, For full details and Brochure on the many tyre sizes available send stamped S.A.E. 207 BUCKLAND ROAD WEST MANGERE EAST, N.Z. Vol. XXIV, No. 118 Vintage Car Club of N.Z. (Inc.) June-July 1979 NATIONAL EXECUTIVE 25th YEAR OF PUBLICATION President: L. J. D. Priest (Hawkes Bay) Club Captain: A. D . Storer (Banks Peninsula) cu» Vice-Ca ptain : M . H . Ferner (W gtn) Hon. Secretary: Cly n t Inns (Banks Peninsula) IN THIS ISSUE cu» Registrar: S. A . En gland, r.o. Box 4154, C h ristc hu rch. President's Message 2 Exe cu tive: Messrs B. 1. Barnes (So uthla nd), W. M. Birch (Well ingto n, N. A . Dewhurst (A uc kla nd), 1. W . A. Hillclimbing Days 3 Ne well (Ban ks Peninsul a). Far North Tour '79 5 6th Motor Cycle Rally 6 CORRESPONDENCE Club correspondence, inc lud ing members' CHANGES 25th Dunedin Brighton Run 8 OF ADDRESS, must be sen t to Tire Vintage Car Club of N .Z . (lIIC.) A tribute to Whitney Straight 11 r.o. Box 2546, Putting the clock back 17 Christchurch, Intending members sho u ld write to thi s address. Crossword No. 2 18 All Beaded Wheels correspondence and su bsc ribe rs change of add ress to p.a. Box 13140 . Driving a Bugatti Royale 22 Branch Notes 27 BEADED WHEELS EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Letters to Editor 35 Chairman: Spencer Barnard. Classified Ads 35 Co mmiu ee: Gavin Bain, G eo ff H ockley, Bruce Pidgeon, Bob Scott, Paul Giesler. Material for publicat ion is the responsibility o f this committee and sho u ld be forwarded to p.a. Box 13140, CLOSING DATE Christchurch, typed or neatly printed, double sp aced on Closing da te for Aug ./Sept. issue July 9th one side of paper only, Reports of restorations. events, road tests, hist ori ca I and technical articles welcome. No payment m ade to COVER PHOTO contributors. Ope n ing day for Can te rbu ry Branch new Clubrooms at The opinion s expres sed in letters o r a r ticles in Beaded Cu t ler Par k, Mc Leans Island. See Ca nte rbu ry Bran ch Wheels a re the authors' own vie ws a nd do not necessarily ncte s. express the policy of the Vintage Car C lu b of N,Z. (Inc.) Photo by A. M. Green wood. PRODUCTION Beaded Wheels is published bi-monthly by Purse Willis Beaded Wheels is the voice of the Vintage Car movem ent in New Zealand and of the ,Clubs whose efforts are & Aiken Ltd, Christchurch for th e Vintage Car Club fostering and 'ever widening the inte rest oftthis movement of N .Z . Inc.. at its editorial office. p.a. Box 13140. and form rallying points for th at ever increasing band of C hristchu rch. enthusiasts. The fascination ofage itself or revulsion from the flashy medi oceiw of the pr esent day is d rawing an Mailed free to all members. Annual subscription $4.50. increasing number of mot orists back 'to the individuality, solid worth, and functional elegance that was demanded Individual copies and back numbers 75c. hy a more discriminating generation and it is to these that this magazine is ded icated. ADVERTISING Registered et Post O ffice Hee douarte rs Wellington Rate sched ule available on request to Advertising as 0 Mog oJin e. M anager, r.o. Box 13140. Christchurch. Phone 67-346. From the President b Undoubtedl y the ma tter fore­ Norm Skevingto n and his team With win ter comi ng on, the most in our minds must surely of helpers have been ver y bu sy mot oring scene is somewhat be the current petrol situation getting informa tion coll ated in quieter. Non etheless, both Easter and how it may affect our Club rea diness for the occasion. Many Rall ies drew large entr ies. ac tivities, and in particular the entra nts have however omitted Ro torua hosted the North Island for thcoming 1980 Intern ational several item s from their entry event and made good use of their Rally. Critics will argue at length form s because of one reason or al most co mpleted Clubrooms, on the necessity or otherwise of another. On behalf of N orm wh ilst Ca nter bury turned on certai n restri ction s, however , your co uld I plead with entrants to so me exce llent wea ther to host Execut ive have wisely considered furnish the info rma tion omitted, the South Island gathering and a req uest from the Mini ster of urgently, in ord er to make the officially opened their new co m­ En ergy and the resultant plea is job easier when it comes to print­ plex . Bot h effort s reflect the tha t all Branches give serious ing and assembling the Rall y