VCC STH CANTERBURY TRICAR JULY 2022

AORANGI TRICAR NEWSLETTER OF THE SOUTH CANTERBURY BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NEW ZEALAND INC.

CLUBROOMS 19-25 REDRUTH ST TIMARU SOUTH

Replica Timaru’s First Car Built by C. W. Wood

NOGGIN ANDNATTER First Thursday of the Month

July 2022

Three Mk3 Ford Zodiac’s at Raincliff on The All British car run

Calendar of Events for the South Canterbury Branch of the VCC for 2022 /2023 2022 7th July 4th August 6th August terbury) 11th August 28th August 4th September ing) 8th September 10th September 25th September 21/22/23/24 October 4/5/6/November 12/13 20th November 3rd December

Mid-week run Swap Meet Continental run Mt Cook Safari weekend All American weekend Vintage / Veteran / Commercial run Xmas Party

2023 1st January 29th January 4/5/6/February 19th February 25th February 5th March 12th March 1st April 7th May 14th May 28th May 1st June 4th June 8th June 24th June

New Year’s Day Fairlie Ladies run Away weekend Chairman’s run Open day Motor bike rally Mid Island Swap meet PV Rally Mid-week run End of season run AGM All British Mid-week run Night trial

Mid-week run Quiz night (South Canterbury hosting) Garage raid (organised by South CanMid-week run Daffodil run (Cancer Run) Opening Run (South Canterbury host-

COMING EVENTS —————————————NOGGIN & NATTER, Thursday July 7th 7.30 pm at Clubrooms, Redruth St Timaru.

KITCHEN DUTY Ashley Milliken

Graham Jarvis

BAR SPEAKER Bill Weir on the history and resto of his 4cyl International Pickup

MID WEEK RUN – THURSDAY 14TH JULY 2022 Meet at the clubrooms at 1.15 p.m. for a 1.30 p.m. start. Bring your afternoon tea and a seat. All vehicles welcome.

Organisers – Barbara & Roger Baird

Garage Raid August 6th Meet at our Clubrooms from 8.45am for a 9.30 start We are travelling out of Timaru as far as Fairlie so it is planned that Members from south of Timaru will start at Fairlie & come back towards Timaru after lunch at Albury Ashburton& Timaru members will finish in Fairlie area Charge per person is $10.00 to cover lunch etc.

Car pooling advised.

Swap Meet September 10th

If you know that you can help on Sept 10th or the week leading up to it, Let Nola know . Ph 6886108

July Chairmans Report Hi to all members Well I never thought that I would be back as the branch Chairman again ,but here goes .I would thank Ashley and Clive for their stints in their prospective job roles.

A big welcome to Barry Smith who has taken over as Parts Manager , to Colin Hawke who has agreed to be vice Chairman, and Les Rzepecky who has offered to be our Newsletter Editor.

We have a full years programme sorted out, and this can only be successful if we have the support of all members. If there is something else you would like to see or do, then please let me or any committee member know.

Our big event happening in the near future is of course is our SWAP MEET. 10 September, we are happy for you to spread the word thru your contacts in Facebook friends, phone contacts or just word of mouth. The more that know the more successful it will be.

We also have another major event which is the Cancer Rally on 28th August. This is a non competitve rally and open to ALL VEHICLES so also spread the word for this event. Of course we will also have the delivery of Daffodils the week before so if you know now that you can either drive or be the delivery person can you please let John Foster know on 615 9066. This will, make his co ordination for the event so much easier.

This is YOUR club so many hands make light work.

Also just a reminder that EVERYONE is expected to offer their help for the swap meet set up the week before, the day of the swap meet, and the clean up the day after the swap meet. Once again many hands make lighter work for everyone. Colin Johnstone and the SWAP MEET team work really hard for this event to keep our club financially sound to benefit us all. Your help is appreciated.

Keep a watch on the year planner in your Tri Car as to upcoming events. It is our turn to do the garage raid so if you know of places of interest please let me know.

I wish the club a successful coming year, and I will do my best as your Chairman to make it so.

My phone number is printed in every Tri Car and I am happy to receive your feedback.

Cheers Alistair.

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Parts Shed Report for July 2022 The past month has seen normal visitor numbers to our Wednesday morning Parts Shed openings. Attendance of regulars has been somewhat depleted due to illness and isolation requirements. Transactions have tended to be of a lesser value than previously, probably as a result of tough economic times at present.

