BBADBD IBEELS VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORING MARCH 1957

------_-.:. MOTOR BIKE CAR TRUCK TRACTOR

V1 u.I er: TYRE SPECIALISTS o V1 V1 u.I U TO THE u « VINTAGE CAR CLUB of N.Z. (Inc.)

V1 We carry Stocks of Most Sixes Suitable for ~ o er:'" o o-i V1 Veteran and Vintage Vehicles V1 u.I " U u or We Will Get Them on Indent for You « SEE US ABOUT TYRES FOR YOUR TOWN HACI< TOO V1z « t, :I: Z u If You ore 0 Former, or 0 Contractor, Cl or Just 0 Plain Wee k-end Motorist, We W ill Be Only Too Pl ea sed to Help You Cut Your Running Costs. < Z -i ALL MAKES STOCKED :P Cl m

For Any Tyre Problems From Earth Mover to Motor Scooter z n SEE US ::I: «er: > u.I Z I­ V1 u.I > HAMPTON TYRE COMPANY lTO. 138 OXFORD TERRACE, CHRISTCHURCH u.I <.:l or BOX 1803 « zI­ > THE CITY 'S LEADING TYRE DEPOT

TRUCK CAR ACCESSORIES VINTAGE VETERAN

• Beaded W heels is th e m ice o f tlie V;nr l1 ge and Ve leran C ar Mo vement in N ew Z ealand and of tlie Clubs wh ose eijorts are [ost ering and el'CI" wid ening the int ere st in th is m o vement ami form rallying points for tluit e l'er increasing band of enthusiasts. The [asci nat ion of age itseli or re vu lsion from th e fla sh y medio crity of our pre sent day is dr awing an incr easing number of m otorists hack 10 th e individut.lity, soli d worth, and [u nc­ tiona! elegance that was dem ande d by a more discrimin atin g generation and it is to th ese that we ded icate -

rll'~J b y L JJ~ LS

VOL 111, No. 9 MARCH, 1957 Beaded Wh eels is Pu blish ed Qu a rte rl y by the 2-ditotia~ VI NT AGE CAR CLUB OF N.Z. INC. 20 HACKTH ORNE ROAD Hanging in a garage in Christchurch there is a pair of CH RISTCHURCH, s. 2 NEW ZEALAND number plates. To th e cas ual observer there is no grea t differ­ ence betwe en them and the loc all y made affa irs whi ch are * attached to ou r cars. Cl oser scr utiny , ho we ver. reve als that lt is sent free to mem be rs a nd is sold the y are made of an aluminium alloy , tha t the impression of to kindred Clubs at o ne shilling a nd to 'the pu blic, one shilli ng and the num bers is larger a nd clea re r th an the lo call y mad e plate, sixpence. and that the num ber plate as su ch is a m or e ple asing affair Annual Subscr iption 6 /- po st free . to behold, th at is if yo u have a ny a esthetic appreciation of a number pla te. Ap art fr om the se patent virt ues , there is th e * Ed itor * fact th at the y a re twenty-two yea rs old and h ave serv ed MRS M. J . AND ERSO N o n one rno tor-car for some one hundred and th irty th ou sand mil es including wa r yea rs in England. They are not Vint age * or Veter an plates bu t there are plenty ju st the sam e as them A ssistant Edit or wh ich came into ex iste nce before De cerneber 3 1st , J93 I a nd D. O. MARGETTSESQ . are still serving. * * The plates are English , as it is the cus tom there to assign on e A d vert ising M an ager re gistration num ber to a car for th e pe riod of its existence 1. S .P. P AU vlER ESQ. rather th an 10 change number p lates a t fre que nt intervals as P.O . Bo x 976, Christchurch is done in Ne w Zealand. Beside the fact that th e N ew Ze al and To whom a ll Ad verti sing enquiries system is a n inc red ible waste of time. material, and money, it sho uId be add ressed . is also cu m bersome in severa l respects, and lastl y, but by no * * mean s least to the connoisseur, the Ne w Zeal and plates a re a Copy mu st be typed in double shoddily made and often garish ly coloured eye-sore. spacing on on e side of the pap er and sent to In man y spheres our little country is most progressive a nd THE ED ITO R it can not generally be denied that we are fa r behind in 20 Hackthorne Road m otoring m atters, New traff ic regulation s will shor tly be in Ch ristchurc h , S.2, N .Z. force, there is a capa ble body adm inister ing the construction COPY F OR JUN E ISSUE CLOSES 15TH a nd maintenan ce of highways, we fa cilita te the entry of tour­ M AY ist s' cars to our country and we have a courteous and efficient * * tea m in th e Tran sport Department officers who patrol our high­ Pri nt ed by ways. Then why . in the name of St Christopher , do we have A. E. PUR SE LlMlTED to put up with the was tef ul and a nnoy ing process of chang­ 233 M anchest er Street in g number pl at es eve ry little wh ile . Su rely the multitude of Christchurch, N ew Ze aland exper ts who spend their existence cr ea ting new colour sche mes * >.: for next yea r's plat es and deciding whe ther a sta r, a hyphen or Registered a t G .P.O , Wellington fo r a pomt will sepa rate th e numbers would be better employed Tran smi ssion as a M agazin e, etc . evol ving a ne w (bu t not original ) syst em of allocat ing a per­ m an ent re gistra tio n number to each of the four hundred thou­ OUR COVER PHOTOGRAPH sand and more re gisuable vehi cles in th e country. The "bett er tha n ori gin al " 191 3 Cal­ tho rpe Minor owned by Alan Bak er The tas k is not insurmounta ble and could be achieved a t no of Christchurch and winn er of the mo re cost than it wou ld lak e to send at least two Ca bin et Dunedin - Bri ghton r un. Ph oto by cou rte sy of D o n Oddie Studio, M mi ste rs and six Departmental head s ove rsea s to inves tiga te T im aru. th e Engli sh system, not to men tion th e fact that the exp er ts wo uld soon find th at th ey h a d wo rked themsel ves ou t o ur more co n ventiona l co n tem po ra ries who a re a pt to of a jo b a nd the manufacturer s of the number plates sh rug and not to car e. Tha t we co uld ho pe to achieve likewise. A pa rt from these mi no r traged ies the pe rman­ a ny change is beyond the possible because it may well ent ben efit that wo uld result to the mot o rist , the dealer, be tha t the great body of mo to rists is apathetic. Wh at the Pol ice, the tra ffic a uthorities, fina nce co m pa nies a nd do th ey or their organisa tio ns do to overcome this man y o t he r sec tion s of the co mm unit y would be inestim­ elementa ry problem? W her e, to -day, is the s pir it of the a ble a nd lasting. T hink to o o f the reli ef tha t would be people wh o a bo lished the red flag a nd the speed restric_ afforded to the pro ud owne r of an O xf o rd and Cam­ tions ? DEAD - STONE DEAD if th e activities of br idge blue Bell Bo tto med H yper m at ic to k now tha t th e Au to mobile Associat ions a re a n y ind ica tio n, fo r the y his dignifi ed black plat e wo ul d not be replaced in the see m more co nce rned wi th erecting sign-posts for peo ple new licen sin g year by red, tan or yellow. T hink, too , of who canno t rea d map s a nd admini stering mo tor camps the rel ief to the average mug like me wh o lets the sc rews for the few who use th em th an conce rning th emselves r ust and was tes val uable time a nd bad language chang­ wi th wo rthwhile a nd elementa r y reforms a nd punching in g plat es. them home to th e eve rla sting ben efit of the average This pla intive a nd so mewhat bitter cry is no t th e firs t: motor ist. nor is it the first that will go un-heeded o r receive so me R emember the se wo rds when nex t you change plat es, evasive co mment (usually reserved unt il new pla tes a re and pen so me lines of so lem n prot est to yo u r lo cal issu ed ). Perha ps we Vi ntage a nd Vetera n fo lk a re a M .P. tak ing ca re to se nd a co py to the Commissioner of litt le m or e critical of the wasteful and shoddy pla tes than Tra ns po rt.

Du ned in- Brighton, 1957.

An old ada ge that a go od thi ng ad vert ises itsel f wa s of So uthern eve nts, ha vin g originally brought the c r a m ply demonstrated by th e e ntry list for the Third So uth in December last, to co m pete a t Dea n' s Bu s\, Annual Du nedi n-Brighton Vet era n run . T his event, The news that the br other s Turnbull in th eir 191 3 Pa ri ...hich is organised and run by a joint co mm ittee of th e ha rd had not st uc k strictly to th e ma in road route froJ V.C. c. of N .Z. (Otago br a nch) and the O tago Au tom o­ Christchu rch to Duned in slo wly leaked out a nd they bile Asso ciation as pa r t of D u ned in's Festival Week d 'ffid::ntly confessed to th e fact th a t as th e y had tim e ac tivitie s d rew a .varied list of thir ty -two entrants from in ha nd when the y reached Palmerston , th ey tu rne d off a ll parts of th e So uth Island except Ne lso n- Ma rlb o ro ugh t h-e main road a nd jou rneyed over "T he Pig Rou te" via a nd included one stalwart from the N o rth Island. Cl yde and A lexandra to Dunedin , there by completing The en thusiasm with which entra nts regard the week­ some four hu nd red and fifty miles mo to ring in the day , end is as obvious as it is infectious and litt le won der and inc identa lly plac ing themselves in an a lmost un ­ eithe r af te r ex pe rie nc ing a Duned in-B righton . Thirt y­ assaila ble position for Age-M ileage bo n us po in ts. two vet er an s ranging from a sumptuo us 19 12 Wo lseley . Landaulet te to a p eti te 1914 Hurnberette cyc le-ca r cover The entry co nta ined as interesting a nd va ried collec­ tion o f vetera ns as could be fo u nd anywhere in the a tot al road mil eage in excess of te n tho usand miles inside fo ur da ys, spend a n af te rnoon executing a series co u n try an d the co nd ition a nd turn-out o f th e cars pro­ m ised a n exacting da y's work on the Sat u rda y for the of exacti ng d riving tests a nd o n top o f that the dri ver s Judges (M essrs G.T. Anderson, a Past P resident of a nd crews e njo y every minute of spare tim e and, like the sm all bo ys at th e party, wish it would nev er end. A .A . Otago,G . Hall, of C hr istc hurch, a nd J . McCraw, of Alexa nd ra) . Henry's immorta l pr oduct was we ll repre­ The reasons fo r th e o utsta ndi ng success of th e eve nt se nted by va r ious ages ra ngi ng f ro m 191 0 to 19 17, most a re fai rly obvio us in that it is impeccably orga nised yet ou tsta nd ing being M er ce r's Black th ree-sea ter from no t over-o rganised , eve ry consi deration a nd assistan ce Timaru and Lindsay's str ik ing M oon White five-seater is extended to co mpetitors, the ru n an d' tests su it al l fro m In verca rgill. T h ree De D ion s, two th ree-seat e r Ve te ra ns a nd th e hospitality o f o u r Edinburgh of th e F.N.'s, a 1901 Northe rn, a 1914 Metz, a n Arg vle Wagon ­ So uth is in th e best Scots' tra d ition. ette an d represen tati ves of Wolsel ey, Buick , Delage, Scrutineering and brief ing wa s carried o ut on th e Cad iliac, Den nis, Da rracq , Clement Bayard, Ca ltho rpe Friday evening, Jan ua ry 25 th , in the pa latial mo dern and Reo comprised the rest of th e entry. Ther e was no pre m ises of O tago Mot ors Limit ed a nd every facility evidence th a t a n y o f the Vetera ns d rive n to Duned in (the wa s a ffo rded to e nt ra n ts. The 20 h.p. 1913 Daimler T o u re r maj or ity) ha d enjoyed a n yth ing b ut a tro u ble -free trip of Bert T o nks (W a nganui) was a new- eo mer to Du ne­ whi ch was m o re than could be said of so me o f th e later din and greatly admired as was the d rive r for being chariots whi ch had converged on th e city for the week­ the first North lsla nd mem ber to em ba rk o n a "tour" end ; a t, a ny ra te a ll th e vetera ns arrive d in o ne p iece . Saturday m orn ing saw the entry move into the O cta ­ On a rr ival ea rs were qu ickly pa rked in a holl ow sq uare, go n in the cen tre of the City for th e sta rt of the run to a nd dri ver s enjoyed a buffet lu nch before being marshall­ Brig h ton an d wh ile the y we re being ass e m bled in sta rt­ ed out onto the field to begin the first o f the five tests ing o rd e r, the M a yor,Sir Leonar d Wright, a most whi ch had been carefully dev ised to test thei r skill and enthusiastic su ppo rt er of the even t, briefly welcomed th e a bility. visitors and then set off on a tour of in spection acco m­ On e wo rd on ly cou ld de scribe the running of the test s M ~ ' panied by W . L. Daws, a visitor from London, who - Su per b. T o th e A .A . Ot ago m ust go the u nq ualified was ( 0 ac t as H on ora r y sta rter and who so obviously praise of th e Vin tage Ca r Club, whi ch to sa y th e least en joyed th e glimp se of the pas t th a t he su bseq uently is a prelly critica l bunch of ind ividu als. T he complexi ty jo ined the C lu b. of mo st of the tests was suc h th a t you r scribe wo u ld Smoot h organisation and tim ing sa w the cars soo n not a ttempt to expl ain them here , for th e instructio ns a nd away fro m the crowded Octagon down eq uall y crowded sup po rting di agrams occupied some th ree fool scap pages; str eets and on the th irt een-mile journey to th e sea -side well lai d ou t and well su pervised , All five tests were run res ort of Brighton . T he wea th er wa s ov ercast a nd plea­ co ncurrently , the drivers moving from o ne to the other santl y warm, in fac t, too plea santly warm for some o f with the mi nim um of fuss a nd de la y with th e resu lt that the p ass eng ers in the fe w ca rs like M cIvor's an d all thirty- two en trants completed all test s in a p prox im­ Brown's De Dions wh ich reg rettably co uld no t make the at ely three hours. last stages of L o o k-ou t H ill wit hout req uir ing dis em­ barkation and a little ma nual as sista nce in parts. Once Darcy R ea d, a big man, handled h is a tt ractive yello w achieved Look-out Point sa w th e ca rs onto eas ier going a nd red two-seater DeJage with skill a nd dash an d the th rough the su bur bs a nd ou t in to the un du lating cou n tr y­ res u lts show his effo rts were well rewa rded; Alan Baker, side where everyo ne re lax ed an d enjoyed Veteran mo to r­ q uiet and un -spect acular in his pe rfectly restored 1913 ing to th e full, pausing eve ry so often to return a wave Ca lth orpe M inor, kept o n gaining points th a t were also or greeting to gr oups of onlookers who dotted the destined to bring hi m well 10 the fo refront of the trophy route. On and down toward the sea went the dignified win ners, while th e re st of th e dr ivers ga ve of their best co lumn of cars, pa int wo rk an d po lished metal gleaming a nd m ade the competition clo se and in tere sting. Only in the ra ys o f th e sun ric h by no w wa s brightening the Derm is fire engi ne with its crew perched p reca ri­ th e day. The road wour ar o u nd th e coast for a few ously aro u nd it foun d some of the tests impracticable m iles pa st sea -side bache . and th e n up onto th e sm a ll in sp ite of the fact tha t it spo rted a set of so lid ly res plateau which is the B rig' ton domain an d the ven ue for wh ich we re rega rded as th e remedy fo r a sim ilar fa ilur e the d riving tests. last yea r. Quite the most dignified partici pa nt was Wool­ le u's Wolseley (see D ecember, 1956, for illu stration) the int er ior restoration of wh ich in particular is a tre ­ mendo us achieveme nt especially when one ha s seen a photo of the ca r wh en first ac qu ire d. T he greatly ad m ired (co veted by most) Cad iliac of Darcy Nicholso n wa s running as p erfectly as ever this tim e unde r the gu id­ BROADWAY (On.) MOTORS ance of Da rc y' s "better half" who acquitted he rself of LTD. the task in a most creditable manner with the m inimum of as sistance from Da rcy. Of a ll the ca rs present pos­ sibly the least presentable were the Metz a nd the 1916 101 CRAWFORD STREET - DUNEDIN VB C ad illac bu t with the standa rd set by the alm ost unbelieveable fini sh of Baker' s Ca llho rpe it was very ha rd to find an average.