stea dy support by members for thou gh t to the pro blem, and cut packs etc . It is planned to have a unit ed Club, and each is a ba ck on all mot oring activities by thes e completed well be fore their cre dit to those who lab oured for at least 10 per cent on the distributi on in November. the cau se. normal. It is not sugges ted that all ac tivity cease, in fact, it is A gentle rem inder that all Aug ust sees the Annual Con ­ hoped that by givin g ca reful ent rants in the 1980 Int ern ati on al fere nce th is yea r to be staged by th ought to the situation som e mus t carry a minimum insur ance the Rotoru a Bran ch. The ven ue novel ideas on membership ac tivi­ of at least T hird-Party cov er. will be the Racing Club complex ties might come out of the who le T he Club scheme opera ted by to be used for the 1980 Inter­ exer cise. Rem ember, our public Ph oeni x Assuran ce has very a t­ nat ional. The opportunity to in­ image is of excellent sta nding tractive incentives, which recently spect the complex and at the and your th oughtfulness will heip acquired some additions. I urge same time take active part in the to maintai n th is. you to consider these and by Club's Annua l Meeting, is one The Int ern at ional Rally con ­ doing so, you not onl y get a tha t [ hope ma ny members will tinues to dr aw closer, and when good deal for your vehicl e you take, and on that note may I entries closed they stoo d at 1052. also help the Club. Write to Mr look for ward to an enthuias tic Th ere is no doubt that this event R. Hasell, P.O. Box 38, Christ­ A.G. M. will be one fantas tic specta cle. churc h for det ails. LI ONEL PRIEST COLLEGE FORD SPARES NEW PARTS FOR OBSOLETE FORD CARS, 1928-1960 We specialise in Model A and VS Parts New Catalogue available soon 13-15 College Hill, Auckland 1 Phone AK 33-924 P AGE TWO Hillclimbing Days PART 2 1923 rolled around, and Feb­ with their mounts before even variably resulted in a stall on one ruary saw the second running of reaching the halfway mark, and of the extra-steep pinches. On the the event that had established it­ others run off course and plunge other hand, hitting the "hump" self as a success with both riders madly downhill, I had come to with a large fistful of throttle al­ and public at its first introduction. the conclusion that " ho rsepower" most equally invariably resulted With the previous year's antics in was a secondary consideration in disaster in the way of a loop . rnnd, the hillclimb fan s turned and that the real problem was The half-dozen or so consistent out in force, entries exceeded the jockey's ability to stay on his over-the-toppers seemed to have those in the previous event, the steed. I must confess that it was adopted something in the way of day wa s perfect, and the crowds with some trepidation I craned a compromise and generally made expecting an exciting afternoon's my neck and gazed for the ump­ the "hump" safely. So, breathing sport were not disappointed. The teenth time up that formidable ,j silent prayer, I headed for it ! ever-present trade rivalry between the Indian and Harley-Davidson Alas! in about a couple of factions, which had been latent by Geoff Hockley seconds it was apparent that I for a time, was quite obviously wasn 't included in either of the blossoming out again, and keen 500-foot-long slope, and when categories mentioned by the re­ competition was witnessed be­ porter! After landing on the rear tween Harley and Indian riders in eventually I was called to the line and sat blipping the throttle and wheel with a jarring crash about the up-to-600 cc class. Eventually halfway up the rise I couldn't get Charlie Bell, my boss, emerged awaiting the fall of the flag, I wondered if I had been a little the front wheel back onto terra the victor with a 23 3/5 sec. ride firma and abandoned ship smartly on his Scout, closely followed by too ambitious in breaking into the slant-shooting game. However, it as my steed went over backwards George Lambert, also Scout­ and plunged downhill in a series mounted, while last year's winner was a little too late to do any­ thing about ch anging my mind­ of leap s while I picked myself up George Henderson could only and slithered down after it with manage third place on his Harley­ and almost before I realised it, the flag dropped-and I was away! mixed feelings (wh ich weren't Davidson Sport Model.