On the positive side I am pleased to report the kind donations we have received documented as follows: Holland Suzuki - an assortment of oil and air filters for earlier vehicles.

Ivan Beswarick - wheels, tyres and sundry workshop items.

Stu Barclay - Morris Minor 950 motor.

Morrie Niles - a comprehensive range of imperial tools and hand-held diagnostic equipment from the time of his employment as a truck mechanic.

On behalf of the Parts Shed and the wider club membership I express our gratitude to these donors and thank them for choosing to be benefactors to our club. This kindness is what keeps our Parts Shed ticking over and us able to help keep older cars running, along with generating some much-needed club funds.

Remember we are open 9 to 12 Wednesday mornings behind our clubrooms at 19 Redruth St. and our knowledgeable team can assist you in finding that elusive part.

As always a photo or sample of what you need increases the likelihood of you leaving us as yet another happy customer. We look forward to your visit.

Kind regards Clive Merry Acting Parts Manager

6 I purchased my 1953 Lincoln Cosmopolitan from the late Tony Abrahams at the end of 1992. The condition was not quite what I would have liked, however it was complete with all trim and exterior body fittings in place and in reasonable order.

Also it is rare out here and being New Zealand new, having come here in 1954 The car was assembled in the Los Angeles assembly plant then shipped to Australia for 6 months, having been purchased by the Mormon Church. It came to Auckland for Church use here till it was sold in 1957.

Tony was a great raconteur and could tell a good yarn. He outlined the car's history well. After the Mormon ownership it had several corporate owners in the Te Kuiti and Auckland areas, various car dealers being involved. It wound up in Waipukurau owned by a horse owner who used it for towing a float during the mid 1960's A crudely executed RHD conversion was done at this stage doing considerable damage to the chassis, firewall,wiring, and part of the dash panel. At least the instruments were not transposed. In 1970 it was sold to a technical instructor, Walter Wagstaff in Palmerston North. The well known American car historian Maurice Hendry whom I got to know quite well remembered him. He owned the car twice, obviously taking a liking to it . Tony Abrahams bought the car in 1975, taking it to Glentunnel with him . At the stage I had a farm at Windwhistle further along from Tony. A subsequent divorce action forced him to sell the car in 1992.I had just sold my property so I bought it on the way through.

He converted the car back to LHD, fitting a linkage type system off a later 50s Ford.

I gave the whole setup to my friend Andy Fox, well known car collector of Greta Valley at a later stage.Times were different to today as up to 1987 it was very difficult to import any American vehicle parts. Tony left the car intact and mobile. Andy also showed an interest in the car at the time of purchase however he graciously stepped aside to let me take it [ he was likely shrewd enough to see the colossal job it would become in future] I came to South Canterbury in1993, buying a farm in Totara Valley after a trip to the USA where I was able to acquire the correct power assisted steering setup; correct Saginaw column, Eaton pump and all brackets and hardware for the correct conversion. I also attended a Road Race Lincoln Meet in Rochester upstate New York where I made valuable future contacts for the future planned restoration.

Shortly after settling in I joined the SCVCC having a very motorable 1948 Mercury that I have now owned for 50 years.I also brought down a Ford T New Beauty tourer which was completed in 2001 and I still have that too. I drove the Lincoln after fitting the replacement steering gear till the end of 1999 when I was told not to bring it back for another. This was on account of chassis damage mentioned earlier.

There were other issues pointing the need for a complete restoration project. I subsequently put the registration on hold for the next 20 years and was able to start restoration about 2010 once I had realigned my business and property interests.I sold the farm in 2008, purchased a property near Fairlie, building necessary workshop and storage shed In an interpretation of Parkinson's Law the collection has expanded to take the available space.

It has been a very satisfying conclusion to win the Stephenson Trophy this year.

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Peter Cooke ‘s 1953 Lincoln Peter receiving the Restoration of the Year Trophy from Chairman Ashley

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SCVCC Website Updates www.southcanterburyvintagecarclub.co.nz

To access other club newsletters go to www.vcc.org.nz scroll to News from our Branches as hard copy newsletters are not mailed out now.

June Website Updates June newsletter placed up Event’s ,Committee lists updated to 2022-23 Behind scenes wordpress updates Upcoming More stories of various runs ,online versions of newsletter. Information about upcoming events, Members vehicles in gallery Stories and photo’s from members are ENCOURAGED and can be sent through to :- website.scvcc@gmail.com

9 Notes from the Library,July 2022

by Barry B I was not at the AGM and as incumbent Librarian for longer than the period stipulated in our recently revised Constitution I was not eligible to be nominated in advance of the meeting. As it happened, the expected jostling among members for this plum position failed to eventuate and no nominations either in advance or from the floor were received. In those circumstances I was able to be renominated. That’s what happened so here I am again.

