VCC STH CANTERBURY TRI CAR FEB 2023

AORANGI- TRICAR

CLUB ROOMS

NOGGIN ANDNATTER

First Thursday of the Month

Neil Manchester with the Fairlie Country & Western Carnival Cup for best restoration in 2022.

Presented after the New Year’s Day parade in Fairlie 2023

THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NEW ZEALAND INC.

Following on from the picture on the front page is the story of the 1958 Triumph TR3A.

Whilst helping Warren Burt to shift some motor bikes Neil asked him if he would sell him the car. Warren had pulled it apart about 10 years ago in preparation for a retirement project. Unfortunately due to health reasons this wasn’t possible and after some discussion the deal was made in November 2021.

The photo above shows the day Neil picked up the car and so began the process of reassembly. The project took 12 months and it did take some time to find all the parts.

The motor and gearbox had been done up previously by Warren.

Neil had the car painted in the original green and had new mats fitted, The upholstery was in fairly good condition.

The car has been running well since restored and has been as far away as Rangiora with a trip to Cambridge coming up in March for the TR Rally.

Other owners of the car have been Gordon Stephenson and a mate of Ron Hammer in Dunedin prior to Gordon. Neil still has the ownership papers, which is something unheard of today.

COMING EVENTS

NOGGIN & NATTER,

Thursday February 2nd 7.30 pm at Clubrooms, Redruth St Timaru.

SPEAKER :-

KITCHEN DUTY :- Les & Helen Rzepecky

BAR :-

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.

For expressions of interest, contact Murray Hines 03 612 6870 or 027 221 4553

Calendar of Events

for the South Canterbury Branch of the VCC for 2023

2023

19th February Chairman’s run

25th February Open day

5th March Motor bike rally

12th March Mid Island Rally

1st April Swap meet

13th April Mid-week Run

7th May PV Rally

11th May Mid-week run

28th May End of season run

1st June AGM

4th June All British

8th June Mid-week run

24th June Night trial

Hi everyone.

This last month has been and gone. Gosh I was told when I was younger that the older you get the quicker the days go and by golly those words come back to me quite often. Hopefully you have all recovered from the festive season and are ready to commit to attending rallies and helping YOUR club during the year.

The Chairmans run is on this month 19th February. A quick cuppa to send you on your way at 10 am. Non competitive and all sealed roads. Hope you can make it 25th February is the open day, so all hands on deck. Further info thru this mag. A big variety of vehicles is encouraged through all the classes, to give people and overview of what is eligible in the club. Thanks to all those who attended the New Years Day at Fairlie, and a big congratulations to Neil Manchester for winning the Rosebowl presented by the Fairlie Carnival Committee.

The Motor bike rally is on March 5th, so get your entry forms sorted. Mid Island rally coming up in March and PLEASE don’t forget the Swap Meet on 1st APRIL (no this isn’t a joke.) We are at a New Venue this year, so all help will be needed on the Friday 31st March for setting up. Mark your calendars now. We only have one day to do this, so it will be a mammoth job this year to get ourselves sorted, for this and future events. Late afternoon on the day of the swap meet will be the clean up, as we are only hiring the grounds for two days. Its encouraging to see the parts shed is being used regularly. Happy Motoring and I hope to see more of our new members on rallies in the future.

Cheers Alistair Day.

SCVCC SWAP MEET -

1st APRIL 2023

To be Held at Timaru Motor Raceway

Falvey Road, Levels.

An open discussion will be held at the February Noggin & Natter regarding this year’s Swap Meet and future Swap Meets.

Points of interest:

# Location this year and future years

# Set Up - Running - Clean Up

# Running Costs

# Members Involvement

# Future Swap meets

# Other Fundraiser’s

All members are urged to attend for the future fundraising for the club.

Colin Johnstone, Swap Meet Chairman.

Here we are into a new year. I trust you all had a good Christmas with family and friends.

The parts dept. is up and running again, with the Wednesday team eager as usual to help find that elusive item you may want for your latest project.

