NEW ZEALAND’S FOREMOST HISTORICAL MOTORING MAGAZINE No. 322 June/July 2013 $6.95 Racing at Hampton Downs Behind the Wheel of a 1951 AJS 18S 500cc A £50 Morris MARKETPLACE cars | bikes | parts for sale and wanted 9 418979 000012 bw322_cs6.indd 1 29/05/13 2:47 PM Photograph supplied by Alistair Jones. PHOTOGRAPHS REQUIRED Submissions of suitable prints and information (where available) are Notes on the back of the photograph read: always welcome. “South side of Rimutaka Hill, near the top. Two 490 Chevrolets.” Please send original photographs of historical interest with any available information to: Beaded Wheels, PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Laserprints/photocopies are not suitable. Photos will be returned as soon as practicable. management committee MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE SECRETARY/ TREASURER Ed Boyd Contact National Office for all queries Please note this information changes Michael Lavender 06 348 4547 [email protected] annually - these details are valid until regarding VICs, logbooks, historic race licences, 03 325 5704 [email protected] Tony Bartlett October 2013. lighting endorsement, registration of vehicles, REGISTRAR 06 867 9850 [email protected] address changes, subscriptions, membership PRESIDENT Rod Brayshaw Diane Quarrie John Coomber 07 549 4250 [email protected] cards, speed events. 06 876 4009 [email protected] 03 348 0062 [email protected] SPEED STEWARD The Vintage Car Club Of New Zealand (Inc.) CLUB CAPTAIN NORTHERN REGION Tony Haycock National Office, Bob Ballantyne 03 980 6755 [email protected] VCCNZ ARCHIVIST 09 444 4066 [email protected] Marilyn McKinlay PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140 BEADED WHEELS CHAIRMAN 03 349 6951 bmm45@ CLUB CAPTAIN SOUTHERN REGION Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 Kevin Clarkson ext.canterbury.ac.nz Alon Mayhew 03 385 9821 [email protected] Email [email protected] 03 443 7030 [email protected] branches A full list of branch addresses and contact details can also be found on the VCCNZ website at www.vcc.org.nz ASHBURTON CENTRAL HAWKES BAY HOROWHENUA NORTH OTAGO SOUTH OTAGO WAIRARAPA PO Box 382, Ashburton 7740 C/- 346 Porangahau Road, RD 2, PO Box 458, Levin 5540 PO Box 360, Oamaru 9444 C/- M. Tapp, RD 3, Warepa, PO Box 7, Masterton 5810 [email protected] Waipukurau 4282 [email protected] [email protected] Balclutha 9273 [email protected] AUCKLAND [email protected] KING COUNTRY NORTH SHORE [email protected] WAITEMATA PO Box 12-138, Penrose, EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY C/- 34 House Ave, C/- 7 Godwit Place, Lynfield SOUTH WAIKATO C/- 9 Marlborough Ave, Glenfield Auckland 1642 PO Box 2168, Kopeopeo Taumarunui 3920 Auckland 1042 PO Box 403 Tokoroa 3420 Auckland 0629 [email protected] Whakatane 3159 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] BANKS PENINSULA [email protected] MANAWATU OTAGO TARANAKI WANGANUI 27 Showgate Ave, Riccarton Park, FAR NORTH PO Box 385 PO Box 5352, Dunedin 9058 C/- 118A Carrington St, PO Box 726, Wanganui 4540 Christchurch 8042 2534 Kaitaia-Awaroa Rd, Palmerston North 4440 [email protected] New Plymouth 4310 [email protected] [email protected] Herekino, RD 1, Kaitaia 0481 [email protected] ROTORUA [email protected] WELLINGTON BAY OF PLENTY [email protected] MARLBOROUGH PO Box 2014, Rotorua 3040 TAUPO PO Box 38-418, Petone, PO Box 660, Tauranga 3140 GISBORNE PO Box 422, Blenheim 7240 [email protected] PO Box 907, Taupo 3351 Wellington 5045 [email protected] PO Box 307, Gisborne 4040 [email protected] SOUTH CANTERBURY [email protected] [email protected] CANTERBURY [email protected] NELSON PO Box 623, Timaru 7910 WAIKATO WELLSFORD/WARKWORTH PO Box 11-082, Sockburn GORE PO Box 3531, Richmond 7050 [email protected] PO Box 924, Hamilton 3240 PO Box 547, Warkworth 0941 Christchurch 8443 PO Box 329, Gore 9740 [email protected] SOUTHLAND [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] NORTHLAND PO Box 1240, Invercargill 9840 WAIMATE WEST COAST CENTRAL OTAGO HAWKES BAY PO Box 17, Whangarei 0140 [email protected] 4 Harris St, Waimate 7924 C/- 92 Dommett Esp, C/- 4B Roto Place, Wanaka 9305 PO Box 3406, Napier 4142 [email protected] [email protected] Greymouth 7802, [email protected] [email protected] Please note this information changes annually - these details are valid [email protected] until October 2013. 