VCC STH CANTERBURY TRI CAR SEPTEMBER 2023

Well lets hope the new month is better than what we have left in August. Our sympathies are extended to Ron Hammer with the loss of Linley and to Issie Kyle with the loss of John. Several other members have lost family members, ie mother, brothers, sisters, sister in laws. Our heartfelt sympathy to you all. Colin and I attended the AGM in Nelson on your behalf. You will see in the Beaded Wheels we have several new members on the management committee, including a new South Island Club Captain, Mark Wilkinson. There was a lot of discussion on what the new requirements will be for the new constitution and the new rules and regulations regarding this. This is also about how many people should be on the executive committee, and how the meetings would be run in the future. The executive is made up of the member from each branch and they report to the management Committee. There will be further discussion on this at the next executive meeting in March. It is the intention to have a training session at our Clubrooms on 27th October for all those interested in learning what to do to get a Vehicle Identity Card ( VIC ) sorted out. If you are keen to learn more, or put your name forward as an inspector, then please contact me before Labour Weekend. Thanks.

Many thanks to all those who put their hand up for delivering of the daffodils this year. Very much appreciated by the Cancer Society. By the time you read this our Mystery Car Rally for Cancer will have been held, so a report on this will appear in our next Tri-Car. I hope a good many of you attended. I was very disappointed at the last Noggin, that when I asked for car parking assistance for this event, NOT ONE PERSON put their hand up. It is not a big job, and many hands make light work. This is OUR club, not the committee, and certainly not any individual persons responsibility. We should all be working together for the good of all. On brighter note, those who attended the Quiz night in Ashburton, Thank You. Pleased to say we took the trophy up to Ashburton and proud to say the team of John & Marion Foster, Shannon Stevenson and Lex Westoby take the honours of first place, and we brought the Trophy home for yet another year. Well done. 2nd place also went to the Timaru team of Ashley & Evelyn Milliken and Barry Smith. Roll on next year.

The opening run with Ashburton is on Sunday the 3rd. other information through the Tri-Car.

The Continental Run is on the 10th so those with Continental vehicles this is a day for you.

Kevin Mercer and helpers are running a Sporting Trial run thru the Vintage Car Club on 24th September. Entry fee is $10. Read more about this fun event throughout this Tri-Car.

Keep the wheels rolling and motor well. We have Club Rooms to be proud of, so be pleased you belong to such a well appointed Cub.

Cheers and happy motoring

Alistair Day

NOGGIN & NATTER,

Thursday September 7th

7.30 pm - Clubrooms, Redruth St Timaru.

SPEAKER :-

KITCHEN DUTY :- Gloria & Tony McGillen

BAR :- Sandy McMillan

FINALMID WEEK RUN –

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14TH 2023

Meet at the Clubrooms for a 1.30 p.m. start.

Held wet or fine. All cars welcome old and modern.

Please bring your afternoon tea and a chair.

Organisers: Pat & Rodney Don

Entry forms for the Mt Cook Rally will be emailed/ posted soon

To be held 20 – 22 October

We are just finalising a few details

Enquiries to Michelle 021 1726168

S.C.V.C.C. PARTS DEPARTMENT

August Report.

With a little more space in our yard we can start to have a good cleanup of parts that are not required , or are far too 'gone ' to be of any use in our Parts Dept.

If any members think that they may need an item such as an old Mudguard, a Bonnet ,a Bumper Bar , Luggage Rack or a Back Axle with Diff. It would be advisable to come on down sooner than later to see if there is something for you.!

As part of our cleanup any items not required by us will end up with the Scrap Man!!

There are some Engine Blocks there as well and these will be assessed for salvage or for the Scrap .

If you are interested in anything and can not come down to our Parts Dept .on a Wednesday Morning, you can give me a ring anytime on 03 6847405 or 027 307 9631.

As always we are open on each Wednesday Morning from 9am to 12 noon.

Barry Smith, Parts Manager.

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.