We stock many items including Bearings, Seals, Oil filters, Spark Plugs, Brake Linings, Ignition Points and heaps more items. Come and have a look, you may be surprised at what you may find.

We are open every Wednesday from 9am to 12.00 Noon at our Clubrooms Redruth Street Timaru.

Cheers , Barry Smith. Parts Manager.

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.

Website report for January

• January Tricar placed up

• Fairlie New Year’s Day Video

• Links to articles covering the Timaru Austin Rally

• Behind the scenes Wordpress updates

• Updated Swap Meet page to reflect new location

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

Updated fares for travel on Interislander Ferries

RATES QUOTED FOR- NZ Vintage Car Club

Booking Reference: WH5465

The below rates are based on prices to date, inclusive of GST and subject to availability.

Off Peak Fares: Each Way

Adult $54.00

Children $29.00

Motorcycle $47.00

Car/Van/Trailer up to 5.5 metres $139.00

Each half metre over5.5 metres $24.00

Premium Plus Lounge $80.00 18yrs plus

Queen Charlotte Lounge (Kaitaki ONLY) $30.00 18yrs plus

Off Peak Travel Dates

01 March – 05 April 23

12 April – 15 December 23

Peak Fares: Each Way

Adult $60.00

Children $29.00

Motorcycle $59.00

Car/Van/Trailer up to 5.5 metres $146.00

Each half metre over5.5 metres $25.00

Premium Plus Lounge $80.00 18yrs plus

Queen Charlotte Lounge (Kaitaki ONLY) $30.00 18yrs plus

Peak Travel Dates

01-28 February 23

06-11 April 23

Booking conditions and instructions for members are:

• Each reservation must be made direct with Interislander online using the special link below–

• Book online at https://www.interislander.co.nz/members-fares

• To access these rates members must insert the reference “WH5465”

• Payment is required at the time of booking.• Space is subject to availability at the time of the booking request.

• Refunds

Once paid for fares are 90% refundable if cancelled prior to check-in and non-refundable if cancelled after check-in.

• Members are required to present their current NZ Vintage Car Club Membership credentials on check in or retail fares will be charged. Fares valid for travel 01 February through to 15 December 23

After a successful business in stationary engine manufacture Ransom Eli Olds set up his Oldsmobile Motor Car works in 1901 to produce his well known Curved Dash runabout The Smith family , father and son , backed him in this venture. In 1904 Olds resigned his executive position as the Smiths wished to go in with W. C. Durant's newly formed General Motors Corporation.. Olds liquidated his substantial shareholding to set up his own concern. After a legal battle he called his new company REO after his initials, setting up at a plant in Lansing, Michigan along with a friend and fellow investor Reuben Shetter, an Oldsmobile dealer from Los Angeles. From 1904 to 1910 the company made 1 and 2 cylinder cars in the typical American format of the day. Other makers included Ford and Cadillac who moved sooner to multi cylinder cars, Ford in 1906 and Cadillac in 1908. Henry Leland of Cadillac and later Lincoln fame had much influence on the design of these early engines. Very few early Reo cars made it out here to New Zealand from this era. From what I gather the singles were more common than the twin.

The starting point for my car was a complete 2 cylinder engine located in Christchurch, as well as further engine parts from Hamilton. This engine is considered to have come from the Renton Bros of Hokitika , hardware merchants whose subsequent families ran the business for over 100 years. The Renton Bros were the first motorists to Haast from Hokitika in their 1910 2 cylinder. The restoration was done by the late Murray Low of Levin. Practically all the other major componentry came from the USA , after a visit to the Hershey Swap meet and making subsequent contacts there. Murray Low completed the restoration in 1993. Murray died several years later and his estate put the car up for sale where it ended up at Fazzaz in Christchurch. Local veteran identities Kelvin and Janet Love bought it bringing the car to Timaru. They motored it in various veteran events locally as well as taking part in the Dunedin to Brighton run, the oldest continuous running veteran event in New Zealand. I remember helping Kelvin with some technical issues while on a vintage run some years ago, thinking now there is a challenge to maintain and run a veteran successfully.

