quick che ck revealed everyone last started to ma ke progress on his Delage. was mobile, altho ugh Robin Beardsley's An­ Keep it up , Ted. saldo had a broken bra ke rod, which had put his footbrake out of action, wh ile the Hup's Irishmans, 1963 front tyres seemed bald er than eve r. How­ The annual Irishmans Creek run was held , ever, it was too cold outside and we headed as usual, at Queens Birthday weekend, and the off back to the shea rers' qu arters, walked in, orga nisers were favoured with an excellent and promptly backed out again. Were the PAGE TW ENT Y-EIGHT SEPTEM BER, 1963 wom en using the room as a dr essing shed? until the small hours. All up early agai n next Surely not , the y had their own quarters. Yet morning preparing for the long dri ve back to that wom an in there had hardly any clot hes on. Christchurch, which was done most of tbe way Well I'm game to try agai n. Open the door a in rain. A gro up photograph and we were on frac tion, and peep in to be gree ted by a roar our way and another Irishm an 's was over. A of laughter from chief marshal Norm King, who jolly good weekend- good co mpanions, good had found an old sho p window dummy, dr essed motoring-and everyo ne got hom e after 530 it in a tatty petticoat and planted it in a chai r miles under his own power. just insid e the door. A good joke, N orm. Everybody was tak en in by it and it put us in SOUTH CANTERBURY a good humour for a noggin and natter and a BRANCH NOTES few motoring slides just finished off the even­ By Bri an A. Goodman ing. Our worthy club ca ptai n ke pt muttering Since our last jottings we have had a trul y something about his kids not being able to wonderful winter run to Ale xandra and return . sleep , becau se of the noise, but we think it's Eight vehicles took pa rt in this 450-mile ru n, too much noggin, Dave, as you didn't br ing which took us through the snow covered D an­ your kids with you. seys Pass on the way down and home via Lin­ Morning saw us up ea rly in a 17 deg fro st. dis Pa ss, Benmore, etc. The olde st ca r being This made thin gs awkward for a cold start Terry Wilson's 1913 Fiat and the mos t mode rn test, which the unscru pu lous marshals had Malcolm Field 's 1930 Swift. In between we forced upon us. Credit mu st go to Bob Turn­ had Russell Cross 's 1914 F ord, the writer's bull 's amazing litt le Au stin 7 which started in 1921 Ansaldo, Co lin Ly on 's 1925 Cad iliac, 9 secs . This littl e ca r runs faultlessly at all Alan Averis's Singer, and Jim Sullivan's 1925 times and bas surp rised mor e powerful car Hudson closed delivery van. (In fact it is the own ers with its turn of speed. ex local hearse.) At A lexandra we were joined This yea r a trial had been arra nged for by that intrepid vintage mo torist fro m lnver­ Sunday, and we set off in bright sunshine across cargill, Russell McIvor , with his Internation al the Mackenzie Plains, along the floor of a Aston-Martin. Sunday saw most cars over to winding valley and finally up the side of a Oueenstown for the day, and at night we held mountain which ca lled for low gear nearl y all a film evening in the hotel dining room . Wi th the way. T his reall y showed the performance no breakdowns and great weather it was the of the Fiat of Bob Scott and Ron Du ckworth, perfect long distance run. which seemed to climb ex tremely steady all the On the 29th June we held a most enjoy­ way. The view from the top of the Pass was able night trial, which was won by Rodney the most fr ightening we ha ve ever seen, grea t Don with his 1928 Singer Saloon, closely fol­ shingle fan s fall ing away belo w for thousands lowed by Alan A veris in his 1925 Singer road­ of feet, while we ourselves were 4 148 feet above ster. Wh at have these Singers got ! ! ! sea level, surely the bighe st vintage car s have Coming up is the