SCVCC Website - August 2023

- August newsletter placed up

- Continental Run information placed up

- Christchurch bus trip information placed up, subsequently removed upon the trip's cancellation

- Daffodil Rally for Cancer information placed up

- Behind the scenes word-press updates

Upcoming - More stories of various runs, online version of newsletter, information about upcoming events, members vehicles in gallery, Stories and photos from members are ENCOURAGED and can be sent through to website.scvcc@gmail.com

Calendar of Events 2023 for the South Canterbury Branch of the VCC

3rd September Opening Run (Ashburton organising)

14th September Mid-week Run

September 10th

September 24th

October 21/22/23

November 3/4/5

November 11th / 12th

Continental Run

Vintage Trial Event

Mount Cook Rally

Safari Weekend

All American

November 19th Veteran / Vintage / Commercial Run

December 2nd Christmas Party & 50 year Badge Presentations (Note change of Date)

If you own a 1933 or 1934 Ford, you’ll want to be a part of the Model 40 Convention to be held March 8-10 next year. Celebrating 90 years of this beautiful model Ford, the event is open to both original & modified examples, but is limited to 100 entries. Having hosted past vintage and hot rod events, including Deuce Days for the 1932 Fords, the venue at Solway Park at Masterton is perfect for this sort of event. Trust House & JRI Insurance have come on board as major sponsors, and registration is open now. For more information follow the event on the 1933/34 Ford New Zealand Facebook page. Expressions of interest and requests for registration form to magoos@xtra.co.nz.

Enquiries to the convenor; Lloyd Wilson 021-436-432

PS: Whether or not they can attend we would still be interested in hearing from owners, as we have established a register of 33/34 Fords in New Zealand. Also, we will be producing special anniversary plaques which will be available to Model 40 owners.

Who Is This Man? (Article supplied)

29 July at a car show to celebrate Henry Ford's birthday in Waimate, one of our intrepid members showed up wearing 2 different shoes. We were baffled as to how this could have happened; is he really that wealthy that he can afford to throw away 1 shoe of each pair; or is he a relation of Imelda Marcos; or did he just get dressed in the dark? This normally dapper dressed man had his sanity vouched for by another SCVCC member so he wasn't insane at the time. Perhaps he had been driving a Chev recently or perhaps he glanced at a

However, our members' misdemeanour was superseded by a gentleman who arrived at Menzshed with a bra hanging out the back of his jeans, he endured about 2 hours of ribbing before he was told of his extra item of clothing. I reckon he should not have been told in case he went shopping etc.

For Sale - 1931 Dodge DD sedan (Chrysler Canada built, Budd Body)housed in shed for 50 years, partially assembled, straight body, engine packed with oil would make a great restoration project.

2023 Ashburton Garage Raid – by Shannon Stevenson

On a frosty Saturday morning, over 90 members from across several central South Island branches descended upon the Ashburton clubrooms for the Annual Garage Raid, for a day's worth of shed hunting.

With a briefing had, it was a case of taking the passenger seats where available, for myself this was with Peter Cooke and two Ashburton branch members, Peter and Rod. To avoid overcrowding at the venues, different sheets were given to different drivers. For us in Ashburton Peter's blue 2007 Ford Falcon, the places encountered were the following.

Cullimore

Engineering

Located at the north of Ashburton, in the newly built industrial park, Cullimore Engineering is housed in not a garage, but a huge warehouse almost the size of a football field. Sam Cullimore, who is third generation in the business showed us the various projects on the go, with several staff working away in the background, and the CNC machines in full flight. Projects included a traction engine makeover, and two heavy duty tow trucks, intended for towing big rigs.

Massey

Ferguson and John Deere collection

With a view across to Ashburton Airport, were two neighbouring properties – Neil and Faye Hyde's one with a shed full of restored Massey Ferguson tractors and a Plymouth, Keith Howden's one with various John Deere tractors, a selection of mostly American cars, and a number of vintage projects 'yet to be restored'. We recognised this place as the previous home of Peter McQuarters – visited several years back by South Canterbury members.

Rob

and Diane Ross collection

Up a driveway east of Ashburton we were struck by a sight of a fair number of veteran cars, these all either complete or projects on the go, Rob's Chrysler holding pride of place in the garage alongside a curved dash Oldsmobile. It was certainly the most amount of veteran cars that I had seen anywhere outside of a museum, display or a rally. One that had a lot of interest was an American La-France roadster – built on a fire truck chassis. A further shed had several vintage cars, all in immaculate order.