I had not seen the Loves for several years till a vintage run to the Waihi Gorge in May 2022, where I was on my first club run in my newly finished 53 Lincoln which performed as expected. Jan and I ended up parking not far from them. After lunch I went over to say hello and a general catch up. I enquired about the Reo and was Kelvin still driving it . No he said; it had got difficult to start partly due to his declining strength to crank it. At that stage he offered the car to me, I expressed interest subject to driving instruction and a more detailed inspection. In due course a deal was struck and delivery was arranged a day before the upcoming VCC garage raid I had agreed to host. All the while the weather was atrocious with rain most days, making test drives a risky affair, and I got stuck in the mud between my storage shed and workshop. A neighbour kindly helped me out . As I live on a shingle road the first priority was fitting an air cleaner, this took a bit of sorting as the carburettor is an early brass Holley model H and is sensitive to any restriction in the inlet. It took some trial and error to end up with a K & N filter designed for Japanese high performance 4s. Looks a little ugly but far cheaper than a potential engine rebuild. Further road testing revealed other issues, mainly control levers/ springs needed setting up correctly and incorrect crankcase ventilation, noticeable for excess oil on the motor externals and on garage floor after a run. This is a factor often poorly understood by many . A K&N crankcase breather mounted with appropriate brass work has solved the oily floor issue. Not perfect but not bad for a 112 year old car. Having a fully equipped workshop helps greatly with these issues as they arise. I would add that Kelvin and Janet handed the car on to me in beautiful order which is a credit to them both.

It is a different car to anything else I own although it shares a 2 speed planetary transmission similar to my 1926 Ford T however the brakes are another set of skills altogether. The main brake is a large hand lever on the driver's side beside the gearshift. Now that I have it set up such that I can come off the gearshift and easily grab the brake driving is easier. The footbrake works off the transmission and is vicious in nature; I only use it to stop in reverse direction. I have had several sorties into Fairlie for WOF etc. The most recent was for the New Year's Day parade where I won the People's Choice and the Wynn Cup. There is a Veteran Car Club event in Geraldine that I have arranged to go to next month. Need to get practice for Dunedin to Brighton next year.

It is pleasing to say that we have had Sandy McMillan pass the exam for his Bar Managers licence. If you feel that you are capable and would like to attempt this online course, please feel free to put your name in. Sandy would be only too happy to pass on the papers he printed off to save them having to be printed again. The club is happy to pay all the expenses for this.

Nola and I were privileged to attend the final dinner for the Austin register which was held in Timaru over last weekend. thrilled to see Bob Austin presented with a wooden trophy for being the person with the oldest original car from the start of the Austin Register.

Alistair Day

Bar Manager.

Just a few photos of the picnic before the parade in Fairlie on New Year’s day 2023. Good turnout of members and lots of stories told.

Other Coming Events Elsewhere

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

Waimate Wallaby Rally 11th February 2023

Oamaru All British Rally (feature Marque Morris Minor 75th Anniversary) 18th February 2023

Auckland National Veteran Rally 2023

Franklin Auckland Email: barrybirchall@xtra.co.nz

23rd - 25th February 2023

Gore 56th Annual Festival Rally 25th February 2023

Wellington / Wairarapa / Wanganui

Vintage / Veteran Tour 12th - 20th March

Taupo Lake Taupo Country Roads Rally 10th - 12th March

Greymouth 40th Annual West Coast Scenicland Rally 25th March 2023

Wanaka Wheels at Wanaka 7th - 9th April 2023

Taihape Highland Fling Rally 21st - 23rd April 2023

Office Bearers 2022-2023

Chairman: Alistair Day (Nola) 6886108

Vice Chairman: Colin Hawke (Glenys) 6889955

Immediate Past Chairman: Ashley Milliken (Evelyn)

Secretary: Pauline Young (Wayne) 6861833

Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair)

Club Captains: Gavin and Michelle Munro

News Letter Editor: Les Rzepecky (Helen)

Clubroom Convener: Krystal Munro

Parts Manager: Barry Smith (Lynette)