Mid Island Veteran run been in Ne w Zealand. on September 28th, and anyone who is think­ Coming down the other side also called ing of partaking in this rally is assured of a for low gea rs while brakes were onl y just grip­ real members' week-end. T hen we have our ping, ha ving got wet in the numerous wa ter Mt. Cook run at Labour Weekend, and what courses that crossed the road in man y places. good motoring and fello wship this run always However, Benmore Hydro soon hove into provides. sight, and we had a marvellous view from Barry Goodman has been seen doing a lot above the d am as we motored ca refully down­ of motoring in Don Oddie's 4{- Bentley latel y. wards. I und erstand T erry Wilson is still doing Lunch at Oternatata, and back through to the old piece of restoration on his 1923 ltala. Irishrnans, via Om arama and Pukak i, rounded I also hear that Gre g T ulley is working off the best day's vintage motoring we had had quietly on th e 1914 Overseas M IC. for a long while. In the evening Mr H amilton Don Oddie is still looking for wheels for entertained a few of us with tales of Oreti and his single cylinde r Darracq, which will be quite Muriwai beach races, and showed us h is tro­ an interest ing car when it is finished. phies from Brooklands. And so to bed for The Go odman famil y have ushered in the ir most of us, while others sat around and yarned latest addition to club ranks. H is name is SEPTEMBER, 1963 PAGE TWENTY-NINE

Donald, and he has a 1928 Morris Cowley John Gordon of Nightcaps has two un­ Saloon. usually bodied Model Ts. One has a Colonial That's all for this issue. See you in Decem­ body and the other is a two-seater cabriolet. ber. John is also hunting for 2-cylinder Renault parts as he now owns a considerable collection NORTH OTAGO NOTES of parts and should soon have enough to build J. T. O'Brien up a car. To those indoctrinated in Renault Over the winter months, Oamaru members lore this will be the "big" model which appar­ have enjoyed several Club meetings in the way ently possesses a chassis a few inches longer of night trials and sports evenings. On May than the "small" model. 12th a Sunday afternoon trial was arranged A large 1935 supercharged Mercedes by John Adamson and Keith Perry to Kaka­ 540 K cabriolet in beautiful order has re­ nui. A family film night about the Easter Rally cently taken up residence with the rest of Dick was held in June, and with the extra first-class Collis's growing collection. Russell McIvor's films brought down by Eric Gait of Christ­ o.h.v. model T roadster is another recent addi­ church, plus the ones owned by the club and tion to Dick's stable. Neil McMillan is making members, it was a very enjoyable evening. steady progress on his 1927 Packard 6 sedan. June 26th saw the last night trial for the regis­ A close examination of this solid American tration year organised by Rex Murray, but the machine shows the meticulous attention the de­ weather made most members stick to the signers have paid to every detail. The well modems. made draught stops on the foot pedals are a Best news of the season is two veteran De good example of efficient design. When it is Dions in the Club, just bought by Doug Ped­ completed, Neil will have a family car of dis­ low from Central and Ke ith Perry from Wai­ tinction in the true vintage tradition. If the mate, both of whom are still looking for parts immaculate condition of Neil's motorbikes is if anyone can help. anything to judge by, and by the look of what At the Annual Meeting it was decided to call has been done so far they will be a pretty good the annual Enfield to Oamaru December Run indication, the Packard will be in top notch the "Windsor Rally". Two of Oamaru's keen condition when it again takes to the road. members-Bill Mitchell and Archie Johnson­ F.N. is a well-known