The tests co m pleted, the entr y returned to Dunedin C ITRO EN passing even larger groups of in terest ed c n-Jcokers . T he even ing sa w the Vetera n men settled in [o r a most plea­ sa nt pri ze-giving, the highl ight of which wa s the wit SI NGER G AZELLE repartee a nd brev ity of th e speeche s a nd responses, (he cr ed it for which must go to S ir Leo na rd , M r Daws, M ichac l Ha ggit t a nd A la n Ba ker.

Sunda y, wet and mi sty, wit nessed the pilgrima ge of O IL mo st of the entry to the "picnic" a t Le e Stream, a way­ REPAI RS - L U B RI ~AT I O N - PETROL side ha m let som e twe nty m iles in la nd . where every­ one who wan ted, eit her dr o ve or rode in every one elses SPECIA LIST S car up a nd d own th e wo nd erful winding shingle roads a nd enjo yed one of those gloriously info rm al Vintage o utings wh ich ha p pen all to o seldom an d never la st long enough an yhow. n ..;..,,;j 1899 and all that ...

Having come into possession of the historic 1899 Singer Power WI eel, its somewhat adventuresome modern-day owner was eager to test it out on the .ocd. But first there was this problem: what kind of lubricant was needed for the" It-h.p., four-stroke engine incorporated in the rear wheel? And so he wrote to the makers of Castrol, seeking expert advice. To obtain full details of the vintage vehicle, Castrol Headquarters found it necessary to obtain a copy of the original patent. This, together with notes made on a similar machine at the British Science Museum, enabled a specification of the exact grade of Castrol needed to lubricate and protect the precious Power Wheel to be made. . The point is, of course, that when information is wonted about lubrication the specialists are the logical people to ask. It is equally logical that Castrol motor oil, the product of specialists in lubrication, is the best oil for your car. Road Test No. 9. w. S. Turnb ull

1925 MIN ERYA 20 H.P. TOURI NG C AR

A prod uct of Mi nerva M otor s, Rue K arel Ooms, was fitted but showed no improvement so the car was An vers , Belgium . is rev iewed her e this being the first sol d at a mileage of un der 50.000. It ha s since fre ­ time a machine of Bel gian origi n with a sleeve valve qu ent ly appeared in V.c.c. events latt erly with th e engi ne has been writte n up in th is series of Road Te sts. original M inerv a gear box reinstated. It belongs to Bill L uxt o n one of our Ca nterbury Bra nch Genera l Specificat ion s : Comm ittee me mbers . Bri efly the historica l back groun d of the firm is th at Chassis : Chassis number 62230, wheelbase J2ft H· in .. they started very earl y pro ducing m otor cycles an d track 4ft 9in., overall length JSft 7in, ground clearance . engines for other co nstructors, gra duated to single 9in , tyre size 700 x 20 (o rigina lly 895 x 135B.E.), coach . cylinder light cars jus t after th e turn of the century, bui lder M inerva M oto rs, car weight 42t cwt. Engine : built very succ essful 8 litre sports racing m achi nes with E ngine number T ype AB 622 17, bore 80m m., strok e popp et valves fo r the K a iser preis an d similar events, then 112mm., R .A.C. rati ng 24 h .p. , capacity 3.38 litr es. turn ed their a ffections to M r K night a nd hi s double T he cha ssis la y out is con vent ional fo r the period. with sleeve engine. Using, in a ra cing ch assis, a n eng in e of de ep side mern bel'S, am ple cross bra cing, supplied ove r this type possessed of h igh sleeve clearan ces a nd fa bu Jous th e forward section ma inly by the rigid four point engine oil con sumption , th ey wer e beaten in th e 1914 TT only m ounting, th e cra nk case and its bear er arms bein g stress by the twin O.H .C . Su nbeam , C oa ta len replica s of the car rying members. Springs are semi- elli pt ic a t the 1913 Coupe de l'Auto P eu geot. T herea fter th ey seemed fr ont and lon g ca nt ilever s a t the rear wh ich locat e th e to have rested on their ra cing laurels a nd produced rea r axle leaving on ly driving and bra kin g torque to be mo tor ca rs of luxur y, refineme nt and silence all using carried by the tor que tu be wh ich is anchor ed by a ligh t the K nigh t engine. ball a nd so cket jo int at its forward end. T he M ine rva road test is a J925 mode l ow ned from It is in ter est ing to no te the very well designed fo ur 1931 to 1955 by a Duned in bu siness man but beca use Iacturers we re still re luc tant to rec ognise th e advantage s of some d ifficult y wit h gear chan ge mostly driven for of this sys tem . The drums are of al uminium , deepl y fin­ wheel bra ke layou t a t a time whe n many F glish manu­ ned an d have inserted liners and at the rear fit inside th e

him by a fri end .W h en the f rie nd was J longe r av ail­ 20 inch rims with practicall y zer o clearance while th e able an Au stin " Sheerline" gear bo x ,< , rh colum n cha nge fron t on es a re only slightly smaller. In the front brakes

_ _ : .t."_'~_...... ' • • _ ..... ••• __

Gso rqe We ige i, Ch ristchu rch b the two shoes are connected by a floating pivot, the we ll finished a lm ost to the point of luxury with deep self-wrapp ing effect of the leading sho e helpin g to apply leather upholstery an d inlai d wood fillets round the the second one while in the re ar d rums the normal doors. arrangeme nt of one leading shoe a nd one trailing shoe Wh e n [ tried the car o n the road [ found that as o n fixe d pivots is used. expected the brakes were good eve n by tod ay's standards T he gea r box is separate from the engine an d mounted a ltho ugh considerable pedal pressu re is needed to obtain o n sho rt ra ils running between two chassis cross mem­ full effect especially noticeable wh en o ne is used to bers. T he four ra tios commanded by a slender right driving mo tor cars bu ilt on a lesser scale. hand lever are: - The ra ther slender hand brake lever o pe ra tes the lst, 19.8 : I, 2nd, 11.1 : I, 3rd , 8. 16 : 1, 4th, 5.2 : I, and rear br akes wit h effective resu lts a nd a ltho ug h in the a n in te resting point is tha t a ny ind ivid ua l gear ma y be off position it falls a little close to th e bo dy side it repl aced sepa rately, which is pe rh aps unnecessaril y pes­ ca n be used as a road brake an d is particularly we lco me sim istic co ns ideri ng the ru gged construc tio n. o n lon g descen ts to give o ne's right fo o t a n o ccasio nal Ext ernally the 6 cylinder sleeve va lve e ngine is meticu ­ res pi te. lou sl y finish ed with bla ck enamel cy linde r block, nickel T he multi-plat e clutch normall y gives a ve ry smooth plated double choke M iner va St henos carburettor, mani­ engageme n t but because of so me di sarrangem ent la j . folds and H.T. wir ing du cts, whi le the a lumi ni um cra nk­ internal s a ny temperature rise du e to slippi ng o r a ~ (lg case was beautifully polish ed . On viewing thi s mot o r r u n, ma kes it d rag badly for a fte r a ce r ta in po int gea r it is o bv io us that the design e r a bhorre d a bru pt co rners engageme n t is practicall y impossibl e, a littl e ner ve rack­ or un sig ht ly pr oje cti on s fo r a ll the pipe wo rk , etc ., is ing if o ne has it happen as [ d id in the m idst o f a mino r carefully shaped to blend with th e ro unded ou tline of tra ffic ja m . the cy linder block , ma king the extern al appea ra nce we ll Altho ugh bea utifu lly finished interna lly a nd quiet above av era ge eve n amo ngst vintage motors. The car­ exc e pt fo r a sligh t whine a t high eng ine revs. th e gear­ burett or on a small d ia met e r inlet manifold draws air box, bec a us e of its ra tio s is neither as useful no r as plea­ via a duct through the cylinder block from a hea te r su ra ble to use as a good vin tage cog bo x should be a nd I jacket round the finel y finned exhaust manifold on the must admit to experie nc ing some diffi culty wi th it , pos­ left hand side. Als o o n thi s side is the Scin tilla com­ sibly co ntr ibuted to by the fa ult y clutc h. bined dynamo magneto unit and the water pump mount­ Our' worthy Sec re ta ry is said to ha ve litt le tro uble, but, ed on the front of the timing case, these u ni ts being sa ys the rum o u r', this is because once wh en the M ine rva chain driven from the sleeve eccentric shaft wh ic h is like­ was in an unco-operative mood he expressed h ims el f so wise driven from the cranksh aft. fo rcibly that it has not since da red to cross h im, a The lubrication arrangements a re interesti ng if o nly seco nd tim e. because of their complexity. The seven p lu ngers and E ven in town th e M inerva is not ne a rl y such a handfu l semi-rotary valves of the multi cy lin der o il pump a re as mig ht be expected an d the very generous loc k ma kes driven from the eccentric shaft a nd force o il to the easy the ma noeu vr es associa ted with urban motoring dipper troughs for the splash lubricat ed big end bear­ assisted by th e not abl y good visibility (when the side ings and"to,,) of the main bearings th e o ther fo ur re­ scr een s are do wn) a nd the impression, fostered by looking ceiving their quota by splash only. ov er th e to p of a wheel rim 5 ft. 3io. above the road, The light tubular con rods are ·to ng a nd slender a nd th at th e view is more down than forward. This builds extremely light. Ricardo slippe r type pist on s are em ­ co nfide nce as on e can immediately say whether or not ployed, most probably to enhan ce the smoo th r u n ning th e car ca n be fitted in the gap available. To offset these qualities of the engine. adva ntages th e stee ring at low speeds is undeniably heavy The worm and wh eel steering box whic h is attached a nd bef o re turning one should take a firm grip of the by a specia l trun nio n bracket to the crankcas e casting wheel for it pa ys to let the Minerva know you are is a magn ificen t affair with the ha lves of its polished d riving it a nd no t vice versa . al um ini um cas ing joi ned by n umerous sma ll bol ts. After hearing disquieting stories of what the Minerva Other ch assis deta ils worthy of noting a re the Ru dge­ m ight do o n shingle roads and having noted the weight Whitworth wheels and twin spares, the Sci nti lla sta rter a nd probable he igh t of the centre of gravity I was inter­ a nd electrica l system, the massive headlamps (P hares est ed to see ho w it handled; first of all on sealed su rf ac es , W illocq-Botrin ,Bruxe lles), and the K i-gas injector o n where [ d iscovered its behaviou r wa s q u ite reass ur ing th e da sh boar d to assist sta rt ing. A ll the chassis com­ a nd found it co uld be driven ro un d sharp main ro ad po nents a re o bvio usly over st re ng th and o ve r weig ht fo r corners sufficien t to req ui re "slow " or "caut ion " notices, the 20 h.p. engi ne, the reas o n being that with o nly at 40-45 m.p .h . with no evid en ce of rear axle break a way minor modificati on s such as ax le ra tios the y were a lso o r ot he r unp leasant tend encies. Pe rha ps because of the co m mon to the 32 h.p . a nd to the 32 h .p . s peed c ha ssis high a ll- u p weight the car ha d a desire to run down the a machine capable o f UO b.h.p. a nd 90 m .p.h. ro ad ca m ber o r to the bot tom o f a ba nk ed co rner and The coach wo rk by M ine rva M ot o rs is a five-seater a lso du e to th e ve ry high sea ting po sitio n any change tourer built o n the sa me su bsta ntia l lines as their cha ssis in the road ca m ber was noti ced mo re as a side way s s lip a nd painted a ver y da rk green. A hood with rea r sc ree n tha n a tilting moti on but ther e were no co m plai nts fro m a nd side cur ta ins is fitted a nd the interior fitt ings a re th e passen gers a nd ce rta inly th e 7 inch section tyres " soaked up" bumps, broken edge s or oth er discrepancies climbing ab ility wa s definitely Imp rov ed If the engine in the ro ad surface admira bly with onl y a slight kick of was reall y warm fo r although it seemed to run very hot the steering wheel. it alwa ys ap peared to go bett er in thi s sta te than other­ On sh ing le surfaces the ride was also good and nothing wise and without running any less smoothly bu t unfor­ serio us appeared to happen to the general han dli ng tunatel y mo st of thi s heat is transmitted to the occupants although a per iod of rear axle " tramp" was ob served of the front sca t, doubtless comforting on a win ter 's whi le a ccel erating in 3rd gear ove r a corruga ted section da y but less pl easant in mid -summer. bu t th is ph enomena could not be reproduced late r an d At a ll times the eng ine ran smoothl y and also very was probably due sol ely to the qu ite standard lack of quietly, the only identifiab le noi ses being a faint whin shock ab sorbers on the rear axle. T he stee ring also felt fr om the timing chains an d a continu ou s bu t refined much ligh ter , it wa s found possib le to mainta in co urse sucking noi se .from the carburettor whi le the engine wa s with only two fing ers on th e wheel, but even after con­ a cer tain starter, even if left out overnight, provided a sidera ble motoring ov er gravel nothing unt oward couple of pumps of the K i-gas pump were give n as no . occurred a lthough if int end ing to travel really fast o ne choke control is provided . D ue to the speedometer being would have to keep in mind the weight and the ten dency out of action performance figures are not av ailable bu t of ball oon tyres to slide oyer sh ing le wi tho ut gripping. I should imagine the maximum sp eed to be ab out 60 rn.p.h. and the OWner infor ms me th at 15 m.p.g. are Certainl y it is outside the built up areas that the obtainable under <\11 cond itions. Minerva really co mes into its own as a to uring car for Oil con sumption, always an interesti ng point with then one ca n accelerate, adm ittedly slowly , to a 45·50 s.eeve va lve motor s, must be h igh er than mo st poppet m.p.h. cr uising speed a nd th ereafter sweep a lo ng in com­ va lve en gin es of this size as of ten a blu e haze follows fo rt a nd silence, the latter emphasised eac h tiin e a br idge one a bou t in town but this ma y be qu ite in order for or r oa dside is passed, th ere being little echo of that the local M iner va specialist quotes 600 miles p.g. whe n inde finite noi se of a car at speed. ne w. In rolling country o ne can sweep ove r rises wit h little A n attempt to use th is Minerva as a sp orts car coul d or no lo ss of fo rward m omentum but when anything in not be doomed to other than fai lure but as a town the na ture of a hi ll other th an a sh or t steep pinch, is carriage or touring car wh ich would .take its occupants encountered there is a rather dead feeling about the car any dist ance in comfort, silence and at reasonable speed and a ch an ge to third spe ed is soon required, or even to it could not easil y be improved upon. As a he av y lou r­ second, but onc e in this gear I im agine all .main road ing car th is is a cla ss of vehicle wh ich will not be m ade hills could be tackled an d the engine gave the im pression again fo r the extravagance of design a nd mechanical it woul d 'pull right down to the l a s t~ : g'a s p without h int work which went into its production is inc ompat ible with of roughness or over st ress. It was rioted that the h ill {he post war demand for economy and low first cost. w. A. Clapham 29 SOUTHWARK STREET CHRISTCHURCH Between Ma nch ester and Mad ra s St reet s, Alongside Cokers Hotel PHONE 77-47 1 Ccnterbu ry Servi ce for