Holden and Ford collection at Winslow

In rural Winslow, almost halfway to Hinds is a collection of farm outbuildings – however the livestock has long since moved out, instead a fair number of Holden projects with a couple of Fords for good measure are within, mostly focussing on HQ to HZ in varying stages of completion. An interesting aspect was the 'man cave', a converted woolshed with memorabilia covering the walls, and various Holden ute body shells on racks, awaiting their turn. Two others of note were a Ford Model T roadster, and a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette.

John Wells' motorcycle and car collection - Allenton

On a back street in west Ashburton, was John Wells' motorcycle collection, mostly housed in a garage which from most angles resembled a small house. There were a variety of bikes from different ages, notably Harley Davidson, Ariel and BSA – the BSA connection furthered with a late 30s sedan undergoing restoration, and a much later Daimler 2.5 V8.

Within a further shed was a 1956 Triumph bike in the process of restorative work – for the four of us this was the final stop, and with John's hospitality, we did not leave until later in the day.

Thanks to the Ashburton branch for putting on a great garage raid, the volunteers cooking up the pea-pie-and-pud over lunch, and for opening up the museum building.

Shannon Stevenson

August 2023 Garage Raid Photo’s Hosted by Ashburton VCC

Photo’s and Captions Grant Mehrtens

1916 American LaFrance Mostly BSA Motorbikes

3 wheel scooter for Billy Weir

Late Model Indian Motorbike

BSA Car under Restoration

HZ Holden Restored which will soon be for sale

66 Caddy, Restored, fitted with Air Suspension

Wooden Front Axle

Photo’s

1-4 Cullimore’s

5-8 John Wells

9-11 John Deere and Massey Ferguson Collection

12-14 Ross Collection

15 –17 Winslow

Photographs supplied by Shannon Stevenson

This Brush car was at the Henry Ford birthday car show, the Waimate owner recently purchased it from a North Islander, who had imported the car from Texas. It has a wooden chassis & front & rear axles. Not sure how LTNZ would cope vinning these wooden items? The engine is one cylinder & the whole car rocks & bounces when getting started. Cruising speed is 30mph & if you wind it up plus wring it out, it will fly to 35mph.

The drive to the rear end is a bevel gear drive to a shaft out each side about 500mm in front of the rear axle, then a chain drive to each rear wheel hub. It has vertical coil spring suspension in each corner.

Pendine Museum of Speed Photo’s from Barry & Carla B

1909 Brush - Grant Mehrtens

1909 Brush –Wooden Rear Axle

1909 Brush –Wooden Front Axle

Photo’s from Barry and Carla B vehicle‘s referred to in Barry

William Morris's personal car

A very rare 6cyl 1921 Morris Oxford superbly finished for the boss.

1908 GP Austin racer

Unrestored and original Baby Austin

Cecil Kimber's original MG first of the breed.⅗

1895 Wolseley

South Canterbury Branch to hold its first Vintage Trial. 24th September 2023

Members of the Vintage Car Club are invited to participate or come and watch the fun in our first Sporting Trial. The event follows the style of ‘Trials’ events which were very popular in the UK in the 1950s where drivers and their crews endeavour to get their cars as far as possible up steep and slippery farm tracks and through other difficult courses. A number of these courses will be set out and points are awarded for the distance attained. The cumulative score at the end of the event will determine the winners of the various classes. As the weather is outside our control some courses may be substituted with Grasskhana type events. The venue is at Bentley Downs at 221 Rolling Ridges Road, Levels Valley, South Canterbury.

Programme for the day is;

-8.30 AM Assemble at the venue (221 Rolling Ridges Rd) for vehicle inspection and briefing

-9.15 AM Driver’s Briefing. All drivers and passengers must attend.

-9.30 AM Competition begins

-12.30 PM Lunch

-1.15 PM Afternoon competition begins

-3.45 PM Competition finishes

-4.00 PM prize giving

PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH & DRINKS

As the after match function is being held a private place, drinks are BYO.

Anyone requiring an entry for please email Kevin Mercer

khmercer@xtra.co.nz Phone 0272009474

You are invited to…..