trademark around are making a fine effort in restoring their '21 the Jim Lawry household. As motorcycle fans Hupmobile and '22 Austin. which will be of will know, Jim owns the rare and dainty 1910 credit to them when they are finished. shaft drive single cyl. mo torbike. At present he is engrossed in the painstaking restoration SOUTHLAND NOTES B. J. Barnes of one of the hallowed F.N. 4 cyl. models circa The Southland Branch recently held its 1907. There is a power of work to be done, A.G.M. which resulted in the election of the and a power of it has been done already by the following officers : Chairman, Ray Eunson; way, but one of these days in the not too dis­ Secretary. Jack Barnes; Club Captain, Barry tant future we should see a 4 cyl. F .N. motor­ Barnes. cycle tootling along as sweetly as its younger Plans are now being made for the Riverton single cylinder sister. Rally next February and we can guarantee that Ken Macmillan has purchased the 1910 this will be well up to the standard of previous Rolls Royce and has commenced restoration runs. Riverton is one of the oldest-established work. The inappropriate Hudson sedan body annual rallies in the country, and , in our ad­ is being discarded, and all avenues are being mittedly biased view, one of the best. Why explored in the hope of obtaining a suitable don't you come next year and see for yourself? body for this veteran exam ple of the best car The ex Shack Sharp 1930 Chrysler Imper­ in the world. ia l 80 Le Baron roadster is now undergoing a most thorough restoration at the hands of GENERAL NOTES Chas. Emerson and his son Trevor. No effort A strong move is now afoot to start a is being spared in bringing this classic machine Vintage Austin 7 Register within the Club. up to first-class original condition. The car is which move has our wholehearted blessing. on 8 stud 18in . split ring wire wheels and one One-make registers can do much to further the more is required. Any offers? aims and objects of our Club and can be simply PAGET HI RTY SEPTEM BE R. 1963 run within the co nfines of the Club's present From member John Wh ite of Wellin gton orga nisa tion. A ll inte rested are asked to con­ we hear of the pendi ng arrval in N.Z. of M r J. tac t Ian Maxted , 10 E ller ton Road, M t Eden, Stua rt White, a form er New Zealander and A uck land. active mem ber of the U 'K. Motor Cycle Club. We hear tbat Mr Len Cla rke of 24 F ras er At the ri pe old age of 86 M r White is return­ Street, East Fremant le, Western A ustral ia, is ing to his homeland for a visit and intends kee n to correspond with fellow owners of touring the co untry on a 650 B.S.A. whic h he is Brushmo biles and De Dions, a nd he has ap par­ bri nging with him (wha t would Fotheringay ently a fair stock of Veter an spa res. think of that , Geoff?) The Club Treasu rer reports to us that Mr Wh ite began rid ing in 1903 on a H there are occasions when she receives mo ney h.p. Clement Garrad-the origi na l " clip on". in the mail with no note as to the sende r. If In 1907 he left N .Z. for the U.K. but main­ you don 't get a receipt for money- other than tained his interest in the two-wheel ers, compet­ B.W . classified ads-within a week, please en­ ing in the London-Edinburgh Trial 1909, and qui re; you may be just the man she is look ing many others too numerous to menti on here. for! Hi s arrival in N .Z. will be eagerly awaited by the followers of the sport and we tru st his stay We have recei ved from Mr D. A. Pedlow will afford him man y pleasu res. of Oamaru an amusing cutting from Wri ght Stephenson's hou se journal giving in detail the Should an yone wish to make cont act , we instructions issued to their traveller 50 years would suggest you write to John White (no ago when they were issued with Model B.G. relation), p.a. Box 1230 Wellin gton, who