AUTO ELECTRICIAN Christchurch Distributors of A.B. Batteries ~------~------' r

1906 CADILLAC MODEL "M" Powered by 0 9 7 h.p. s:ng :e cv lmd er en g in e Weight, 1578 lbs. 76 inch wheel­ base. Top speed 30 mil es per ho u r. Price 950 dollars, 10 25 dol­ lars wi th Cope Cc r t top Lamps not inc lude d in ei th er pri ce.

1903 "CURVED DASH" T he famous "curved dash" O!dsmab i le wa s t he f rrs t mass­ p roduced car. The O!ds M o to r W orks produced 42.5 of these in 1901. Production zoomed to 3,2.99 in 190 2. , 4000 in 190 3 19 0 8 BUICK " 10" SINGLE RUMBLE and 5000 in 1904 . It w as descr ib ed in tho se d ays as the This m::- :!: l, with its " mo ther- in- la w" " pe rfec ted Automo b i le". sea t, was one of the most popular of The car was powered by an 8 h. p sing le c ylinder engi n e, the early Buick s. Four cyli nder va lve­ in-head engi ne developinc 18 h.p. sta te d in th e 1903 O 'dsm o b i le Ca ta log ue to be "o f simplest Plo nc t o rv tra ns mission with cone const ru c t io n and u n usua l s treng th; an y body ca n u n de rs tcnd clu tch, shaft drive. Curre nt supplied i t" . Eng in e had two gears - reverse a n d low. Power was by Remy mag neto , reserve set of cells for starting . Wheel base 92 inches, t ran sm i tted through ro ll er c hai n to rear axle from t he motor. tyr es 30 x 3 1·. Price 1000 doll ars- in­ Bod y moun ted a bo ut two fee t I ra m t he g ro und, hung in depen­ clu ding oil lamps, toil lamp, genera tor, d en t o f runnin g ge:J r . Axle w id th 4 I t. 7 in ., wheels 2.8 in ches gas headligh ts, horn and repai r ou t fi t . in d iameter, fitted WIth heavy 2. 1· inch pneumati c tyres. Top speed 2. 0 mil es per ho u r . Pri ce 6 50 do l la rs, lea ther tap extra a t 50 dol lors, sea t a t rear to ca r ry two m ore passen g ers 2. 5 dol io-s extra. GENERAL MOTORS

1914 CHEVROLET "ROYAL MAIL" Genera l Moto rs New Ze alond Lim ite d , The Chcvroet " Royal Ma il" and " Baby Bouver ie St reet , Pe tone . and at Upper Hu tt Gra nd" were th e first Chevrole t CO l'S V'~i th valvc- in-heod eng ines, and th e fir st to carry the Chevralet trademark The Chevrole t " Royal M ail " hod 0 two passenqer body, wi th c urving cowl an d f lat d eck a t rcar. Powered by 0 fou r cy linder e n ~ :ne, rated at 21.7 h .p , Whe:lbase of 104 inches, tyres 32 x 3 1. Wc:ghed 2250 lbs. Sold fo r 750 dol lc rs . with bum per os an ac ce ssory. ,~ " Am pie Ampol Rn}, GlJlJlJell (N.S.W., Auslralia)

CnlJlil1lJil1l' Rnh's {/("('()/WI nf Ih~ gruelling A mpnl 1'ri"l. lr i.1 lime/v In nnlc 11('/"(' Ihal //ii\

((lr \\ {I' fl.\semhlcrJ for Ihis ('\'('nl. wilh lillll' Ili))(' In spare (JnrJ IJOI1I' ", .. iI1l which In 11',1"1. Iml i" spiii' nf Ihl' hardship.\ alJd disappnil1l1J)('nf.1" fllarJ hI' Ihe (Tell', a IrtI,l' "pinlo!'!' splri(' appears In ho1'1' hecl1 mainlainI'd Ihroughol/l Ihe Irip.

"After staying the !ligJl~ at Canberra we decidcd to and was 101d it was at (he bottom of the (bottomless. pres, on and maybe follow the trial around so we set off so they savj. Blue Lake. J-Iowever, it couldn't have for Melbourne yia the main "Jlighway". Tbis road is in been quite bottomless because the buyer hauled thr absolutely atrocious conc9ition for a main highway. con­ car oul of the lake and rebuilt it. It was a late model stant washaways and water crossings all the way to with hydraulic brakes filled as standard and naturally Melbourne and many potholes etc. The only other trouble is called "The Blue Lake Vauxhall". we had to M el bourne was tbe other clutch thrust finger Surprisingly enough we reached Melbourne witll no COl11ll1g oUL which \vas replaced by a boil from the other more trouble than our side curtains losing their celluloid headlight standard-oh and the horrifying clunk of the due to lousy sewing bv another alleged expert who J6 gauge· tailshaft hitting the chassis eyery time we per­ took us for a "ride". ambulated oyer a bump. Our decision to spend a few day~ looking for inter­ We stayed a day in Melbourne and on the one or esting cars in Melbourne was shallered by the rather two occasions we were out in the car .. we saw on the good news thal Ampol was organising a riltle trial from road a beautiful 4.3 Alvis drophead, a type 5lA G.P. Southport to Sydney for the "also rans" in the trial. Bugatti in perfect condition, a Lancia Lambda Weymann s.o we packed our bags again and headed north The saloon. a 1695 J930 Alvis saloon, a 30/98 01 23/60 in HunK Highway was in even worse condition than when semi-chassis form .. a couple of nice Riley 9's, a 3 litre we came down. at one place called Tumbalong the Bentley and an Austin 7 with a really prelty meleor water was rushing across the road over Iwo feet deep, beelle back body Oh I almost forgot a type 57 Bugatti no cars were gelling through but the big transport seemed coup~ I It sound~ like a dream, but its true .. all these cars to negotiate the strip successful I)'. Deciding we were in were seen just passing on the road without looking for too much of a hurry to make an SO-mile detour, we them. Wonderful place Melbourne' placed a couple of plastic bags over the magneto. onc We pres;ed on to Adelaide and ex.actJy half way there, over the oil filler cum crankcase breather. and fitted " groan emitted from the rear of tlle car and wc discov­ our "snorkel" to the exllaust pipe. The open flywheel ered all the bolts bar one holding the crown wheel to thrashing in the water almost caused the engine to stop its sundry gear were sheered. These were tempOlarily re­ (llle pre~sure of water on the Aywheel I mean) and the placed by mild steel bolts obtained from the ncarest car was practically aAoat drifting with the slrong cur­ village some 8 miles away. We arrived in Adelaide with­ rent. Water was pouring through the holes in the Aoor­ out further trouble and here. decided to have the dumb­ boards for the clutch and brake pedals. coming in the iron straightened properly. the front axle (which some­ doors al the back and J suppose the fronl as well. al­ what resembled a banana) straighlened and the crown though 1 was too busy to notice. We finally gOI through wheel bolts replaced by something more substantial A '""ithout missing a beat. The oil pressure rose consider­ J934 Speed 20 A lvis was placed at our disposal wllile ably as tlle oil had been cooled light down and the this work was being carried out and we also had the \~'al'er temperature also dropped. ]t was a sighl to see the Opportunity of meeling some of the South Auslralian faces of the modern ca," owners who slood and watched AJvi, men and their cars, which included, a 1938 Speed as the Alvi.., became an amphibian. 25 tourer. a 4.3 arophead. a J2/50 ducksbacJe a very Naturally we didn't have any brakes for some time well thought out shortened and lowered 'big port J2/50 afler nlis but we pressed onto Goulburn where wc re­ special and of course the Speed 20 saloon previously l11entioned. fuelled and here discovered that one of the front shock absorbers had come adrift, due to Iwo spring bolts dis­ One other modification we made to the car before Jeav appearing. These were replaced and we pressed onto 1I1g W

AUTO VALET SERVICES LTD

RUBBERISED UNDERSEAL PHONES

AUTOMOTIVE 13-667 REPAI RS 13-093

LUBR ICATION

80 GREAT NORTH ROAD, GREY LYN N

> Notes on a Sizaire Naudin by R . S . T lIrnhll/[

Recently 1 have been prese nted with the rema ins of a dia meter kin gpins and the attachme nt points for the very interest ing French car made by Siza ire et Na udin woo de n chass is mem bers an d I- sec tion over the middle about 1907, to a design which is remarkable for its section, has a centra l pedestal ont o which U-bolts ingenu ity and the manner in which it sets engineeri ng secure the transverse spri ng that bears o n the upper ends theory at nou ght and a ppears to ha ve functi oned little of the king pins via thr ust washers. Th e maximum wheel the wo rse for it. No t all designers who took such moveme nt from the loaded position a ppears to be about liberties were as for tu nat e. 60m .m. but as the sp ring has six leaves ranging from Georges Siza ire who dr ove the cars in com petitio n, 6 to 8m.m. thick and 45m.m. wide T thi nk th is would the two brothers Naudin who looked aft er sales anel be more than sufficient to prevent bottorning. produ ct ion respectively, and Mau rice Siza ire the de­ By usi ng such a limited movement Sizaire lost the signer , controlled a fir-m that appears to hav e consisted, adva ntages of LF .S. as such, but perha ps he was not in 1907 at least, of first an d foremost, a very goo d seeking th is as the cars were no t adv ertised as possessing found ry with a subsidiary mach ine sho p a nd wood­ th is novelty, bu t rather that for eco no my he felt that wo rki ng dep artment. Previously Siza ire had been a n a n ex pensive component such as a fro nt axle beam co uld; arc hitec t special ising in th e restoration of historic build­ in addition to supporting the weight and main taining ings and he freely adm itted th is whe n his unorthodo x the wheels at a cons tant distance apart of 1200m.m., designs were criti cised by professional engi neers, saying a lso be a chassis mem ber, carr y th e single fr ont spring that as an architect he could no t be expected to know and act as a mounting point Ior the fro nt mu dguard anyt hing ab out mo to r ca rs. H owever , their success in brackets. Cer tainly when on e sees the weight of the rear the newly pop ular voiture tte races of the peri od was the ax le assem bly it is a pparent that high un spr un g weight best ans wer as the following list of S.N . placings in the did no t cause Sizaire worry at the draw ing board, what­ major races shows. eve r effect it may have had whi lst on the road.