Librarian: Barry Barnes (Carla)

IT Officer: Shannon Stevenson

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

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

Swap Meet:

Chairman: Colin Johnstone (Trish)

Secretary / Site

convenor: Michelle Munro (Gavin)

Treasurer: Nola Day (Alistair) 6886108

Ground Convenor Barry Smith ( Lynette)

Committee: Gavin Munro (Michelle)

Krystal Munro

Lex Westoby

Sandy McMillan

Alan Patrick

First Kickstart Motorcycle Rally

By Barry Barnes

Waimate Branch recently held their first ever motorcycle rally and were duly rewarded with a good entry of around 35 motorcycles from Christchurch to Dunedin and places in between, with by my quick reckoning, 8 bikes from South Canterbury taking part. Although the forecast was for a cool cloudy day the weather did its part and after the usual Waimate morning tea in the Clubrooms, we all enjoyed a pleasant day touring about 100km in the morning to our lunch stop at the Waihao Forks pub where our $30 lunch fee turned into a drink of choice and a very substantial feed from a choice of four items. The battered hoki and sausage and mash seemed to be well favoured choices

The quantity proved too much for some – not me though!

After a leisurely break a 40 km run took us back to the Clubrooms for afternoon tea and presentation of the riders choice, “King of the Rally” award to Russell Dale with his lovely 1927 Indian Scout while the Waihao Forks Publicans choice went to Bruce Watt with his very original “oily rag” MAC Velocette.

In awarding the prizes one of the organizers Peter Bland promised participants it would be all on again next year, an announcement that was very warmly greeted.

We put over 200 km on the Suzuki and side car and enjoyed it greatly as a warmup for the National Motorcycle Rally in Invercargill over Waitangi Weekend where we will again catch up with many who took part in Waimate.

Our warmest congratulations to Peter and his co organizer Barry Anderson.

Welcome to ;-

Chris Little

New Members

Notes from the Library February 2023

Over the holidays I have been reading “John Britten” by Tim Hanna, which follows the life of the legendary motorcycle designer whose revolutionary design finally succeeded in defeating the factory jobs and whose career looked destined for true greatness before being cruelly cut short by fatal illness. Saddest to me was to learn how his legacy was squandered by his estate and one can only wonder what might have been had he led the lifespan granted to most of us or that his final wishes were followed.

There was much more to this complex man than just his motorcycles. He was just as flawed as the rest of us. I found it a fascinating read that I would recommend to both motorcycle enthusiasts and anyone interested in the life story of a remarkable Kiwi, well researched by the author, who has included numerous quotes from members of the Britten Team and others. Three more books have arrived in the Library having been intercepted for perusal by our worthy Chairman. Two of these came from Bernie Fairbrass, “On The Road –the car in New Zealand” by Grahame Hawkesmore on this anon-while the other was a massive tome “Great Book of Automobiles”, by a triumvirate of authors, well known UK motoring historian and journalist, Michael Bowler, and 2 Italian collaborators. It has huge dimensions and also 630 pages, so it’s a big mother in all respects. It is lavishly illustrated, a few familiar from other publications but mostly unique.

The third volume was another Jaguar book from late Les Wenlock’s collection. It is simply entitled “Jaguar”, it is by American author John Hellig and naturally gives an American perspective to the decade by decade story of the big cats. The majority of illustrations are left hand drive cars so unlikely to be encountered in other publications. I have actually started reading “On the Road” mentioned above. It started out jarringly with the first photo being of a Vauxhall Vagabond, a uniquely Aussie model, not sold new in NZ, wearing Aussie number plates and clearly still in Australia. There are also errors in fact and in captioning for example where a clearly vintage Buick is labelled as 1916. These irritants aside the book is still worth a look, giving decent coverage to the very early days of New Zealand motoring and the later periods also. There are many very interesting historical photos.

Barry Barnes

Librarian

Wanted

Short articles and/or photos of events attended by VCC members when taking their special Marque vehicles to events other than VCC events.

Les Rzepecky Editor