will 8 h.p. De Dion Boutons. T he wordi ng is, in be ab le to keep you up to dat e with Mr White's fac t. a lot clea rer than in many manufacturers' plans. hand books tod ay. Though space will not per­ mit its repr inting here. it does raise the thought LETTER TO THE EDITOR that it is time that some enterprising member Dear Madam. approached all our old-estab lished stock and sta tion firms with a view to making a list and It is with a certa in surp rise that I read Mr histor y of their ea rly ca rs and thei r difficu lties B. W. Bickert on's no tes on the 2nd N.Z. Bent­ - it will soon be too late. ley Al pine Rally. in which he states "As a result of some embarrass ing publicity last year We always rece ive a number of pre ss cut­ the press were not invited on the rall y. 'N o tings from a variety of so urces, all of which news is good news. No jo urnalists is even shows the increasing interest in our hobby . better! '" This period the Ne lson E vening Mail ran a long article on Theo Smith and Phil Gri ffiths­ Perhaps Mr Bickerton will pardon my tak­ members from Motueka-whilst a T aranaki ing umbrage at his impli cat ion that we are all paper has done a long article on the motorcycle tarred with a somewhat similar brush. From collection of Mr C. Br ansgrove, one of our person al knowledge of the press co py turned readers. This interest should augur well for out by the person to whom your correspondent conside ra ble . newspaper sup port and coverage referred directly , 1 can only agree that it was for the H aast R ally. tripe. But, when the same story was submitted to my own journa l, I took very great care A very good idea was initiated so me time before its publication to see that it didn't re­ ago by Mr George Brooks of 493 Magill Road , fl ect as badl y on the club as do Mr Bickerton's T ran mc rc. South Australia. involving an inte r­ comments on journalists in general. natio nal exchange of coloured slides- of events, etc. H is slides have been show n in Southland I feel that an apology is ca lled for , and, in but no return slides have gone to him from aski ng for one, I would stress that the journal­ N.Z. except one offer cove red by som e most istic profession is a very old one that is base d unrealistic condi tions-slides will be well on certain ethics and a lar ge amou nt of integ­ trea ted and returned in good order Since rity . General isat ions are poo r at the best ~ f there are man y H aast R;lly pro spe ~t i ve en­ times, and it would be crass stupid ity to judge. trants in Au stral ia. we had better show them in this instance. the man y by the few.- Yours all wha t they are comi ng to; so what about faithfully, sending George some of yo ur collection NOW. Auckla nd W. CAPPER-STARR. SE PT E M BE R. 196 3 P AGE T HIRTY-ONE

C LAS SIF I E D ADVERTISEMENTS RATES M EMBERS OF VI N TAGE CA R C LUB OF N .Z . I NC. : Free fo r firs t th ree lines (approx. 25 words); th erea fter 1/ - per line (8 wo rds). N ON -MEMBERS : 5 / - f or first th ree lines or less; th ereaft er l / - per line. To be accepted all advert isements m ust be typed and be accompanied by the necessa ry remittance and must be in the ha nds of the Edi to r not later than the 15th da y of the mon th before publicatio n da te . Spec ia I . d ispla y advertisements of ca rs fo r sa le co m plete with photos may be inserted at spec ia l a nd ve rv reason a ble rates, for de tail s of wh ich ser vice wri te to the Editor.

