The Sun
Friday May 17, 2013
13
Visit re-unites old friends By Belinda Jackson Imagine your surprise if a car you had bought and sold several decades ago in a different part of the country, suddenly turned up on your doorstep here in Blenheim. That’s exactly what happened to William Roundhill. William took his grandson to Omaka Classic Cars one day and while admiring the extensive range of Jaguars, spotted a familiar number plate – AW1204 on a 1960 Mark IX. He did a bit of a double-take as the car had clearly been lovingly restored and was also no longer the pale grey it once was, but a darker, two-tone grey. William knew there was only way to tell. Many years prior, a young lad working in a garage had unfortunately stuck a jack under the sump to lift the two-tonne car. Needless to say this crushed the sump and though William had tried to beat it back into shape, he knew that if this was the same vehicle, it would likely still have the dented sump. He checked and it did. The car was originally brought to New Zealand by an immigrant farmer who had settled in Northland in 1964. It travelled as deck cargo and as a consequence got quite a bit of rust. William bought the car in early 1965 from Farmers Co-Op Car Dealers in Whangerei. He had wanted to by a new Valiant, but didn’t have the overseas funds required. He spotted the Jaguar which was on offer for the same amount of money, but as it second-hand, he didn’t need overseas funds to purchase it. The family took it for a test drive and immediately fell in love – the kids particularly admired the tray tables that folded down in the back! After driving it home, William bumped into his mate who unbeknown to him, had been looking at the car and wanted to purchase it himself – he was none too pleased to see William with it! William had always wanted to be a farmer, so the family relocated to Inangahua on the West Coast to take advantage of the affordable land prices. The earthquake that struck the area in1968 saw the car buried up to the axels in the shingle floor of the garage and it had to be pulled out with a tractor. Another mishap with the car was during a drive through the recently opened Haast Pass. Workers flagged William through even though they were clearly working on a recent slip.
William Roundhill with the 1960 Jaguar Mark IX, pictured right.
Rocks were tumbling down and a large one hit the bonnet, only just in front of the windscreen. William was not happy but got little sympathy from the road workers! In the late 1970’s with rather a long list of things that needed attending to and the associated expense, the car was ‘put out to pasture’ quite literally, sitting in a field on the farm for some years. In the early ‘80s it was bought by someone in Christchurch who intended to fully restore it before it was bought by Ron Stewart and joined the collection at Omaka Classic Cars. So taking the story full circle, William retired to Blenheim in 2000 and then a few months ago, visited Omaka Classic Cars. William said, “I called out to my wife, “I think I’ve found our old car!” and sure enough it was. I am delighted to see it looking so beautiful and we’re looking forward to using it for my Grandson’s wedding in October”.
Models and Kitsets
Omaka Classic Cars
Showcasing the best of the ‘50’s, ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s Over 50 cars on display at any one time, from a collection of 120 plus motorbikes and other memorabilia. Open daily from 10am – 4pm. $10 entry, kids go free!*
Aerodrome Road, Omaka. Phone 577 9419. (*up to two kids free (under 13) with every paying adult)
Hundreds to choose from!
from $499 to $499 RENWICK
www.basisnz.co.nz
For all dyokuirtset modelnaeneds
31 High St • Renwick • Phone 572 8880 • Open 6 Days • sales@basisnz.co.nz