Not much has happened in the Library over the last few months apart from magazines being sorted and put away or out on the duplicates table.

Recently I was the lucky recipient of a couple of gifts. One, a Christmas gift, came from Canada and only arrived in a family parcel a few days ago despite being sent in October last year. At that time, freight pressures and Covid saw Air Canada unilaterally suspending air mail despatches, so the consignment came by surface mail at horrendous cost. My part was a copy of the magazine “Collectible Automobile” an American publication dealing mostly with vehicles 1930s onward. The primary article was a comparison model by model of Ford and Chevrolet from 1940 to 1949 which would be of equal interest to followers of the blue oval or the blue bowtie. Other articles of interest covered the 1960-62 Dodge, 1934 MGPA Airline Coupe, Twilight of the Packard “Seniors”, AMC Javelins, Profiles of a 1953 GMC 100 pickup and 1965 Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon. Of likely interest to Shannon was an article on “Collectible Scale Automobiles”–models to you and me. Values were given for some and it was surprising what some of the white metal and diecast models apparently sell for.

I never buy stuff like this and why would I when I have access to a whole Library full to choose from.

Nevertheless, another gift of a Whitcoulls voucher required me to briefly discard that parsimonious attitude and I spent a bit of time looking at what was available before deciding to purchase a new book entitled “Kiwi Garages” which has turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, covering not only car and motorcycle collections but also things like brewers and even a dominatrix!. Most of all it is well written and lacks the irritatating twee affectations so many of the NZ pot boilers of this genre are prone to.

So in all I have been pretty lucky with the gifts I have been given.

m o n t h w e h a v e b

10 Looking back on South Canterbury Cars

by Barry B Over the years there have been many cars that have made appearances at local events.

I will cover a few of them in this article.

I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Geraldine member Graeme Rae who had a long standing association with our Club and would have been wearing a 50 year badge had it not been for a period when his membership lapsed. In this early photo of a Mt Cook Rally around 1960 I suspect the 1926 Ford New Beauty at the start of the row was Graeme’s, and I would welconot been for a period when his membership lapsed. In this early photo of a Mt Cook Rally around 1960 I suspect the 1926 Ford New Beauty at the start of the row was Graeme’s, and I would welcome confirmation (or otherwise) of that.

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Others in the line up include the Singer 10s of Allan Averis and Irvine Black, (both still owned by those gentlemen as far as I am aware) 1915 Humber from Christchurch, 1911FN, Don Oddie, and 1915 Ford T Hugh Mercer.

The next photo I took at the 1963 Mid Island Rally and I believe this is Graeme’s Fiat. Again confirmation would be appreciated.

The next photo is definitely of Graeme’s car.

This one was taken at Geraldine during the stopover for the 2015 Salute to 65 tour which commemorated the 1965 Haast International Rally. It will be noted that the car is turned out to a fine level of presentation with lovely period badges on the headlight tie bar, correct Fiat script on the radiator, running board carrier fitted and a very nicely made hood and curtains fitted. The aluminium fitting below the number plate reads “Old Reliable” and is most apt for this excellent vintage car. Both car and driver will be fondly remembered.

12 On a local Facebook page considerable discussion ensued over a photo taken at the initial Mount Cook Rally in October 1956 and I thought members who have not seen the post could be interested in seeing this similar photo.

Left to right vehicles are 1906 Cadillac Model K, Darcy Nicholson, 1905 Darracq, Colin Westoby and Ivan May, 1910 REO, Geoff Mehrtens, 1905 Argyll, Roger Mahan, 1914 Overland, Bert Arnott, 1926 Star baggage wagon, Bob Black, 1909 Triumph, Allan Averis, 1915 Ford T Hugh Mercer, The building is the old Hermitage Hotel which was later destroyed by fire. The Cadillac is now owned by John McLachlan, the Darracq and the Ford are in the Southward trust Museum. Roger Mahan again owns the Argyll which spent many years in the custody of Kelvin Love

13 the Overland was sold overseas not long after this photo was taken the purchaser being I believe a visiting Mormon missionary.