1938 ROLLS ROYCE PIlI. 12 cyl. 90,000 miles. H ooper bod ywor k. Sp orts Sa loon . 7 spare tyre s (4 new). V er y fas t, safe, silen t, an d co mfortable. I m ­ por ted, an d owned by R.R . en thus iast, a nd main­ tained in absolu tely perfect conditio n, as new. Good hom e essential. Ph otographs a va ila ble. Price with spa res, £ 1750. Write A. V . Jarn es, M a tu a Road, Otu­ moetai, T a uranga, or P ho ne 17850. H ELP OFF ERED : Being prob ab ly th e closest resid ­ ing member to H or opito, wh er e the re is a large a nd o ld-es ta blishe d W recker, I a m prep ared to scan the ya rd o r co ntac t the propriet or (Raetih i Exchange) fo r any desp airin g Vintag er in quest of an elus ive part. Jo na than Preston, P .O. Box 52, Raet ih i. FOR SALE: 1904 Argyll in good ru nning o rder. R. M . Maha n, 127 Waitaki D rive, Ot ema tata. North Otago. 1924 3 LITRE BENTLEY No. 728 . 9ft 9tin chassis WANTED : Sid deley Car Par ts, o r C hassis.Have speed mode l. Motor recently checked incl udi ng fitting swa p parts availab le, or will buy. In n Will iams, 43 new skew gears (nickel-bro nze magneto cross shaft), Derb y Stree t. C hristc hurch, Ph on e 54-384. new ver tica l shaft bu sh es. new pist o n ri ngs and ove r­ FOR SALE : 1924 Morris Cowley En gin e. co mp lete. ha u ling bot h magn etos.C typ e gea rbox wit h Hard y­ new big en ds. Offers. R. T oo hey, 18 Hu xley Street. Spiccr pr op shaft. 4 sta r steel cage diffe re ntia l : ratio Syde nha m . 3. 785. Coachwork: Van de n P las replica , with fu ll wea ther eq uipme nt. T yre size : 5.25 x 21. The Bent­ ley is in near co ncours cond ition a nd with out dou bt o ne of th e m ost desirable av a ilab le at th e pr esent time . La ck of tim e an d o the r vehicles forces sa le. 1923 DE LUXE Se nsi ble ofTers to D . Warren Jo rdan , 41 Venus Street, In verca rgill. WA N TED : On e o r more Po weIl and Hamner or MODEL T FORD C A. V. model F Electric Lamps o r wou ld consider any mak e of sim ilar type , sui ta b le fo r 1914 T albot. Fully resto red and in except iona l order. 4 A lso wa nt Dual Igni tion 4-c ylinder Magneto and Coil brand new tyres, spare rea sonable in appear­ a nd Swi tch un it for sa me. W ould bu y or swa p half anc e only. Painted Ford da rk green . Hood rest or ed 1921 Ja rnes MC. or other V . & V . pa rts. and upholste ry excellent . Ne w ba ttery. W rite R. M adigan, 7 Michael Ave nue, HiIlsdale , Registered for 196 3 -64 year Hamilt o n. FOR S ALE: 1928 appro x. Pack ard 5-seate r Ca r. PRICE £325 Ori ginal en gine a nd bod y ; latter require s rep air. Not regi stered thi s yea r. C o m plete tyres a nd tools . Reas­ Inspection Invi ted at o na ble . Robt. D rummond, 13 Beach St reet, Hokitika . W ANTED : Corresponde nce with ow ners of M ty pe M .G. Midgets . A lso o va l instrument panel and in­ GRANGE MOTORS str uments (M .G . o r M o rr is Minor O .H .C .), In st ru ct ­ io n Boo k, Kl axon ette. and Mudgua rds for 1931 model. Da le Conlo n, 67 Cambridge T errace, L ower LIMITED Hu tt. Authorised Ford Dea lers \VA NTEO fo r 1925 Chandler Tourer : Bo tt om Sec­ tio n Wi ndscreen F ra me. H u b Caps, Culver-Sterns p.a. Box 135 Ignitio n a nd Lights Switch, al so C. & S. T h rottle an d Spa rk Gearing. Any sn a re parts, han d books or info rmation . A. D . 0 1'1', R.D . 2, T irau. PUTARURU W ANTED : I nformation, Pho tos an d Parts for Vint ­ Phone 31 After Hours 1196 age Henderson MC . Plea se contac t D . R. Goodman. 12 K in vig Street. An derso ns Bay. Du nedin. or Pho ne Licensed Motor V ehi cle Deal er s 43-802 collect. PAGE THIRTY-TWO SEPTEMBER, 1963

WA NTED fo r 3 Lit re Bentl ey : Pai r of fro nt Sh ock Absorber s, co mplete with cha ssis an d ax le mo u nting Br ackets. B .C .G oodrnan, W ashdyke, Phone 7877, Tima ru. F OR SALE : Exhaust Valves. new, suita ble C hev­ rel et 1927-28 , Essex 1926-31, D odge 4 1914-28. 