Year Even t Place Average Speed Beca use of the I.F.S. both the trac k rod and drag link 1906- Co upe des Vo itu rcttes 36.2 m.p.h. have ba ll jointed ends which are almost identical in princip le to modern self adjusti ng track rod ends. Also 1907-Sicilian Cup this is the first vehicle I have seen with cast ste el steer ing (Targa Fl oria C ircu it) I 23.7 m.p.h. arms (1 hope. free of blow holes), secu red hy the same Co upe des Vc iturettes & 2 40.7 m. p.h. nu t as hold s the stu b-axle into its tapered hole in the 1908- G. P. des Vo itu rettes 2 eye at the bottom of the kin g pi n. The front hub bear ­ Co upe des Voi tu rett es 1, 2 & 4 47.8 m.p.h. ings a re bronze bushes running on a case ha rdened stub-axle of the popular diam ete r of 30m.m. which has In all the above races the first Sizai r: Na udin home a collar made integ ra l with its outer end to reta in the was driv en by eit her Sizair e or Naud in and the cars wheel. were all singl e cylinder ma chin es with cyli nder dimen­ sions that ranged fro m 120m .m. x 120m.m. to 100m .m. x After' the sus pension the next o bvious component is 250m.m. under the limit ed bore rules of the day . T hu s the radiator, the she ll of wh ich is of ver y light cas t iron the part ners did not neglect this form of pub licity as in con struction with a cooling surface consisting of 98 a period whe n almost eve ry mo tori st was an enthusias t, vert ical co pper tubes of .290" 0.0. and .0 l l" wa ll thick ­ competition successes pro fo und ly influenced sales, as the ness. T here is also a brass water tank mounted behind pr oduc tion cars had a ll the design features of the racing the engine, but without the mot or the p ipe work remains machines if perha ps not q uite the performan ce. a mys tery. Also the mot or moun ting brackets, one of T he layou t of the ca r I have, which a ppea rs to be a wh ich serves as a steering box mounting are missing tour ing vers ion of about 1907 is as show n in the chassis but the box is complete. Its princip le is very sim ila r to drawing. Un fortunately the origin al engine has not yet that of a Bishop stee ring gea r, with a co nica l. peg on an been located desp ite efforts by friends in Southland and arm on the dr op arm shaft being sp ring loa ded into beca use of this the do tted lines on the drawing are o nly mesh with a worm of 2+ turn" and 84m. m. dia meter on a n esti ma te of its shape an d posi tion . th e steering column. The number of tur ns lock to lock would be less tha n It. On viewing the dra wing the first striking feat ure is the fro nt chassis cro ssme rnber which carries the transverse Th e box cas ing is cast iro n, the wo rm case hardened front spring and has at its end s the eyes in whic h the stee l, and the arm carryi ng the peg, the d rop a rm sha ft kingp ins rota te to steer and slide vertica lly to provide and the dro p arm itself being a single st eel casting. the independe nt fron t suspension for which the S.N . was H owever the fea ture for which these intriguing mach­ well known. This memb er, which is of box sec tion ines were best know n, and one which appears to cau se 60m .m. x 45m.m. between the eyes for the 30m.m. so me writers of motoring histo ry no little trou ble is the i .,; ..; z

0 0 ~ ~ .. If) (f) 0 .... « e- .. ::c 0 u '" ~ 0 ~ . Z I"- ... 0 3 0 0 C' 0 w ::J .. .J et: " ot Z < ~ : u <.J l/l I IX 0 uJ ;j .. a: .« -c N cf) o

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I 1- i comb ine d rea r axle and gear box which ga ve direct d rive bea rings throughout th e axle assem bly are iubrica ted on all three forward speeds, and, with an idle r gea r, by a drip fee d oil supply from the same tan k as the rever se, This was ac hieved by ha ving thr ee pi nio ns keyed engine. This co ntinuo us supply is probably very n e c e ~ ­ o n:o o ne pinion sha ft running in a hou sin g which was sa ry as the re a re no oi l sea ls of a ny type. a ble to swing about or slide a lo ng another statio nary F o r a n early light car the indirect ra tios a re quite sha ft and thus alter th e centre distance a nd en dwi se high, gi ving, with 760 x 90 tyres a nd 2000 r.p.m. (the position so tha t anyone of the three pinions or the sp eed at whi ch the 1906 engine o f 120m.m, x 120m .tn , rev erse idler could be en ga ged with a single crown wheel , devel o ped 18 b.h.p.), road speeds of 16, 30 a nd 45 C ompared with thi s set-up, Panhard's sliding pinion m .p .h. in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, which pe rhaps gea rbox, which he sa id was bruta l but wo rked a ppears exp la ins som e of their succe ss in racin g. A lso, a ltho ugh th e epitome of good de sign , as not onl y is it the oreticall y these machi nes wer e suppo sed to ha ve the least num ber im po ssib le to mesh pi nio ns with differ ing numbers of of pa rts of any car, non e of the se were of ligh t weight tee th with a single crown wheel to give a 90 degree d rive , co nstruction and th us lik ely to br eak wh en at speed on hut Sizaire's bevel p in ions a re, in fact , straight spur gears rough roads. h aving for to p, 19 tee th, 2nd 13 teet h an d 1st 7 teeth , A feature which seems almos t a rcha ic for a 1907 car The cro wnwheel, of J8m .m. o utside diameter, h as 78 is the use of wood for the chass is, the two steam ben t teeth, which are only 20m.m, long in an a ttempt to ash members of 120m .m . x 50m .m, section be ing m inimise the errors, in additio n to be ing the usu a l in­ strengthened by 2}m,m . thick steel flitch p lates screwed volute p rofi le are also th ick est at their mid point to o n th ei r inner fac es . preve nt too th co nta ct oc cu rr ing at the en ds of th e teeth . A vail able in fo rma tio n on the engi ne suggests that its T o select the required sp eed the hou sin g ca rrying the sing le cylinder will have the dimensions o f 120m .m . x pinio ns is moved by means of a device which co uld be l20m.m ., wit h side exhau st va lve a nd overhead inter des cribed as a heli cal cam cast of bronze wh ich bears o n val ve operated by push rod and rocker and a spe cially th e side of the housing remo te from the crow n wh eel profiled sliding inlet cam o r varying lift, thi s arrang e­ a nd is con trolled by a small a uxilia ry pr opell e r sha ft ment replac ing the th rott le val ve in the carburettor. A rotated by a small bevel gea r mes hing with a sec to r of a single lev er on a q uadrant o n th e steering wheel is the crownwheel on the gea r lever cross sha ft. o nly contro l o ver the inlet va lve li ft, whilst the sing le A spur gea r typ e d iffer ent ial is used and the pla in pl ate cl utc h is fr eed by the init ia l moveme nt of the

~ - c. HUNlON LlD 55 KILMORE STREET CHRISTCHURCH

Body Build ers & Pa int ers Chossis and Axle Rep a irers- Panel Bea te rs PHONE 70 - 54 7

OUR FINISHED WORK

A Ge nuine Photo Reproduc tion single peda l, Further d epressio n a pp lies a two shoe un usu al or in genious fea tures such as th e pot type un i­ expanding b ra ke th at operates on a d rum integ ra l wit h versal jo int with ro llers to allow the en dwise m ovement the crown wheel. As this de vice will be well lubricated , of the pi nion sha ft, or th e ta per p in Fasteni ng of wheels ·1 imagine th a t th e hand brake bands expanded in side onto ax le sha fts b ut en ough h as been sa id to in dic ate 253 m .m. diameter cast iron drums might be sligh tly more that fo r its period the 1907 Sizaire Naudin gave con­ effec tive ev en though the brake rod s p ull di rectl y on the side ra ble performance and re liability for a low initial fr ont end of th e br ake bands. cos t coupled with a reputation second to none as a racing Space does not permit a fu ll descr iptio n of all the vo itu rette

The Discovery of the Srn ith Flyer H . Mc M eekin

About eighte en months ago whi lst paying a visit to axle. Ea ch wheel has a cycle mudguard a nd [he moti ve D ick Stevenson (well-known as th e owner of a fine power com es from a 4-struke 2-j- h .p . engine wit h suction Bea n. Daimler an d Fiat a t va rio us tim es), I happened inlet va lve a nd is a ir cooled. The fifth wheel is boiled to ask h im how he d isco vered th e Daimler and he on . to the crankshaft of the engin e, and gearing is informed m e that he had a cquired th e vehicle from some di rect. One sim p ly starts the engine in the fo llo wing way. chap s who ha d go t it fr om th e original owners, the two Pulling a lever in th e floor o f the veh icle rai ses the fifth spin sters, Misses M oo dy of Herne Bay. wh eel a nd th e engine from the grou nd. A tu rn of th e wheel whi ch is fitt ed with a handle and it sta rts. The Di ck m entioned th a t reposing on th e rafters wa s a engine is then a llo wed to idle. The dri ver m uunts the qu eer contraption re sembling a motorised trolley and machine . lowers th e wh eel to the grou nd, an d the ca r is having five wheels. I resol ved to go aro u nd a nd inspec t m obile. .this objec t a t th e very first free m o m e nt I h ad . A ch ap I knew. wa s very keen to get a complete Veteran, a nd T o stop. one rai ses th e whee l a nd p resses a ped al a lso foo lishly, I sa id that if the veh icle was a n y good he on the floor, an d th is works the very sim ple brak e could ha ve it , as (had m y Ford T . The next d a y we sys tem . When this lever is depre ssed , it a llo w, the m ud ­ wen t over to see th e people. guards to jam down on the re ar tyres h ence stopp ing th e ve h icle. I nside th e real' mudguards a re steel sh oe , We k nocked on the door, a nd p resently an old lad y wh ich do the a ct ual braking . peered furti vely out through a curtain to in sp ect us. Bein g very ca u tio us she ca me to the front d oo r a nd According to Cl ym er, these vehi cle s ar e su ppo sed 10 ask ed us our bu sin ess thro ugh a w ire m esh in sect do or. do 80 m .p.g. a nd 25 m .p.h., bu t acco rd ing to lames Ap pa rently be ing sa tis fie d w ith our ex pla na tio n , sh e M elton , the noted American co llec tor, they can d o ab ou t Come ou t a nd co nd ucted us to a big double garage b uilt 8 m .p .h . with a fol lowing tail wind . in the old style, a two-storey wi th a ccommodation be low Complete with en gine, thi s veh icle is quite easil y lifted fur the ch auffeur'. She p ointed to the r oof and we sa w from th e gr ound. J sh a ll a lways regret a llow ing it to p ass the con tra p tio n siu ing between two r a fters. out of m y hands, the ca r was bo ugh t for £15 a nd a long After much effort, ] lifted it d own a nd to my a sto nish ­ w ith it 'Ca me a Cl ernenr-Ba yard moto r-c ycl e. reputed to ment it was quite ligh t as the engin e was de tached and be the first in A u ckl an d , a si ngle cylinder o ut board was lying on the floor in a corn er of th e garage. T h e m o to r th at must have been used on the a rk , a whole bo x old lad y told us th at her late bro th er had bought the of beautifu l oil lamps a nd th e finest pai r o f self-genera t­ vehicle in Christchu rc h second-h and in 19 J3, a n d th a t in g a cetylene he adl amps I ha ve ever seen. they used to motor a ro und Auckland in it when they I believe th a t the ca r h ad not done much work in its Were yo ung er .. life as its origina l tyres, apa rt from bein g perished, were The veh icle co ns ists o f a wooden ch assis fra me rel yin g no t worn at a ll. It now sp ans st rai ght side bic ycle tyres On the giv e in th e wood for sp ringiness . Jt is lef t-ha nd on re-built rims. a nd mu st su rely lank as the m ost drive a nd the a xle is a bo ut the dimensions o f a light pr am u nusual Vet eran ca r in th e co un tr y. - • Camera

Phot o by courI esv Ba rry McKoy, Auckland Practice ra ce vic tor Ch e t Parke r's 30/98 Va uxh a ll.

Th e 12/50 Alvis as dese ill'

Photo by cour tesy Don Oddie Studio, T tmoru Fin e job of northern restoration appearing at th e Dunedin - Brighton run. Popular Wanganui m ember Bert Tonks ' 1913 Da iml er .

A practic e day start at Ardmare . L. to R. : 192i 19 2 6 Ford, 1922 Pock· .evlew·

Phot o by courtesy Don Oddie Studio, Trmortr M erv. W inter d eeply concenl'roting wh ile neg .otiot·ing ° t est during th e Dun edin - Brighton.

'Isewhere in t hi s issue .

" !

Photo by court esy Borrv McKoy. Aucklond Norm. Adam's' Sunbeam at sp eed durir;g th e V intage Rac e at Ardmore. Phot o by cou rtes y Borr y McKoy. Aucklond

1Ill , 1928 A lvis, 19 21 Vauxhall, J930 Bentley , 2 Bentley, 192 5 Fia t. - THE WILTON MOTOR BODY CO. LTD

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President: H. Rob inscn, Esq. Hon. Sec. C. Porker, Esq., 17 King George Avenue, Au ckland. Allcltla"d Editor, P. V . Mar-well, 58 Golf Avenue, Otahuhu, Auckland.

T he holida y flap tha t slo ws d own clu b activiti es, N.Z. of Jim F ra nci s is a ce rtain co ricou rs winner now, wh ilst :,o litics, bu sin ess an d suc h lik e is over and a n ac tive pr o­ activity in rest oring M od el T's for exa m p le is in full gra m me for 1957 gives m em bers plent y of incentive to swing , with mem ber s Headf ord, Hartigan, Jones, Na ylor get their vehicles up to scratch. The a fore ment io ned an d Law son all a bout to present immacul at e "Li zzies" , holida y .pe riod did not , h owe ve r, give, Veteran and T he Clu b has latel y h ad the pleasure of entertaining Vintage Committee men mu ch re spite as the o rga nising A nd y A nderson up o n a busin ess tr ip fo r a few weeks of th e Vintage A rd more ra ce ga ve plenty of wo rk . A s a nd he has been in h is element examining and driving expected th e field of thirty two entrants whi ttled itself a wid e asso rt ment of A uck la nd ca rs. down to half th at figure bef ore the event. The clu b W e agree th at at present the re are mo re deserving scrutineers set a h igh st andard and the Grand Prix scru­ Vintage types a rou nd than there ar e bu yer s for such tineer s carried out th ei r part very well. Wh ilst firm re­ vehi cles and I understand that th e South Island po sition gar d ing the suitability of entrants and me ticul ou s in is so mewha t sim ila r. mecha nical in specti on s, they d id not el iminat e unreason­ ab ly th e certain ca rs th at by virtue of their low poten­ The Club held an ann ual pri ze giving on Oc tob er tial speeds were not quite up to racing cars in the ma tte r )6th a t which troph ies were presented to th e winner s of brakes, king p in play, etc. of th e Rotorua Rally, The Myste ry R un an d th e Win ter R un. N o need to men tion that a good time was had by Obviou s mecha nical fa ults were po in ted ou t and all a ll. entran ts can really be glad that these ad justm en ts were made essential to participa tio n as unless th is wa s not Beaded Wheels in its la test forrri is bei ng we ll re ­ strictly con tro lled so m e of u s would ju st go on and on ceived an d th e vario us f ea t ur es have im proved and and on. Witness th e eye o pe ning resto ra tion of th e well have a gr ea t fut ure. known Fiat 5 19 of Trevor Cam p bell. Sound bu t wea ry lookin g ea rly in D ecember ye t o n A rd more pr acti ces an d race day a gleam ing a nd im pr essive classic car lh:lt was ad mi red by all . Sim ilarl y we witness the tr ansfo rmation of the sec­ WAITEMATA MOTORS reta ry's 30 / 98 fr om so mewha t tatty to glistening in (O pp . Woitemato Erew erv) its al um inium an d red. The Mills A lvis from aw ful to ra ther good ; th e de Ro o Beru lcv to resp lende nt an d so it Great South Road Otahuhu goes on. Certain members su ch as N orm Adams with hi s SUllheam al wa ys have their car s im maculate a nd do not need a special even! to go ad them! Maybe o ne da y all members will eq ua l th is sta nda rd? An h istoric even t ad equa '.,;;y reported elsewh er e in thi s issue and th is a rticle on ly mention s som e sidcliuh ts on the prepar a tio n a nd inc iden tal h a ppen ings! - To give a br eathing s pell befo re the im po rtant An nua l Rotoru., Rall y late in M arch, the first of two pi cnics was held a t glorious O rewa beach o n Fe brua r y 10th. A fair mu ster of ca rs a nd members rel axed a nd ha d a good Phone 1086 for Quality day's get toget her without an y rules o r orga nisa tio n to Used Cars and Trucks distu rb the pe aceful and ver y hot day. A no the r picnic sho rt ly a nd th en th e f rien d ly co m petiti ve sp irit of the BUYERS OF GOOD USED CARS, INCLUDING RO!orua run to en a ble members to vie on ce ag ain in Ihc u carriages, acq uisitio n. rall y positi o n, co ndition a nd all VETERAN, V INTAGE ANDINTERESTI NGCARS the o ther an gles that m a ke the ownership an d running T rcde- ms an d Term, Arrang ed of a Vetera n or Vintage ca r a lot m o re im portan t th a n Just a matter or tra nsportation. Ca ll a nd Inspec t Our Sto cks T he o pen ca rs ha ve ha d a fling a nd in th e next fe w OPEN FR!DAY NIGHTS shows a ll typ es will be ca tere d for. T he su per b Rcnault The Ardmore Vintage Handicap by Peter Max lVell