The 2024 Founders Prince Henry Tour

With three days of Veteran motoring from Dunedin- Gore – Owaka – Dunedin. Starting on Monday 29th January 2024, following the National Veteran Rally in Dunedin. Returning Wednesday 31st January.

We will be travelling at a relaxed pace, with a backup trailer for peace of mind.

Mark these days on your calendar!

From the Treasurer.

Hi everyone.

For those of you who receive your Tri-Car by post, The year has rolled around again and the postage fee needs to be paid for you to continue receiving your Tri-Car in the Post. $30.00 for this year because of the increase in postage, If you could please deposit the payment into the SCVCC account at SBS Bank 03 1355 0647203 00 using your name as the reference please.

If this could be paid ASAP I would appreciate it. Many thanks.

For those who receive the Tri-Car by email but would like to change to post please let me know by email - nola,day@xtra,co,nz - or by text 027 2035007 and I will make the changes, you can get it by email as well if you want, but I understand some want to also receive it by post but I need to know so that we can get more magazines printed. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to make the payment ASAP.

Nola Day– Treasurer

HISTORY OF ERSKINE

By STUDEBAKER 1927-1930.

1915.

ALBERT RUSSELL ERSKINE becomes Studebaker Corporation new President.

1924.

Erskine travels to Europe to gather information about the car industry and Buyer Preferences. He asked Dealers what sort of car they would like in their Showrooms? He planned to produce a small car in America that could sell in overseas markets while competing with America's low priced Giants, Ford and Chevrolet. Erskine took ideas back to Southbend for discussion with his Engineers. From this a new car would be developed. On considering what to call this 'New' Car the Board of Directors decided to name it ERSKINE. It was to be a make in its own right, so instead of Studebaker Erskine, it was an Erskine by Studebaker. Fiscal problems prevented Studebaker from designing and tooling up for new components, so the Erskine was built up from parts supplied by outside firms. Dietrich inc. designed the body. This Co. best remembered for Custom Bodies for Packard, Lincoln, Pierce-Arrow, Chrysler, Franklin and others. However the actual production of the Bodies went to the Budd Co., A Co. that Studebaker had dealt with since 1917.In later years Budd made all of Studebaker's Larger Body Stampings. The Engine was supplied by the Continental Motor Corporation of Chicago, who for over 25 years had produced engines for dozens of Automobile Co's. As well as having a good reputation it was at the time, the largest independent engine builder in the United States. The first Erskine’s were powered by a Continental 8-FL-Head six cylinder engine that produced 40H.P. For economy and European Taxation reasons a very small engine of 146.1Cu.in.(2.33Ltr) was selected. This engine had an incredibly small 2 5/8 in. bore and a long 4 ½ in. stroke. Studebaker claimed the Erskine would obtain between 25 to 30 M.P.G. Actual performance was another thing!

The Erskine was also said, to be capable of cruising at 60 M.P.H. But even Studebaker admitted that it took 8-1/2 secs to go from 5 to 25M.P.H. Having said that, the Co. Ad. Writers still stated (with tongue in cheek) that the Erskine had 'Flashing Pickup'.

THE ERSKINE MODEL 50.

Because the Erskine was created with the idea of Export Sales it was first shown in Europe not in the U.S. Hand Built Cars were first displayed on October 7th. 1926 at the International Show in Paris at the Grand Palais. In London the Erskine was shown on October 22nd. At the Olympia Show. The Erskine, promoted as 'The Little Aristocrat' was well received in Europe and many orders were taken. In America the first showing was at the

Studebaker Administration Building in Southbend on January 1st. 1927. Next was a Giant gathering of 1,123 Car Dealers at the Hotel Plaza in New York City on January 7th.. This unveiling of Erskine was combined with a Gala Dinner celebrating Studebaker's 75 years in Business. On the very next day the New Erskine was unveiled to the American Public at the 27th. Annual National Automobile Show in New York City at the Grand Central Palace. It was received in America with mixed reaction, with the thinking that a Luxurious Small Car meant Low Priced!

The Erskine Custom Sedan and Coupe was priced at $995.00 while a Business Coupe and Tourer were $945.00. At the time a new Model T Ford Fordor sold for $545.00 or a Roadster for $360.00 with wire wheels and colours other than Black!