2 Beaded Wheels bw322_cs6.indd 2 29/05/13 2:47 PM Beaded Wheels Publisher THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NZ (INC.) The Historic Vehicle Authority of New Zealand ISSN 0113-7506 Vol LXIII No. 322 Editorial Committee Beaded Wheels Kevin Clarkson (Chairman), Judith Bain, Rosalie Brown, Bill Cockram, John Coomber, Issue 322 June/July 2013 Mark Dawber, Marilyn McKinlay. Material for Publication Reports of restorations, events, road tests, historical and technical articles etc should be forwarded to PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141, typed or neatly printed, double space on one FEATURES side of paper only. Email of text and photos is acceptable, digital photographs should be high 12 Operation X resolution eg 300dpi. No payment is made to contributors. The opinions or statements expressed in letters or articles in Beaded Wheels 14 South Island Easter Rally 2013 are the author’s own views and do not necessarily express the policy or views of The Vintage Car 16 North Island Easter Rally 2013 Club of NZ (Inc). Email 18 Rally Snippets [email protected] Central Hawke’s Bay – Rally to Whariti Advertising Address National VCC Easter Rally action, see North Otago – Ngapara Coal-Pit VCC Hill Climb Classified and Display Advertising to: pages 14–17. PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Wanganui – Castrol Autumn Motorcycle Trial 2013 Phone 64 3 332 3531, Fax 64 3 366 0273 Rate schedule available on request. South Otago – Motorcycle Rally Back Issues Taupo – Lake Taupo Rally 2013 Available on request to PO Box 13140, Auckland – Auckland Vintage Muster Christchurch 8141. Correspondence & Editorial Contributions 22 A hiss and a roar … almost Phone 64 3 332 3531, Fax 64 3 366 0273 PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. 23 A £50 Morris Subscriptions Beaded Wheels subscribers change of address to PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140. 24 Behind the Wheel –1951 AJS 18S 500cc Phone 03 366 4461, Fax 03 366 0273 Annual subscription (6 issues) $39* inc GST 26 Out of Scale Australian subscription (6 issues) NZ$70* Other countries (6 issues) NZ$100*. *Payment by credit card will incur additional bank fee processing charge of 3% Waitemata Branch seems to punch well COLUMNS Production above its weight according to John King, Typesetting & design by RGBDesign see page 26. 4 President’s Message Printed by Spectrum Print Ltd, Christchurch. Closing Date for August/September Issue 4 As We See It Editorial Copy 26 June 2013 Advertisements 10 July 2013 5 VCC Events The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) 6 National Office News National Office Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 Email [email protected] 6 International Rally 2016 Update Postal Address PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. 7 Mailbag Address 12 Aberdeen St, Christchurch, New Zealand. 9 Timelines Website www.vcc.org.nz 10 The Way We Were Beaded Wheels is the voice of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) and its 35 branches This 1951 Vauxhall Velox is just one 30 Brass Notes covering the length and breadth of the country. of over 50 vehicles on offer in our The efforts of our members continue fostering and ever widening the interest in this segment Marketplace this issue, see page 38 32 Two Wheels and Other Things of our country’s history. It is to these people, who appreciate the fascination of age, the individuality 34 50 Year Awards and the functional elegance of vehicles from a bygone era, that this magazine is dedicated. Beaded Wheels – A very apt and well-known title 38 Marketplace however readers may wonder at the origin of the name. By way of explanation beaded edge wheels 43 Swap Meets & Rallies use beaded edge tyres that are kept in place by reinforced rubber beads, which fit into the rolled edges of the wheel rim. This style of wheel was a 44 Idle Torque distinctive feature of early motoring being used on early bicycles, many pre-1924 cars and most motorcycles until 1927. The VCCNZ adopted 54 Obituary and Death Notices the title Beaded Wheels for their quarterly club magazine in March 1955 which was the successor to the monthly Guff Sheet. Copyright Information The contents are copyright. Articles may be COVER reproduced complete or in part provided that Invited guest and star of the Roycroft Trophy meeting is the acknowledgement is made to “Beaded Wheels, the magazine of The Vintage Car Club of New Southward Car Museum’s 1915 Stutz with a history of competing Zealand (Inc)” as the source. Beaded Wheels at Indianapolis and a successful New Zealand racing career, driven reserves the right to digitally store all published carefully by John Bellamore, see page 26. Photo John Stokes material for archival purposes. Beaded Wheels 3 bw322_cs6.indd 3 29/05/13 2:52 PM president’s message as we see it members approach me with questions or suggestions about different aspects of club The long hot summer and autumn may activities or management, and sometimes Although you possibly wouldn’t know it have caused drought problems for our there are some very useful new ideas for from the name, the Vintage Car Club rural members around the country, but us to consider.