It was Sa turday, 12th Janua ry, 1957, a da y on whic h As the starter's arm dropped , the lim it men, l a nes and all roads led to A rdmo re, a nd a t this venue by mid­ Sea brook, left the line a nd the race had begu n. Display­ morning, a n int erestin g co ntrast in cars was to be see n ing its customa ry accelera tio n in the lower speed l'ange, in the paddock, which held on one side, modern sports the Fo rd T disappeared rapidly in th e direction of ca rs, a nd on the other a n aggressive array of super­ College Corner, while in between the business of chang­ lative Vintage cars ema na ting from many famous sta bles. ing gear, the A ustin steadily increased its for ward T hey stood there side by side, Su nbeam a nd Bentley, impetus.T hey were followed twenty-t wo seco nds later Vauxhall and Chrysler, repr esenting in many cases the by the Rolls Royce, which made for suc h a car, an successful fruition of m an y hours of toil, resplendent almost inde ce'nt amount of noise as its ow ne r had re­ in the hot sunlight with their glittering nickel and moved the silencing arr angements. Ba tt in the lofty 1922 G erm an silver. Pack a rd, an d Johansen in his 14/40 S un beam were next , Sixteen strong, the y comprised car s which had passed away, the latter making rapid upward gear changes rigorous inspection, to ensure that they were mechanic­ through his fo ur speed box showed the meaning of the ally fit and we re "correct" in the ma tter of appeara nce , wo rd "acceleratio n" as app lied to a Vintage car. Merv, and whi le a number of Veterans ha d appeared among Hunt in the early 3-litre Ben tley, an d J. Colley in the the entries, in fac t it was a Vi ntage field whic h mat er ial ­ 77 C hr ysler, engaged thei r clutches 40 seconds be hind , ised on the day. As a res ult of time tr ials held on prac­ an d departed wea ring confident expressions. tice da ys, the ca rs we re to ru n on a ha ndicap, and we re A spectacula r take-off was made by the big F iat 519, to cover fo ur la ps of the course. the much modified 23/ 60 Vauxhall of Laws, and the Wa iting to do battle with one another were M, Hunt's imposing vice-preside ntia l Sun beam 20, and these were 1922 Bentley, P. Jones' 1926 Ford T , E. M cGlynn's 1930 fo llowed thirty seco nds later by the rapid 1925 3-litre H litre I nvicta, H. McMeeki n's 1922 Rolls 20, M. of P. de Roes. M, Mills engaged his clu tch at high revo­ M ill's 1928 Alvis 12/50, N , ~da ms ' 1927 Sunbeam 20, lutions, in a despera te effort to bea t N . McCutcheon G, Gray's 1930 4t Bentley, T. Carnpbell's 1924 Fiat 519, a way from the line, but his 12/50 held the lead over the P, de Roe 's 1925 Bentley 3 litre, G , Law's 1925 Va uxha ll big Chrysler 80 for only a few ya rds . 23/60, J, Co lley's 1930 Chrysler 77, C ,Pa rker's Vaux­ And now on ly the big stuff was lef t. C. Parker and ha ll 30/98 , N, M cCu tch eon's 1927 Chrysler 80, W . F . Crowther roa red away pas t th e gaping occupants of Jo ha nsen's 1925 '14/ 40 Sunbeam, J, Sea brook's 1923 the grandsta nds , th e Va ux ha ll an d th e Invicta whic h are Austin 12, and R. Batt' s 1922 Packar d Six, truly a very no table examp les of the beginning a nd the end of the good selectio n of The Vetera n and Vi ntage Ca r C lub's Vintage period, loo ked superb as they shot off together, op en cars. leaving G . G. W . Gray in the 4t litre Ben tley on scratch , While drive rs and their crews spent the morning H e m ade an impressive departure 148 seconds behind making last mi nute preparations, the Club's T echnical the lim it men. Committee inspected th e ent ries with a view to choosing F irst car to com plete a lap was th e Ford T , wh ich the best turned out cars, G ood as their co ndition was, appear ed ro und C leved o ri Corner leaning slightly and a few sea rching glances wer e a ll that was nee de d to dis­ came steadily up Han ga r Straight past the pits. Me­ 'crim inate one from the other , and one looks fo rwa rd to M eekin cou ld be seen successfully na viga ting the Clover­ the day whe n it will become necessary to check O U I' leaf in his noisy Rolls, and Joha nseri's Sunbeam seemed machines point by poi nt in order to provide the dis ­ to have shown the Pa cka rd a clean pa ir of hee ls. One tinction , la p was sufficient to show that the C hrysler 77 and th e Paddock' ac tivities were en livened by 'the a larmi ng ea rly 3-litre 01' H unt were very eve nl y ma tched, an d spectacle of NI, Hu nt' s team practisi ng sta nding starts, with never more than a few yards between them, they while Warre n Joh an sen had been engaging in prac tice were ra pidl y overha uli ng the preceding cars, of a differen t va riety , nam el y, how to make oneself Trevor Campbell's big Fiat loo ked deceptively fast, scarce under the cowl, in the eve nt of a "roll-over." As and was circulating in sol ita ry state, as the 23/60 Vaux­ usual, a last minute flap occurred when it was discovered h all aft er an ini tial burst of speed. succeeded in breaking tha t one or two numbers had been duplicated, a nd the a pu sh rc d which left it on three cylinders, whi le Adams' s ervices of th e signwriter were in grea t demand I black S unb eam sho wed no great turn of speed, but was Soo n it was time to make a move; a nd the a il' was easil y th e most d istinguished looking car on the course. filled wit h the deep-throated burbling no ises of large P . de R oo's 3-litre ca me round as regularly as a clock, vint age mo tors bursting into life, A few minutes later, the to the accompaniment of a thunderous exhaust , and competitors arranged in the order of sta rting, waited on Norm. McCutcheon succeeded in making the C hrysler 80 'the line for the fall of the flag. go much fast er than it went in pra ctice ! The Inv icta a nd the Vauxhall provided a n exc iting spe ctac le, th e F astest time went to G . G. W. Gray on the 4i litre former be ing the faster car, while G ra y dr ove h is 4·;, Bcn tley wh o comp let ed the co u rse in 9min 17isecs. The magnificen tl y, bu t was u na ble to mak e mu ch im pr es­ In victa ma na ged second fastest time with 9min 32isecs, sion on his h a nd ica p . T he non-a p pea ra nce o f M . M ills wh ile C. Parker did it in 9m in 50secs. ind ica ted tha t he wa s making the first of several stops F ro m thc po in t of view o f the Veteran and Vintage to rectify m ino r tr oubles wh ich be set him th roughou t Car Cl ub , a nd J th ink of most of the spe cta tors, the the race. V int age Race was a thorou ghl y wo rth whi le affair. A s th e leade rs bega n their four th la p it was fairly V intag e cars are not the gau dy sho w pieces th at some V etera ns seem to become, but thei r pu rposefu l ap pear ­ o bv ious th at it wo uld be a M crv. H un t be nefit agai n th is a nce together with their s uperior sp eed a nd handl in g yea r. as no thing mu ch fas ter wa s in the offing, a lthoug h q ua lities ma kes the m an equally at trac tive prop osit io n th e I nvicta was ma king rapid pr ogress. A nd th a t was th e for a n eve nt o f th is na tur e. This plus the fact th at no way it turned ou t. The Bentley du elled fier cely with the o ne go t int o tro u ble nego tiating . the co u rse a nd all Chrysler right to the fini sh , a nd both ca rs crossed th e co m peti tors finish ed witho u t se rious mech anica l de ra nge­ line toge ther in a s pectac ula r finish , to ge t the che q uered men t, is sufficient to ens ure that th e credi t a nd prest ige flag. Second ca r h ome was H . McMeeki n's R o lls 20 , whi le of ou r mo vemen t ca nno t fa il to be c nha nced as a result the Invicta succee ded in climbing int o th ird pl ace. of the 1957 Vintage Handica p a t Ardm ore.

The 1957 Grand Prix by Mo rsden R o binson

It seems that the onl y p lace wh er e th e vin tage enthu s­ The effort of RaJph Wa tso n fo r insta nce. H e to o k a iast can see modern cars m ad e in th e vin tage tradit ion Lycorning ae ro eng ine- des igned fo r tor que at low r evs is at the Grand Prix. For her e indeed a re ca rs ma de an d con stan t sp eed run ning-and mounted it u pside without recourse to "gee-gaws' a nd li ttle bits of ch rome; d ow n in a chassis of his o wn design. T hen he p roceeded here will not be found radiators spo t weld ed to bo dy ­ to fit his o wn sys tem of fue l inj ectio n, and then ra ced frame affairs with bent pieces of sheet m etal , or ca rb u re t­ the ca r the f ull d istance at Ardmo re, lapping only a fe w tors connected to accelerator pe da ls with Bow dcn w ire seco nds slowe r than thc lead er s; and to cap this, aft er cables as I have recently see n o n two ver y po p ula r the race the mo tor was found to be as clean as when current English saloon s. I nd eed if one lo oks closely o ne he sta rted-e-rhere wa sn 't a trace of oil anywhere. may see the ge nuine T ecal emit grease ni pples so be loved M uch interest , pa rt icu la rly among the South Island of Vintage ow ners. enth usiasts, cen tre d aro u nd the Mistral of Bob Black­ Pa st Gra nd es Pri x ha ve be en cr itic ised as bei ng pro­ bu rn . This car had a pe rfectly standard Ford 10 engine, cessions, but these critics a re not . J feel. tru e en thusiasts. which . whe n the ca r was dri ven off the boat at Welling­ T hey ha ve gone al on g w ith the idea of see ing close ton , had . do ne o nly forty m iles. The chassis is beauti­ finishes a nd being thrilled by exc iti ng ba ttles, a nd not to full y ma de from tubu lar steel, an d incorporates a De see bea utifu ll v bui lt and prepare d machine s being D ion rea r end. F ront sus pension is by the old type Ford han dl ed by exp erts, hoping perchan ce to lea rn a little Prefect so lid ax le di vid ed in the middle. and uses the thereby. later Pref ect co il sp rings. The bo dy . o f co u rse , is mad e It is perh aps in e vi tab le tha t in a n event like the G ra nd of fibre -gla ss in Black burrr 's Christ ch u rch fact or y. Prix the efforts of th ose lo cal dri ver s who en te red wi th It was pleas a nt to see Ro n R oycro fr's old Bugaui­ no hope o f gai ni ng a place sho uld be vir tua lly d is­ Jagu a r in actio n aga in. Vi ntage types will be delighted regarde d in th e glo ry accorde d to the laurel wi n ner s. to hea r tha t th is car d isp la yed road-holdi ng well u p [ 0 T hu s it wa s tha t. P a rn ell, W h iteh ead a nd Jon es, a nd co n tem po ra ry sta nda rds. T ha t a vintage chassis sho uld others fa mo us b ut less successful lik e R o ycroft an d be a ble to house so poten t an e ngi ne , a nd ( 0 wit hsta nd WG ould sho uld be th e her os of the hou r.,, whi le McMillan the eno rmous stresses of three hun d red m iles of racing, alson and Blackburn and severa l o thers were all but sho uld co nfo und tho se modems wh o prattle a bo ut me tal forg otten , fatigue. SHEEHAN MOTORS LTD. PARTS ANCIENT & MODERN Strathallan Street - Timaru ABOUND AT

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80 Years TIMARU TYRE SERVICES LTD. The New Sing er is a produc t of th e skill a nd crafts manship gained in th e expe ri­ Phone 1666 P.O. BOX 249 ence of eighty progressive years. From the sma lles t detail to its outst anding For RECAPS, RETREADS or REPAIRS performance the NEW SINGER offe rs positi ve proof that in th e long run ex­ perience counts. Send Your Tyres to You r Nearest Service Station or Garage Agent for Timaru and Surrounding W e Collect and Deliver from Oa ma ru District to Geraldine JOHN DOWLlNG Insist on Your Recap or Repair Being 125 EVANS STREET - TlMARU Done by ALSO FOR THE FINES T ·AND MOST TIMARU TYRE SERVICES LTD. REASONABLY PRICED USED CA RS IN T HE DISTRICT Brighter Motoring by N. C. A dam s