Chevrolet Sedans sold at $695.00 , Essex at $785.00 and Pontiac $775.00. Problems other than Price soon started, at home and Foreign Markets. The little Continental Engine although having Full Pressure Lubrication, good Cooling plus other features was not up to the task it was assigned to do!! Studebaker had claimed it would cruise at 60M.P.H. With a standard final drive of 5.125:1 this was a ludicrous expectation for with wire wheels. a Low Revving Long Stroke Engine of the 1920's. According to one Pre-war Historian the 1927 Erskine with standard rear axle and tyres would reach the Engine's maximum allowable R.P.M. At 51M.P.H. Over-revving the engine , which many drivers did resulted in numerous engine failures. This produced unfavourable publicity which did not help sales. Note for Chevrolet Owners: Remember the Chevrolet Vega! Later in 1927 Studebaker lowered the price range over several Models with the Sedan down to $965.00, Tourer at $915.00 and coupe $895.00, Studebaker added a 4 Passenger Sports Roadster at $965.00 Sadly Studebaker were only making a minimal profit with the Erskine Sales. By the end of the year only 24,893 Model 50's had been built. During that period ,GM had sold 135,159 Pontiacs and 1, 749,998 Chevrolets. 1928.

Erskine Mod. 51.

Studebaker updated this model with a larger 9-FContinental Engine with 160.4cu.in. At 43H.P.. All prices were dropped with basic 4 Door Sedan at $885.00 and a 2 Door Club Sedan $795.00. These prices still could not compete with Ford. The Model A Tudor was only $495.00, the Roadster $385.00 while the Erskine Sport Roadster was $965.00. In an attempt to improve Erskine's reliability image and establish some speed records, several Erskine’s were subjected to a number of Endurance Runs. In one, an Erskine established a record for cars under $1,000.00 by travelling 96 consecutive hours at an average speed of 54.1 M.P.H. In another run an Erskine topped 60M.P.H over 1,000 Miles in 984 minutes.

Only 22,275 1928 Mod 51 Erskine’s were produced. Erskines went on being produced through to 1930 with varying changes made. The 1929 Mod 52 was mechanically the same as the 1928 51 Mod. Except the wheelbase went out to 109 inch. Also side mounted spare wheels were available. Sales for the 1929 Mod 52 went out to 25,460 units. 1930.'

The mod,53 Erskine called the ' Dynamic New Erskine' was a complete departure from the 1927 -29 mods. A larger Studebaker built body mounted on a 114inch wheelbase now had a 205.3cu.in. 70H.P. L-Head Six Cyl. Studebaker built Engine which had a 3-1/4in. Bore and a 4-1/8 Stroke. However, after all this the Studebaker Corporation were struggling and in a final Redirection, the controlling Executive’s decided to throw in the towel.! As far as the name Erskine was concerned. It was quietly concluded after a few thousand 1930 models had been made to drop the Erskine name! In May 1930, the Mod,53 Erskine became the 'New Studebaker Six'. The only changes made were to switch the 'E' to an 'S' on the Hubcaps, replace the Radiator Shell Badge with the Studebaker Wheel Emblem and switch the Starting Crank Hole Cover, Brake and Clutch Pedals to Studebaker identifying markings. At Dealerships all Parts were supplied free of charge. Owner's of 1930 Mod Erskine’s could request a Free Radiator Badge. All other parts could be obtained for just $5.00'

Albert Erskine was an influential player of the Studebaker Corporation, however his Policies on Low Cash Reserves and Large Shareholder Payouts through Dividends contributed to the eventual downfall. In March 1933 the Studebaker Corporation was forced into Receivership and Albert Erskine resigned, a Broken Man. A few weeks later he ended his own life by shooting himself! Studebaker Survived and went on to Design many more models of Studebaker cars and Trucks until the mid 60's, but the Erskine Model was No More!

Extracts for this Article are thanks to: Studebaker- the Complete History.

By Patrick Foster.

Studebaker's 1927-1930 Erskine, By Fred K Fox.

P.S. This is Part One on Erskine. Part Two -The Story of' My Erskine' to appear in a later issue of the TriCar (Hopefully).

Barry Smith.