Not sure what became of the Star which was a 20/60 model but I wonder if it was the one rebuilt by late Alastair McIntosh in Invercargill which involved construction of a new body.

There would not be too many of that model around.

I last heard of Alastair’s car being with a Wairarapa owner.

This final pic is of a very early picnic run to Craigmore

Evident in the picture is Terry Wilson’s 1913 Fiat, the Averis and Black Singers and 3 Ford Ts, the first of which is the same car in the circa 1960 Mt Cook Rally photo which may have been Graeme Rae’s.

The next one is the Mercer 1915 model. The last one I do not recognize but think it too was in that same Mt Cook photo.

MID WEEK RUN – THURSDAY 9TH JUNE The day was a bit overcast when we gather ed at the clubrooms for the June midweek run and a comment was made to the effect of “Who pulled down the blind”.

12 cars, aging from 1957 up to 2019, left on the run which took us left at the main road and right on to Beaconsfield Road. We followed the instructions, turning to the right and left as required, on familiar and sometimes unfamiliar roads, until we arrived at the Pleasant Point Domain for afternoon tea and a good old chin wag and storytelling time.

Pleasant was the word as the sun was shining and not a breath of wind in contrast to the wind experienced at times on the run.

When the sun started to set and the temperature was dropping, it was time to pack up and head for home.

Thanks to Ruth Campbell for organising the route.

The next Thursday run will be JULY 14TH Please note there will be no Thursday Run in September as we will be getting ready for the SWAP MEET Les Rzepecky - Editor

Afternoon tea chat at the Pleasant Point Domain

Car line up at pleasant Point

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MT COOK RALLY 2021 TROPHIES LAYCOCK CUP – Vintage Time Trial David Oakley MERCER TROPHY – Best Performance Two Wheel Brake Grant Jnes AV MARTYN CHALLENGE TROPHY – Vintage Field Tests David Mackenzie CES ENGLAND TROPHY – Best Vintage Overall David Oakley OWEN JONES MEMORIAL TROPHY – Vet/Vint Furtherest distance driven to the Rally Alan Hill TWIZEL BRANCH TROPHY – PV Time Trial Tony McGillen BRIAN GOODMAN CUP – Best Motorcycle Performance Neil Manchester JM CRAIG – Best Prepared Vehicle for Back Country Touring Russell Dale BARRY & JENNIFER GOODMAN CUP – PWV Overall David Dacombe JIM & PAT GEDDES TROPHY – Best Overall in P60 – P80 Classses Shannon Stevenson JIM SULLIVAN CUP – For Spirit of Vintage Motoring Rob O’Keeffe

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Other Coming Events in the District & Elsewhere Waimate Henry Ford Day July 30th. Meet at Seddon

Square from 9am—11am for a lunch run to a Country Pub, (Lunch your care)

Timaru

Quiz night with Ashburton in our clubrooms August 4th

Timaru

Daffodil Run for Cancer August 28th

Timaru

Opening Run with Ashburton Sept 4th

Timaru

Traction Engine & Transport Museum Horse power Rally @ Levels Raceway 1-2nd October

Blenheim

Marlborough Branch Biennial Rally

Auckland

National Veteran Rally 2023 23-25 February .Franklin Auckland Email, barrybirchall@xtra.co.nz

October 14-16 Email, Marlborough@vcc.or.nz

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Deadline for Tricar is 20th August New Address tricar.scvcc@gmail.com

Office Bearers 2022-2023 Chairman:

Alistair Day (Nola)

6886108

Vice Chairman: Colin Hawke (Glenys)

6889955

Immediate Past Chairman : Ashley Milliken (Evelyn)

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Secretary: Pauline Young (Wayne)

6861833

Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair)

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Club Captains: Gavin and Michelle Munro

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News Letter Editor: Les Rzepecky

021122 0011

Clubroom Convener: Krystal Munro Parts Manager: Barry Smith (Lynette) Librarian: Barry Barnes (Carla)

0278567940 6847405 6885105

IT Officer: Shannon Stevenson

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Committee: All of the above and John Lester ( Mary )

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Identification and Certificate: Alistair Day, John Lester, Colin Hawke.

Swap Meet: Chairman: Colin Johnstone (Trish)

036939093

Secretary / Site convenor: Michelle Munro (Gavin)

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Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair)

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Ground Convenor Barry Smith

( Lynette)

Committee: Gavin Munro (Michelle) Krystal Munro Lex Westoby

6864824 0278567940

036126556

Sandy McMillan 6155150

Alan Patrick

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