. Who among us is not on ly \ 0 0 familiar with th e In the temporary absence of th e fine co ol ing breeze laugh of SCO ['J1 a nd riba ld remarks we get from th e aver­ cau sed by the ca r's hitherto br isk pr-ogress, the cy lin de rs age schoolboy as we approach? If the o ld car is well rapidly he ated to a point where the magneto became kept and gleaming, ha ve you ev er noticed h ow quickl y su perf luous, and glow plug engines were the order of a no te o f a dmiration creeps into their voices a nd th at the day. Little sh im mering waves of heat danced before their fin al words invariably become, "Boy wh at a be aut ." poor Gcorge's angry eye s. And so instea d of feeling angry wi th them we can " He ll a nd bu st! " roar-ed George , we ll aware th at hi s la ug h back. rem arks were u na nswer ed a nd that th e on ly lo cal spot M y earliest recollections of motoring fu n go ba ck to of coolness la y in tha t po rtion o f th e earth 's a tmosp he re just after World War I , when a Bri st ol taxi (d o u b tless wh ich sepa ra ted him from h is n ewl y bethrothe d. one of th e old Unics or a Bca rdrnore perhaps), in which " G iturrp ! " yelled George, as in desp era tion h e th ru st. the fam ily were travelling b lew o ut a back tyre. " Seventh th e hot test end of hi s littl e Ro ver a t th e hinds o f th e perishing puncture th is week," la ug hed th e dr ive r. ne arest cow. " M o-oo ! " a nswere d th e cow in astonish­ "Sh a n' t keep you lo ng Sir-gal a co up le of Step ney rncnt as the fie rce heat pen et rat ed its noble ru m p. A nd wheels, see". Sure eno ugh in a m atter of minu tes we then it happened .. . . T hose o f yo u who a tte nde d were off again with th e S tep ne y fastened precariously the G ymk hana h eld in a fie ld a t Hen de rson last yea r on to the p unctured w hee l. Im agin e th e m o de rn cabby' s wi ll dou btl ess recoll ect th at cows wo u ld appear to have rea ctio ns in sim ila r circumstances! littl e use for aperien t medi cin es . . . . . This particular Incid entally who holds th e record for the gr eatest u nl ad vlike bea st. wi th a na ive flick of he r bea u tiful num ber of S tepneys in actio n a t o nce? I can remember ta il, proceeded to rel ease her m el liflu en t flo w over th e seeing a ca r with o ne clamped to th e near side fro n t glo ssy bo n net o f the rumbling Rover ' and anothe r o n th e o ff side rea r wheel. W hat a co mica l However , I a m pleased to be able to record tha t once sigh t it p rese nte d as it wobbled off do wn th e s tree t. again it is an ill (scented) wind that does no-one any Talking of fun remi nds me of Georgc . Good old good-s-tha nk s to that cow, the little car's sorely tried George, he be lieved in taki ng hi s medicine nea t. if ev er cylinders dropped 50 degrees in temperature, to the a man di d. T h e cruder h is cars were the more he loved accompaniment of much sizz ling and a ter ri bl y offe n­ them. H e ha d a distinct propensity for two cylinder sive effluvium. " Wel l," rema rked Georje's wife with Rovers-that is u ntil he met his Waterloo in the sh a pe no little a cidity. " T h a t' s what the co w th inks of of a strong mi n ded wench. to say nothing of an ev en your wretched litt le car, a view which I hea rtily endor se." st ronger m inded crea ture of the bovine species. I never did find out how long Gcorge spen t among Th e Rove r 8 was a most ungainly barouche w ith hilar­ hi s cows, d oubtless their odour lingered to remind him ious a cceleratio n up to a m odest 45 or so. H orizo n tall y o f th e event fo r many a day. S uff ice it to sa y that the opposed tw in cylind ers of a b risk litre in total capacity , Rover did a t least lake th em to th ei r d esti nation. cooled themselves by the sim p le expedien t of poking A fter the ir h on eym oon endcd I met George again. their heads out through holes in each side of th e bonnet. I fe lt sorr y for h im as h e had pa rted with th e la st of A neat arrangement, since over-revvin g invariably p ro­ hi s Rover s a nd now disp orted himself in th e most mon­ voked the little engine into throwing it s h ead s, wh ich strous lo okin g ea rly tw enties m od el Wol seley, with could thus be accomplished with impunity in so fa " as the hi gh est lidd ed 2 seat er ca br io le t body I h ad eve r the bodywork was concerned. However, for obvious perce ived. I smi led ru ef ull y as I not iced th at , well to th e reasons prolonged idling was seriously frown ed u pon by fo re , George ha d m ounted a huge double barred set of the manufacturers' Am erican bumpers. A tough guy. Gcorge, with even Dear old George, em boldened by a so mewhat unpre­ to ugh er ca rs it appeared. . cedented success in matters of the h eart, decided to Se eing m e eyeing h is bumpers with obvious disapproval take his newly wedded wife on a honeym oon trip in the George muttered grimly, "A concession to my better Rover. Doubtless his simple soul was fu ll of hope that half', o ld boy."" To say nothing 01' comeJy cows," I r e­ his new love would thus be prese nted w ith a su ita ble pi icd, " T o which judging by the size of those horrible opportunity to admire and appr ecia te his ot her great bumpers di st ance evidentl y lends enchantment!" love. The day was sunny and hot an d th eir destination, the Yes, there is never a dull m oment in V. & V. m ot orin g Co rnish Coast, a mere 200 mi les or so distant. D espite and all to o ofte n th e joke is upon ourse lve s. Which Its disco mfort the gal la n t little Rover held on grimly b ring s me to th e poi nt that whi lst we can la u gh a t o ur­ to ItS a lmost red h o t cylin d er beads to the tune of so m e selves wit h g us to , we sim p ly cannot afford t o have o ur 45 m.p.h.-in pla ces a nyway. cars lau gh ed at. T her e seem s to be no po in t in pur­ Alas wi th only ten miles lef t to go they came upon pose ly mo to ri ng in a very o ld ve h icl e, unless it ha s had a herd of cows in a narrow lane, proceeding in th e a lot of care la vishe d o n it an d ha s been rest ored to same di rection as th emselves (shades o f Genevive I) so m eth ing like perfecti on, A sh a b by car is a pa the tic In vain did G eorge toot hi s b ulb h orn hanker th e sigh t a t th e best of ti me s (a la s they exi st even a mong cuws Wou ld open u p to allow h im to ga in a few paces, our littl e C lub of enth usia sts) and if pu t on show in onlv to cl . h i .T ' . . ose III on im again. h ings became desperat e. such a condition sim p ly inv ite s r id icu le, A Particu lar Alvis 12/50 by A, E. Anselt

Undoubtedly one of the m ost desirable and practic­ The steering bo x was a fine exam p le of worm and ab le of th e many vinta ge ca rs is the A lvis 12 / 50 and wh eel and it was possi b le to elim ina te a ll play with the I count my self fortunate that I was a ble to OWn and adjus tme nt s prov ided. Pr o ba bl y one of th e m ost i n t er ~si­ ru n o ne of these cars. ing po in ts in th e ca r was the t ype o f joi nt used for all T here is no point in giv ing a genera l h isto ry of these th e stee ring co n nec tio ns . T h ese a p pea red to be ordinary ca rs a nd th is a rtic le w ill be co nfi ned strictly to m y car . ba ll a nd so cke t until when th ey were taken to pie ces, it I n 1943 I was living in the W a irarapa, the hom e o f was found th at the sockets were made of wo od . T h is many fine vin tage ca rs, and like m ost o f us, was et ernally shook me to th e core until I found o u t that th e Wood I o n the lookou t fo r good vintage m odels. Eventually, one was lignum vita e a nd wa s used by A lvis until co m­ of m y co nta ct s to ld me of a car th at he bel ieved was paratively m od em t ime s. H o weve r, wood o r not , hal f a in the Featherst cn d is trict and was o wned by a farmer. turn o n th e threa ded cu ps too k ou t a ll pl ay . It was After a lo ng sea rch I wa lked into a fa rm ya rd a nd sa w in ter estin g to note in thi s co n nection tha t th e ball s wer e a n Alvis radiator pee p ing o ut fro m a Io wlho use. A st ill almost perfect ly round in d istinc t contrast to those clo ser inspection rev ea led tha t th e fowl house was actually in any modern type of joint a fter a fe w thousan d mile s. the Alvis. At th at s ta ge it was not possible to even It would be ted ious to det ail a ll the points of the ca r; gue ss what m odel it was but after a d ign ified discussi on the usual work was done to brake-gear, clutch, etc. The on price du ring wh ich lance walked out the ga te, T cha ssis wa s cleaned to th e ba re metal and given sev eral bought it tor £12 /10 /-, The next da y a friend a nd I went coats of paint. A ll a lu m in ium pa rt s, a nd th ey were to co llec t the wreck age with a truck , T he deb ris was leg ion, we re bu ffed a nd polish ed . The wheels we re sa nd­ pu lled away fro m arou nd the car, a tow rope wa s bl asted a nd painted. (They we re o f co urs e, the usu al attache d to the front ax le and with a he arty tug the Al vis open hub wire wheels with a horrible split rirn.) Alvis came aw a y. It was then dis covered that no t only The original petrol tank was m o u nt ed on the scuttle but we re the fou r wh ee ls in place bu t a lso the tyres. W e this was repla ced by a tank from a n Austin 12 /4 fitted p um ped up the ty res a nd towed the th ing back h ome be nea th the pas senger seat and a h a nd p ressure pump to Carterton. Only then a fter prolonged use o f a ho se from a 19 12 Da im ler was used to p res sur ise thi s tan k. a nd ya rd bro om was it possib le to find o ut ju st wh a t About th is t ime information co ncern ing the car sort of th ing ' [ ha d boug ht. It turned o ut to be one o f started to co me in fro m va r io us sou rces. Al vis Ltd. wro te the ge nui ne 12 / 50 S ports two seaters wi th o rigi na lly the in a most fri endly fashion in s pi te o f the fa ct th at we du ck-tail body . Unluckily fo r me , th e body had been were in the middle of a war and th e ca r was very o ld. a lm ost compl etel y destro yed by the p revious owner and They could only tell me that th e car had been m a de in a ghastly attem pt made to construct a d rop-head body December 1924 a nd had been sent to New Z ea la nd... in its place. As all th e timber used was undressed 4 x 2 They regretted th at th e rest of their records had been pinus, the standard of wo rkma nsh ip will be appreciated. lost by enem y action. I bad w ritte n to A lvis in th e first As a m atter of int erest, m y wi fe's first co m me nt o n p lace beca use th er e we re a nu m be r o f po int s a bo ut the seeing what I ha d spent so mu ch money for, was : " H ere ca r th at co u ld not be sta ndard. F o r ins ta nce the crank­ co mes m y cross." She was probably prophetic at th at , shaft was br anded Arnbr osia, and Alvis told me tha t for th e next four months were spent with most parts of o nly their racing 12/50's were fitted with these shafts. the ca r spread th rou gh the house. The port a nd ca rbu retto r siz e was 35 m. m . whereas the When it wa s fo und tha t the ca r rea lly was one of the s ta ndar d size was 30 m.m. and fa t: tbe later " big po rt " rare Sp or ts versions, I determ ined that as good a res to r­ models 40 m .m . H ow these m od ifica tions and va rio us aiio n as possible would be do ne . A ccordingly, ever y­ othe rs ca me to be on th e ca r has never been di sco ver ed thing was di sm antled w ith th e utmo st care until eventu­ but the y ma de it more inter esting. a lly not o ne bolt or nut was togeth er. It really was in W hen the me ch ani c~l pa rt of the work ha d be en com­ r ema rk a ble condition particularl y as th e ca r' had stood p leted , th ere sti ll rema ined the pro blem of the body and outside for at least six years. There was a matter o f I was fortunat e in having a re al ly go od man to hel p a bo ut two thous. o va lity in the cylinder bores and it a nd a reall y good wood worksh o p to use. A tw o-seat er was o nly ne cessa ry to fit new r ing s. Al l the bea ring type of body was designed which bo re no resembla nce m etal was cracked so it was decided to grind the cra nk ­ to the or ig inal, but I fe lt th at to ma ke a poor copy o f shaft a nd rem et al a ll the bearings wi th H o yts No. 11. the first bo d y wo u ld be much worse tha n to design a E ven th e va lves passed with a refac e a nd grind . The differ ent o ne a lto geth er. The fra m ing was done in South­ m agneto, which was a B.T. H. po la r inductor, was full of lan d bee ch a nd fo r a t ru ly amateur effort really was Qa t earwigs wh en it was taken to bi ts so it was sent to ba d. The biggest h eadache was the covering materi al W ellington for check-o ver and remagn et isin g. The orig­ as rt must be remem be red th at this was 1943 a nd ina l carburettor was a Sol.ex MOV with ba rrel ty pe a lum in ium or a ny other me tal sheet was just not about. thr ottle, but because of its age it wa s r ep laced with the The ne xt bes t th ing was second -hand sheet a nd it is only 35 m .m . carburettor available a t th a t time , a type Interes ting tha t among th e ca rs th a t co nt ri bu ted to the yEA Z en ith, pan elling o f the Al vis body were Daimler, Benta ll ( Yes, a-l-l n ot I-c-y), de D ion , a nd inevita bly A us tin . When the springs were boun d w ith ta pe an d cord and la rge - completed th e bo d y w ith o u t seats bu t w ith a most co rn­ d ou bl e H artfo rd s fitted a ll ro u nd an d if yo u co uld deflect plctc dashbo a rd wei gh ed 130 Ibs. the sp rings at a ll "those damn d iscs have gone ag ai n T he car wa s rewired w ith separate wires a nd fu se s and in th e sh ockers" a nd th e Hartfords would be pulled to switches fo r each ci rc ui t. The pe rfectly bea u tiful brass pie ces an d new wooden fr ict ion pla tes in sta lled. O f switchboard wit h lo vel y knife sw itch es a lso ca m e from co u rse a ll th is gave roa dh olding w hic h in 1924 and for th e 1912 D aimler. In defence, J must say here that the a nu m ber of ye ars aft er was lo o ked upo n as good but parts 1 ha ve men tioned as being fr om the Daiml er were which by today's sta ndards is fa irly puny, Jiterall y a ll th at was left of it-there ju st was n ot a ny­ Be th a t as it m a y, o n pra cticall y ~ve [: y o ther po int the th ing else. The moto r had been used as a m ooring on 12 / 50 co u ld stand comparison wi th most H: litres m ad e J.ake Waira ra pa. th e cha ssis h ad been cu t up for fence toda y. T he m ot or was excep tio na lly smoo th in spi te of pos ts (a no vel touch th is), the body ha d been bu ried in be ing bo l ted rig id ly in the fr a m e wit h out benefit of a Feathersion dump wh ich is no w a p icni c gr ound a nd rubber m oun ts and it had no vibr at ion period in its th e lamps an d windscreen had bee n sol d to a scra p metal usa ble rev . r ange. It never at any sta ge became fu ssy deal er. (Thanks for th e cxplan a tion .--Ed .) even a t peak revs . in the in terrned ia te gea rs. M ech a n ic­ The car ori gina lly had a n o u tsi de exh aust sy st em but a iiy it was ve ry q u iet eve n w ith a gea r d riven camshaft. th is h a d bee n so hacked a bo u t tha t a complet el y new It s de sign was very simple in every resp ect. It is difficult one had to be made up and th e three take-offs ran into to u nderstand where m o dern de sign ers ha ve gon e astray a three inch copper pi pe. N o s ilencer was fit ted as it was in th eir ide as on ca r buretion a nd inlet tracts bu t in ' fou nd th at excep t a t fu ll throttle and heavy ac celeration , th eir search fo r so m eth ing wh ich is not a ppare n t to me th e exha ust n ote wa s q u ite subd ued a nd pleasan t. T alk­ th ey ha ve lo st th e wonderful range of flexibility an d even ing a bo ut ex ha ust not es remind s me th a t whenever you flow of torque a nd B.H.P. which was so typical o f the used to see a G overn men t F ilm Stud io sho rt co n ta in ing Al vis. In the J2 /50 one had the im pression tha t the m otor-racing in an y for m yo u ca n be sure that yo u engine devel o ped as much power a t 1000 r. p.m . as it hea rd the Al vis. At th at tim e th e G.F. S. contained with did at 4500. In spite of an axle ratio of 4.55 to o ne an d difficulty M icha el Forlo ng who has sinc e made a name 45 0 x 23 ty re s it wa s qu ite normal a nd pleasant to come fo r himself overseas as a produce r of film s like " Sh etl and d o wn to walking pa ce o n to p gea r a nd still accelera te Bu s" and anum be r of o thers m ade fo r the Norweg ian a wa y wi thout a hi nt of vibration 01' strain. And this Govern m ent. At a ny rate M ike was like u s in his with a 35 m .rn. updraught carburettor. int erest in m otor-cars a nd fo r quite a whi le a ll T h e performance ol, the car was good in deed. Prob­ N .Z.S. C.c. even ts we re filme d. Of co urse th e Studio a bl y the be st indi ca tion 'o f th is was th e fact th at this had no sound for th e effects a n d on one alwa ys to be Al vis h eld the o u tr ight record fOJ the Paekakariki H ill remembered m o rning M orrie Procto r wit h h is Br ook­ Clim b f or two yea rs, 'aga inst many modern sports ca rs lands R iley a nd 1 w ith th e A lvis we n t a long to Mi rama r. a nd VS specials. The sta nd ing q uarte r m ile took around M ichael F o rlong was a per fect io ni st a nd for a lmost two 20 sec . or a bit less. .., ... hou rs M o rri e and 1 ac celerated violently, ch a nged The cngine o f the 12 /50 was sta ted to devel op 56 gear up a n d down an d did sun d ry other evolutions fo r B.H .P . a nd it probably was close to th is. J cannot remem­ the be ne fit of a microphon e a t th e Stu d io ga tes. A no the r ber th e weight o f th e car but it was somewhe re in th e Forlong id ea to obta in realism in h is films was th at all vicin ity of 15 cw t. so w ith a rou nd 75 B.H .P. per to n events shou ld have shots take n fro m a car in ac tio n. it co uld be expe cted th a t the perfor mance wo uld be good. T he ca me ra man w as a n intrep id an d tr us ting so ul ca lled The steering was f rst cla ss, th e brakes were ve ry go od Bailey (also no w overseas a nd a n ac e m an) and it was an d operated on a ll wheels.T h e gearbox was probably alwa ys my jo b to lak e him on o ne of th e runs in com­ th e bes t of a ll vintage ca rs. l n the case of my car , the peti tion . Some of the sho ts were t ru ly fine and some ratios were clo se a n d the change itself would be difficult sensationa l a nd h ow Ba iley m anaged a 35 m .m . ca me ra to improve u pon . The gea rs were not no isy an d h ad and himself during fo ur wh eel drift s through co rn ers th a t ra th er attractive wh ine rather th an th e no rm al grind. was almost a mi ra cl e. It co uld be sai d wit h so m e justice that it wo u ld not U ndou bted ly th is J2 / 50 was a t it s rea l best as a be reasona ble to compare a ca r made in 1924 with a ca r touring sports car. O n a good m odern road wit h sweep - I ma de tw en ty-odd yea rs later and in many cases thi s in g fas t cu rv es and plenty of undul a tio ns the car co uld wou ld be true . T he Alvis is one o f the fc w cases wh ere give as mu ch pleasure as an yt h ing I have ever owned. th is co uld be d o ne a nd where o ne co u ld wonder wit h In fast dri ving it had o ne characteristic which ne ver justifica tio n wh e re adva n ces had been ma de. The 12 / 50 failed to giv e a bi t of a thrill. W he n accelerating ha rd had faults of course. One of its less endea ring was a in th e gea rs o n a rise or hill , th e exha ust note took a fron t-end light ness wh ich produced front-wh eel slid es of hard sing le cy linde r note wh ich sou nded fo r a ll the a n a larming na tu re u ntil o ne became pa rtia ll y a ccl im­ wo rld lik e a double kno cker No rt on ju st co m ing o n to atised. These COUld a lwa ys be correct ed at th e ex pense th e megaphone. of a ru ined co rner b u t never at a ny sta ge did I enjo y The Alvis ga ve m e a nd other people a lot of ple asu re them . The ridi ng o f the car was h a rd th at is normal bu t famil y reasons fina lly dicta ted its sa le. I t passed f . ' " or its day but u nfo rgivable now.I have often wondered th rough two o th er h a nd s and whe n last h ea rd of it Why some of the se ea rl y sports car design er s bothered was sitting up on K or o KOI'o h ill ab ove Pet on e wa iting to fit. springs a t all whe n in an y case, th ey expected the fo r so meo ne to rescue it fr o m the ha nds of a bu tcher cha SSIS to a tte nd to th e suspens io n side. On the A lvis who was converting it to a cinde r track m idge t. -