7 /6 each. Apply Bruce Anderson, 305 R ernuera R oad, Au ckland. Ph one 50- 324 business hours. FOR SA LE : 1934 T al bot 95 Fou r Door D e L u xe Sa loo n. 3 Litre 100 b.h.p, Pr eselector gearbox. A u to­ mat ic Lubr icati on. C oac h bu ilt body by Darracq of Lond o n. Le at her upho lstery an d polished wood fac­ ier s, bui lt-in Cock tai l a nd V anity C a binet s. This car has a re bu ilt moto r, gearbox a nd back ax le assem bly . th e body work would restore very nicely. A very potent perfo rmer. P r ice: E nqu iries to T. J . Chick, c/ o Box 444 ,C hristchu rch . WANTED :A ny informatio n o n S.C.A.T. Cars a nd FOR S ALE-ONE OR THE OTHER : 1915 M od el possible existen ce of a n y parts, particularly Ca r bur­ TF or d . Perfec tly an d fanatica lly rest o red . C on sist­ ett o r. Starter M otor fo r 15 h.p. 1922 W olseley, prob­ en t concours winner. Gas lit. All new tyres. With ably B .L. I. C ., also R adi at or. Write stat ing price, J ' ra re E ve read y Spring Starte r. £600 . Or R oll s Royce G . Wat son , 5 1 C hatsworth R o ad , Sil ve rst ream. 1930 Phaet on II. Ow ner-driver Sal oon. Com plete F OR SALE: 1924 B.S.A. M ot orcycle. Com ple te, a nd origi na l. H andbo ok , spec ia l To ols and vario us good co ndi tion . New pa int . nickel, ty res. tubes. etc. Spa res. A lso Conc o urs winner. A m ost de sir a ble ca r. With very little work wo u ld be a ve ry n ice hike a nd £ 1100. M . H . C lose, Rangiriri, W ai kat o, Ph one 35M , is a pot ential ra lly wi n ner. Must sell , du e to lack of Tc K auwhat a ex ch an ge. tim e. s pace, a nd mon ey. First reas. offer accep ted . G. M . Bain . 12 Be ve rl ey Stree t. C h ristch urch I. WANTED : Front Axl e for 1908 Humber. Any other bit s an d informa tion o n whereabouts of Humber Darts. A lso a ny 26-inch Sa nkev Wheels. G. M . Bain. 12 Bevcrley Street, C h riste hu rc h I. CORRECTI ON A ND APOLOG Y: W c regret th e inc orrect address given in M r H ar rv Polf'er's a dver­ tisem en t in th e June issue . This should ha ve read: 2700 M a ry Street. La C rescen ta , Ca lifo rn ia. U.s.A. FOR SWAP : Fi at 50 1 C row n Wheel a nd Pinion cornoletc with Carrier. Bear ings a nd tw o Ax le Shafts. .lIj'l Sw ap for a ny Vet era n accessories-Lam os, H orns. In ­ st rume nts e tc . C has. Black , 8 H iggins Street, Na pier. FOR SA LE : 1929/30 Vau xh all 20/60 E ng ine a nd Jf ~ ' m cs: o the r pa rts : 1927 V auxhall Radiator : 1 20in. R ud ve-Whitworth Wheel. O r wi ll swap fo r Vauxha ll \ 14/40 Pa rt s. W . R . Jnn cs, 20 C h u rch St., T auranga . F O R SALE : 192 9 A u bu rn Se da n. Bod y fai r co n­ WANT ED : C rown Wheel an d Pinion . or co m plete diti on. me cha nically sou nd, no ty res. Price £30. Apply Oamaru W reck in g Co., Phone 48-572. Diffcrential un it. fo r Alvis 12 /40 o r ea rly 12 /50. A . J. Airs. 65 T e A wa K ur a T errace. C h ristc hu rc h. 8. < WANTED : Ford M od el T Coils fo r wooden co il W ANTED : G ea rbox, com ple te. o r Parts. for a 1911 box. H icn z, size 2 15-16 x 3 1-16 x Sins. R . D . 4-cvl ind er De D io n. Also a nv P arts. Ph otos. or C ross . 25 King Street, T irnaru, T... fo rm at ion availa ble. Re plies to K. P erry. 30 R D. F OR SALE : Di ff. a nd G ea rbox fo r Fi at 50 I. C hea p. Oamaru. R . F. Paul, Tota ra V all e y. Pl easant P oint, So uth W ANTED : Di ct z Oil Side Larno to cornnlcte se t fo r C a ntcrbury, 190 R Reo. Al so Phot os. M anual s fo r 1910 Su nbeam. WANTED: Au stin Seven Two-louvre Windscreen sncc i-il r ~f er enc e to dash board an d wi ndscreen posi­ and N ickel -pl ated Radiat or She ll to su it 1929 T ourer. tion . W ill bu v above or swa n carlv Ren aul t Gearbox la n M a xtcd, 10 Ellcrton R oad, Mt E de n, Auckl and. a nd Av le P arts a nd 1910-12 4-evl. W ol selev E ng ine WANTEDBUY : AC ox A trnos C a rburettor, Float ~ n d Wheels. All an W all ace, 131 Ca rruth R oad . P apa­ C ham ber. Type 24. P at ient 55 109. A. N. Beissel, 6 t cet oc, Sorne rfie ld St reet, Spreydon, C hristchurch. G ENTJINE Ameri can KW Model T Coils. Li m ite d W A NTED : Splitdorf G en e rat or a nd /or 2-cyli nder

'. or MODERN - they all need

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