NOTES FROM THE LIBRARY by

Barry B

This month I have nothing to report as I am preparing these notes from London UK, though by the time you read them we will be in Canada. During our travels we have visited various bookshops associated with National Trust properties and a couple of museums but so far have not found anything that might be worth purchasing for the Library. I did get a little book on sidecars for myself. While in Wales we visited Pendine Sands with our family .While the kids were in the excellent new playground I took the opportunity to visit the nearby new Museum of Speed. Primary exhibit was the huge aero engine racing special, “Babs”, built by famous racer J G Parry Thomas who used it to set the world land speed record on the Pendine Sands only to lose it shortly afterward to Malcom Campbell in his Bluebird. It was soon after that in trying to retain the record a drive chain on Babs snapped and there was an enormous crash which took the life of the unfortunate Parry Thomas. The car was buried on the beach where it had finished up. It was dug up many years later and restored. The photo shows my little grandson admiring the monster. There are with no other cars and only 3 motorcycles with a history relating to Pendine. The other exhibits are largely documentary. A week or so later we were heading north to visit the area in Lancashire from whence my Barnes forebears came with a side visit to Mosborough in Yorkshire to meet my late father’s cousin on his mother’s side.

On checking out suitable places for a mid journey break we realized we would be passing by the British Motor Museum formerly I believe British Heritage. It was strongly focused toward examples of the British Leyland conglomerate and examples of the marques which had at one time been part of the organisation in its various previous forms.

The sheer number of exhibits is immense and we did not have time to closely examine them really but took in an interesting overview. They ranged in years from the very earliest pre 1900 vehicles including the oldest Wolseley , a 3 wheeler, to virtually the present day with a huge array of Jaguar cars including very late models along with Swallow sidecars, Swallow bodied Austins, Standard and Swift and SS cars.

In the main building the cars and exhibits were displayed so that generally you could get around them but even then in places there were a couple of rows alongside each other. In the other equally large building where the Jag collection is they were mostly lined up in rows three deep which made getting decent photos a bit more difficult. You might have worked out there were a lot of vehicles there and you would be right!

In any event it made for a most interesting visit and having a decent café too provide us with a good pit stop. The car park contained more classic type vehicles than we had encountered on the road in all our travels. The outer lane of the motorways are filled with performance cars whizzing by at 100mph plus while we were doing a more modest 70 to 80. The oldest stuff on the motorways seemed to be campervans from the late 20th century including VW Kombis, while most of the traffic was astonishingly new by Kiwi standards.

On some of the back roads and local streets there has been the odd glimpse of an older vehicle, a Ford Y being the oldest, with a VW beetle, an SD1 Rover and a down at heel rubber bumper MGBGT, being among those seen. Most unusual one encountered was a 100E Anglia neatly made into a convertible. It had obviously had a mechanical upgrade too as it was scarpering around the country lanes where we followed it in a much more lively manner than I would attribute to the

Anglia Convertible

Swift Swallow

Brough Superior SS80 with Swallow sidecar

Prototype vehicles P6 Rover in centre

1911 Prince Henry Vauxhall

1934 Standard Speedline

Other Coming Events Elsewhere

(Check our Web Page for further details on events listed below)

New

Office Bearers 2023-2024

Chairperson: Alistair Day (Nola) 027 2025007

Vice Chairperson: Colin Hawke (Glenys) 6889955

Secretary: Pauline Young (Wayne)

6861833

Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair) 027 2035007

Club Captains: Gavin and Michelle Munro 6864824

News Letter Editor: Les Rzepecky (Helen) 021 1220011

Clubroom Convener: Sandy McMillan 027 6155150

Parts Shed Manager: Barry Smith (Lynette) 6847405

Librarian: Barry Barnes (Carla) 6885105

IT Officer: Shannon Stevenson 6863263

Committee: All of the above

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

Swap Meet:

Chairman: Colin Johnstone (Trish) 36939093

Secretary / Site convenor: Michelle Munro (Gavin) 6864824

Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair) 027 2035007

Ground Convenor Barry Smith ( Lynette) 6847405

Committee: Gavin Munro (Michelle) 6864824

(Plus all above) Krystal Munro 027 8567940

John Lester (Mary) 6158135

Sandy McMillan 027 6155150

Alan Patrick 6158803

Glen Hawkins 027 2076625