TWIN CARBURETTOR MANIFOLDS

Ford Zephyr Mk. 1 and 2 Ford Consul Mk. 1 and 2 Ford VB 1933-1953 Ford Anglia and Prefect E93A and 100E N.Z./s LEADI NG Chevrolet SUPPLI ERS OF Holden

Vanguard Phase 11 and 111 SPEED EQUIPMENT t. .; Vauxhall L.I.P., .~.I.P., L.I.X, FOR Vauxhall 10 and 1Z 'h,.p. YOUR CAR Morris Minor S.V. and O.H .V.

Plymouth. Chrysler '

Dodge· De Soto Modified Cylinder Head Water 'Full Flow ExhdUH~ fcH Cooled Manifolds and Other Special Auto Equipment Prefectl Anglia, Consul and Zephyr South lsland Agents for Scintilla S.A,

SHEPPARD BROS.

435 INNES ROAD or ro. BOX 11 62, CH RISTCHU RCH Canterbu ry Notes in· J. Lo ughnan

Vintage Car Club N .Z. ( I n c.) , Canterbury' Branch.

Chairman : J. R. L oughnan, Esq. H on . Sec . : R. J Cummins, Esq., 2 3 Ra n do lp h Sr., Christchurch

Bu sy re -b ui lding a post-Vintage T al bo t 75 and th e Hugh Foster has ac qu ired a no the r H umber. Though ex- Bruges ex -Jack so n 30 /98, l a n C hapm an h as ac q u ir ed n o! a veter an it sh ou ld prove a ve ry suita ble ca r fo r as hacks, a m o del T a nd o ne -owne r 50 I F ia t. the fla t country ra llies . A t presen t it Jack s a complete According to Ia n th ere is a t Bl en h eim a ra ther sa d set of wheels and ty res . 3-1ilre Be n tley wh ich co u ld be bou gh t fo r ra th er less It o ft en h ap pens tha t a n en thu siast ma y u nea rt h a th an £ 100 . part of a ca r a nd not know at the time what bree d of W angan u i mem bers Bert Tonks and Di ck L yth an d ca r it bel ongs to . Bu t A lec Sh ad bo lt, of N o rthern fame, family r eturning fr om th e Dunedin-Brigh ton we re given h as acqu ired a n a lmost co mplete ca r, o ne Lunger, Ci rca a musical sen d-off from L yttelt on by the Turnbull J902 to whi ch nobody has yet been able to put a name. bro th ers an d Lo ughn a n operat ing on bulb h o rn s an d A Jo t of work will be required befo re it is on th e ro a d kla xo n re spectively. bu t it is in the bes t hands. It wo u ld be so mewhat unusu al to h av e a co m ple te ly restored vetera n a nd n ot be a ble W e hear th a t T o by Easte rb ro ok-Sm ith of W elli ngt o n to na me it. " . has recently a cqui red a n ex-Ro yal tour ] 8 / 50 C ro ssJey . An other of th ese m a chines was se en in Duned in during D ave Pr an ka rd has acqu ired a la rge Sunbeam tou re r fr om D on Odd ie in T im a ru. T hough rou gh a t present, th e B righton wee k-en d. it m ad e Nelson a nd bac k a t C h ristmas t ime. A n um ber of in terested prosp ective m embers a re com ­ Your scribe has bee n a ctive also, in u nearthi ng a ing to light in M arlbo ro ugh and it is po ssi ble th at a C adill a c chassis, springs, wh eels a nd ax les , circa J908, centre, simi la r to T irnaru , m ay be fo rm ed there. a nd a n F. N . cha ssis, rea r ax le a nd gea r box cirea 19 ]0 C hr istch urch m em bers a re fortuna te to have In their whi ch ha d be en b uri ed in a r iver bed si nce ]935. city a drau ghtsma n , who in spare h o urs, m akes m ost pleasin g a n d a ccurat e reproductions of al l the ca rs dea r to our h earts, whe the r V ete ra n or Vi ntage; h e is Mr M . J. Bu ck a nd is to be fou nd a t N o. ] 7 Garv in 's R oad. WILL We h ea r that Bill C la p ha m who h as been wa iti ng qu ite a while fo r new boiler tu bin g fo r h is S tanley is now lo oki ng fo r la rge quant ities of pian o wi re. ~ She Talk ing of steamers, M r Gudse ll and hi s D obel h av e now com e to live in Chris ich urch and m ay be found at W a ino ni R oa d. HOLD? In case a ny o ne was m isled by the report in th e last <:;: issue th at Ali sta ir M a c beth h as a little E dw a rdi a n D elage, Ali sta ir wa n ts yo u a ll to kn ow tha t he has a li ttle pi le ~ ('If metal pieces wh ich he h opes w ill one da y as sume rc-. Mr Motorist the sh ape of a D elage . ~"" ~ . Le on Wi tte. the ma n wit h th e ValveJess, has a cquired SA FE RBRA I

Vintage Car Club N.Z. (Inc.) CHago Broneh

Chairman: R. S. Fe, en s, Esq. Hon. Sec . : I. G. S. Sharpe, Esq ., 5 Maenee St., Momington, Dunedin.

The Bri gh ton R un has been complete d for ano ther The entry was a formidable one and was the bigge st of year, and a lthough financia lly, it is a dead loss, from the its kind eve r held in New Ze aland. motoring an d enjoy ment poi nt of view it was one of th e In the evening the Brown H ouse was engaged ari d best. somehow 150 pe rso ns man aged to squeeze themselv-g in and a happy function was enjoyed by all. This run is o rganised and run by a committee of mem­ bers of the Vi ntag e Car C lub , the Automobile Associa ­ O n the Sunda y, the Otago branch of th e Cl ub had its annua l after run picnic to Lee Stream. tion (Otago), an d works in with the Festiva l C ommittee of the C ity Council. T he weather was one of those Scotch M ist D ays, but despite this, many visiting members and fri end s bra ved It is a very happy arra ngement and en ables us to do th e elements a nd once again pac ked the mse lves into a things like sta rti ng fr om the cen tre of the Octago n small space to do just ice to a delight ful lunch pre­ which is righ t in the centre of the main street in D une­ pared by M r a nd Mrs Bram well. The C lub birthday cake din, and ha ve such mundane veh icles as trolley buses, was cut a nd d istributed w ith du e h on ours. etc ., rerou ted to su it our requirements . So ended the Third Duncdin -Brigh ton Run. As the co mmittee is a lso for tun ate in being a ble to IN RETROSPECT ob ta in the use of Otago Motors' Garage wh ich is a I t wa s pleasing this year to see so man y of the wives very mo dern one, I feel sure tha t ever ybody who par ­ of m em ber s prese nt. In fact, w ha t is goi ng to hap pen ticip at ed in (he R u n apprecia ted very m uch the first whe n a ll their dau ght ers come of age ? One could a lmos t cla ss fac ilities of this garage, a nd the privilege of being write a social co lumn on who was presen t needless to a ble to use it. say a certa in spigot has returned again to Christchurch.

BROAQPARK CAR SERVICE LTD. RUSSELL/S RENTAL CARS Broadway Arcade 88 St Andrew Street DUNEDIN, C.l DUNEl>IN, c.i

PARK IN G' PETROL' T a ke pleasure 10 offering our O ILS! reader s th e ben efit of a change, and th eir worthy steeds a rest cure, by For Spec ia lised having at your disposal our fleet LUBRICATI ON , WASHING, of mod ern large a nd small cars and mot or sco o ters. POLI SH ING GENERAL SERVICE STAT ION W ORK Phones At Your Service Anytime BUSINESS 77 -71 9 Ring 79-912 A FTER HOU RS 39-762 A nota ble feature o f thc Ru n was a participant fr om SECRETARY'S CORNER Wanganui, Bert T on ks and hi s fa m ily and his navigator M ay I, on behalf of the member s of the Otago branch Dick Lyth. We fee l th e splendid enthusiasm of the se of th e club, tender our heartiest congrat u la tions to o ur

'Wanganui members has go ne a long way to consolida­ wo r thy cha irman, Roy Ferens, 011 the occasion of his tion of the variou s branches. engag ement.

We hope, Bert, we'll see yo u again next year and BR IG HT ON - RUN RESULTS , 1957 per ha ps o ther mem bers of yo u r branch. Overall Win ner-A. Baker, 191 3 Ca lthor pe Mi no r, C h ristchurch. Such an event ca nno t be a success wi tho ut every­ Concours Winner-A. Baker , 19 13 Calthorpe M in or, o ne pulling th eir weight, an d it wa s ple asin g to see th ose Chri stchurch. people who co uld help , being very willi ng to do the odd Field Tests- D. Read, 1914 Delage, Dunedin. job. Ch airman's Prize-A. P. Tonks, 19 13 Da im ler, Wan­ ganui. To those mem bers and f riends we are much indebted. Secretary's Cup for Best Age, Mil eage, Perform ance- One of the best sights of the day, so am told, was . W . M. an d R. S. Turnbul l, 1913 Panha rd. President Rob Shand p ushi ng a certain De Dion up Class l-D. N icholso n, 1907 Cadillac, T imaru . Look Out Point with the driver muttering explosive Class 2-C. Westo by, 1905 D arracq, Timaru. "B's" every 20 seconds. (Note : " B" sta nds for Ben tle y). Class 3-A. Baker, 1913 C alt ho rpe M ino r, Christ­ church .

The crown wheel of a Model T wh ich is don ated eve ry G ENERAL year by a frie nd , was presented to H ugh M ercer from Lyn Goug h has no w ta ken u nto h im self a D arracq T imaru , for the best ju dged M od el T ·F o rd. circa 1906. It was ori gin all y u sed a s a fire eng ine at T he Shi el Cup, which is presented a t th e picnic went Bluff and later at T apanui. Eve r ythi ng seem s to b e th is year to Ru ssell Brarnwell for ha vi ng the most tro ub le pre sent except of course th e bo dy . getting there.

T he carwas in fac t a ]2 h.p. M ar tini of about 191I vin ­ tage . Some of . us have per h aps shouldered a Ma rti ni rifle What it was! at some time, an d the ca r had the reputat ion of being " built like a gu n", the ra diato r bad ge carrying th e SOLUTION T O THE DECEMBER QUIZ PICTURE ma nufacturer's nam e a bove the em blem of a gun. T he bo dy is obvious ly of a muc h later period, and Those who attemp ted to ide nt ify th e pu zzle car th is is wh a t foxed people. T h is unusual Veteran wa s tho ught in almost eve ry ca se tha t it wa s of American las t heard of on ly five year s ag o, when it wa s sold in origin and though they were wro ng , we hope tha t the y good running order from Otahuhu. Is it still in ex isten ce? will not be dis couraged. N oses tn th e gro und chaps!

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i What IS it? ·1

WHAT IS I T~ He re is a Ca r Quiz for rea de rs of i "Beaded Wheels" . Try yo ur hand at ide ntifying the vehiCle in th e ph oto, a nd post yo ur guess to th e Auck­ land Ed ito r. The N ames of th e Knowl ed gea ble , and interest ing deta ils of th e car will a ppear in th e next iss ue. , I ___. __. _~i A. P. (Bert) TONKS & SON LTD. LAWRENCE MOTORS LTD. 111 Duncan Street, Wanganui East MOTOR BODY BUILDERS (,0 Wanganui Sports Enthusiasts Garage PANEL BEATERS AGENTS-

Distributors for . Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Hudson and Willys Cars, and Station Wag­ gons, Trojan Trucks, Mist Master Water PILOT Alcohol Injectors, Suffolk Motor Mowers, HYDRAULIC TRUCK TIPPERS Burnall Exhaust Jets, Sales and Service Spares and Accessories Throughout Wellington and Taranaki Provinces RENTAL CARS - CARAVANS - TRAILERS Builders of ALL CLASSES EQUIPMENT HIRE SERVICE APT ALLOY Caravans 228 Victoria Avenue Wanganui CARAVANS FOR HIRE Day 6028 Night 5388

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P.O. BOX 293 WANGANUI Wanganui Notes by P. R . Williamson

V intage Car Club of N.Z . (Inc.) (Wanganui Branch)

Chairman : P. R. Williamsan, Esq. Secretary: R. Lee , 34 No . 3 Line, Wanganui East.

Our main interest has been in fo llo wing the journey Rally a t Ea ster the jour ney to be from Marten to of the Tonks' D aimler to th e " L o wer Is land" for Dean's Wanganui, so m e 28 miles, fo llowed by a social even­ Bu sh and Dunedin-Br ighton Runs. The Tonks' fa mi ly ing and a picnic veteran and vintage run on Sunday. and Dick Lyth ha ve ce rt a inl y enj oyed themselves in More dat a on thi s at a later dat e. Ch ristch u rch and Dunedin and certainly will voy age Noggin and Natter eve nin gs are functioning we ll, with so uth again a t a future d ate without too much per­ better a ttenda nces a nd mo re in terest wi th d iscussion suas io n. sessions where branch even ts a nd p ro blems co me before Dick L yth to ok a very nice a rray of colour ed slides mem bers. which bri ngs th e events a little more Wanga nu iwards. Avr o H illgro ve has started work in earnest on the The Bra nch now owns a fire engine, complete with 19 14 Sunbeam, ha ving compl et ed the "Sunbeam Shelter" . stan d pipes, helmets, couplings, e tc ., purchased in very Good lu ck Ave., you have quite a jo b to d o . Slim Dickie good order from Hunterville . is quit e wel l on with the rest oration of h is Bu ick, the The H unter ville Volunteer Fi re Board having pur­ engine now finished, IS a magnificent sigh t in green, chas ed a new machine and fo r sentimentality wishi ng to blac k and silver. T h e bran ch has been in vited to par­ preser ve "Old F aithful", sold it at a nom inal price to ticipate in the Ca rter ton C en ten nia l in March, provid­ us, With the co nditio ns that it is never sold ou t o f the ing six ca rs. district and that th e H .V .F. B. is never pa int ed out on Tom Stirling and his Ov erland hope to d rive to Ca r ter ­ the sides . ton . 130 m iles, in company with the Tonks' Daimler, Sb " Dermis th e Menace" watch ou t for "Darcv th e O verland with a suspect oil pum p' and the Daim ler, Dodge" of 1922 vin ta ge. A gang of members went and doing a steady 11 mi les per ga llon. Should be so me tri p collected " D a rcy" a nd the chairman had the pleasure - the other cars playing saf e with trucks and trai.\ers of dri ving it back with frequent mag ne to trouble, a nd as tra nspo rt. bruised k id neys fr o m the sh a llow back of the seat. Ca rterton, of course bei ng the home of Rex Porter's Thanks to Sec. R eg for the fr equent tows. It ta kes a De Dion Bou ton 1901, R ex will have a companion car Dodge to tow a Dodge doesn't it 'Sec? in a 1912 Saxon owned by a new mem ber w hich we Plans are well in hand now to hol d our ow n Veteran hope to see at the Centennial.

Reminiscences by Re x Porter and A listair Moc betli

Th e [ollo win g are brief "mem ori es" gathe red by Rex ( 0 one by the lumbering and sp lutt ering four wheeler s, to from Mr Every him self and newspaper cutt ings, and by the wild enthu siasm of the cro wd . Alistair in his browsing for old bits. We wo uld welcome T he offic ia l results were : R . Every (motor-bicycle) and encou rage such further additions to this colum n, as 150 yds. 1; A. Lowry (motor-q uad) 120 yd s, 2; N. J. such information Oil N ew Z ealand eve nts and cars is 01/ Sh aw (motor-tr icycle) scr ., 3; N . Oa tes (m otor-car) loo rare, and can only be obtain ed lry personal contact 200 yds., also started. T im e, 11 minutes 18 1/ 5 seco nds. with "th ose who remember." T he machine which won so spe ctacula rly co nsisted At a Gaslight G a la in H agl cy P ark, Christchurch, in of a sp ecial heavy duty bic ycl e frame built by M r Every, 1901 a three-mile handicap race between ho rse less car­ M an ager of the Stella C ycle Works, T ernuka, and a single cylinder engine of It h.p., imported fro m England. riages a nd auto-ca rs was billed as th e ch ief attraction, as Ignition wa s by dry battery and coil. T ot al we ight a N ew Ze a la nd "fi rst". Mr R. H. Every, a you ng cycle 75 lb s. C ruising spee d, 20 m.p .h . wi th a maximum of mechanic from T ernuka , arrived on th e motor-cycle he 10 m .p.h . had bui lt him self , a nd made a last minute entry for The newspaper reporti ng the Hagl ey Park event, had the even t. No one k new what it wa s capable of, exc ept the following to say a bout the wi n ner : " On one occasion its proud ow ner , a nd the ha nd ica p pers, after a lo rdl y M r Every cycl ed from Tirnaru to T ernuka in 35 min­ look at the contraption, co nced ed a half lap handicap u tes, He never stop ped the whole time, a nd went up the of 150 yards .T he race ended in a fiasco with the New hills a t the ra te of 12 m .p .h . Temuka is gell ing quite used Zealand bu ilt mac hi ne making two la ps of the course to its puffi ng , and the bicycle is an un q ualified success . - The machin e is always ready. It can be set goi ng in the twinkling of an eye. 0[' stop ped with equal readiness. Classified Advertisements All that is necessary is to switch on or off the electri c current. CLASSIFIED AD VERTISEMENTS , In a roa d race in Europe ear lier this year (1901) a RATES Frenchman nam ed Rivierre ro de several hundred miles at an average pace of 30 m.p.h ., and an American motor­ CLU B MEM BERS : Free for first three lines (approx. bicyclist has ridden a mile in 1 minute 29 seconds. How ­ 25 words); thereafter 1/ - per line (8 wor ds). ever, it is scarcely likely that the average rider can N ON -MEM BERS: 5/- for first three lines or less; there­ approach the pace set by the American. Whe n motor­ after 1/- per line. bicycles become common in the streets of Christchurch, their speeds will probably be much the same as it is T o be acce pted all advertisements must be typed an d at present with man ually propelled machines." be accompanied by the necessary remittance and must be in the hands of the Ed itor not later than the 15th M r Every reca lls that on the day after the Gaslight day of the month before pu blication date. Gala event, he left his machine ou tside a city shop whi le Special display adver tisements of ca rs for sa le com ­ he went in to make a purchase. Presentl y a poli ceman plete with ph otos may be inserted at spec ial and very cam e in and as ked if he was the ow ner of the bicycle reasonable rates, for detai ls of which service write to machi ne outs ide. "Yes, why officer?" "Well you 'll have the Editor. to move it, we ca n't have the traffic held up." On goi ng out to investigate he found a crowd had gathered to inspect the famous machine and the roadw ay was com­ WANTED: Set or part set of wire wheels fo r 12/50 pletel y blocked. Alvis, P. Slocombe, 10 Glasgow St., Welli ngton . Sometimes in the course of the usual enqu rnes after FOR SALE : 1926 ex Royal T our Cross ley sa ioo n, In an old car , or perhap s some old bits, lamp s, etc.. one goo d orde r, bot h bodil y and mech an icall y. Six cylinder comes across an 'old identity in the world of earlv O.RV. engi ne. Price £65. K. F. Richardson, 48 Grange motoring, whose memories are both interesting an d St., Dunedin. valuab le. I met such a person in Mr 1. S. Mah alm, and I am FOR SALE : Six 30 x 31' T yres, Tubes an d Rims. Suit grateful to him for . his willingness to tell me a few F ord. 1 new, 4 as new, I worn. J 23in. straig ht side things abo ut himself and some cars of thos e times. tyr e, tube and rim . A. C. Bott, Coal Merchant, Cm. Bea urnont a nd Colombo St., Christchurch. Mr Mahalm used to work at Dexter Se Croziers, when they were in Manchester Street (Christchurch) and left FOR SALE : 1925 20 h.p. Minerva. Good mecha nical about 190!l to dr ive for M r G.G . Stead who owned a con dition. For furt her informati on read the road test. Sp yker. It was apparently nothing unus ual on too quick £250 o.n.o. W. Lu xton, 6 Ma yfair St., Christch urch. a trip up to Amberley, som e 30 miles. to have to dro p the sump as the mains heated up, and charred the wicks FOR SAL E : T wo 3 litre Bentley pistons. Ch eap. A. which fed them from the su mp ! T he remedy was simple, A. Anderson, 20 Hackthorne Rd ., Christchurch. just remove the charred end an d rep lace the rod, and of course the sump and set off aga in. WANTED : 4 volt trembl er coil of continenta l or pre­ At about this time Mr Ste ad bought a Rolls Royce ferably Eng lish manufacture. Also Sizair e Na udi n single an d in 10 years' dai ly use the only re pairs' were two cylinder engine and any information regarding these bolts in the torque rods at a cost of 18 / -. mach ines in N.Z. R . S. T urnbull, 2 N irvana St., Brook­ M r Mah alm himself owned a Wo lseley imported by lands (via Belfast), C hristchurcb. Turnbull and l ones roundabout 1908, and I was Io rt un­ ate eno ugh to be ab le to obtain from him the numbers of the first four C hristchurc h ca rs, which a re as fo llows : C H. I, a chain-dr iven Daimler, owned by . iVl r E. G. Motoring Literatu re Rhodes; CH.2, a De Dietrich, owne d by M r Geo. Gould; CH.3 (unfortunately the name had slipped his memory), MOTORI NG LIT ERATURE REQ UIRED : The Dat­ owned by Mr Geo. Payling; and C H.4, a Sp yker , ow ned ing and Library Committee would like to hear of anyone by Mr G. G. Stead. having fo r disposa I or loan pre 1931 motoring books, particularl y han dbooks, technical book s a nd ar ticles and Incidently, Mr Edwa rd Stead had a Prince Henry anything dealing with N .Z. mo toring history. Early Vauxhall which co uld do the then astounding speed of garage and agents recor ds or even a ny "old timer's" re­ 82 m.p .h. min iscences woul d also be very welcome an d make valu­ (It looks as tho ugh Ca nterbury members better get able ad dit ions to Club Library. If you have an y of their "ears to the grou nd" to discover the fate of these the above would you pleas e contact G.H . Hall, 401 wort hy machines.-Ed.) Bower Ave., North Bright on, Christch urch. " Star-Sun" Photo

The prototype Ford 10 engined MISTRAL has now com pleted a full racing season. lt has started and fi nished non-stop in eleven races, gaining one 2nd and four :srd places, The car has been driven to and from all meetings and has covered over 3000 miles touring and approximately 650 mi les at racing speeds with the ut most reliabilit y ,

The MISTRA L is sold as a kit-set to enable enthu siasts to build a replica of the " works" car at the lowest possible cost, Fibre glass bodies are now available and chassis production will com­ men ce very shortly.

W rite today for an illustrated brochure to : WELTEX PLASTICS LTD

45 2 ST ASAPH STREET

CHRJSTCHURCH tlS /o~ as Iyreg are Oh the ~oC{d'-­ lJUH/Op will hold 1Ite lead.f

60 years ago when the law required a red flag to be ca rried In front of a motor car on e ve::y road DUNLOP made the finest tyres. Today cars and roads have ch ang ed but DUNLOP still make the finest tyres.

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