VCC WANGANUI RIVET APRIL 2024

April 2024

We welcome all Vintage and Classic Vehicles

Gillian and Philip open up their doors

Brenda and Mike’s Feilding Run.

Patron: Alan Bates

Chairman:

Andrew Dittmer 027 379 6969 biffoditty@gmail.com

Secretary: Frank James 06 344 2221 liznfrank@xtra.co.nz

Treasurer:

Neil Farrer 027 457 9634 neilfarrer83@gmail.com

Accounts Reviewer: Peter Powell

Club Captain:

Rob & Linda O’Keefe 027 433 2626 okjoiner@xtra.co.nz

Rally Secretary/Trophies: Christine Savage 06 342 4755 wanganuirally@gmail.com

Motorcycle Convenor: Bill James 027 353 2190 heatherandbilljames@gmail.com

Committee :

Dale Whitaker 021 0888 2371 dalewhitakernz@gmail.com

Sarah Howell 021 0885 3483 iansarahhowell@gmail.com

Wayne Gedye 027 244 7108 waynegedye@gmail.com

Ian Higgins 027 201 2706 ihiggins@xtra.co.nz

Sietse Zeilstra 027 345 6977 jpszeilstra@gmail.com

Pierre Zeilstra 027 345 6977 jpszeilstra@gmail.com Compliance: Wayne Gedye 027 244 7108 waynegedye@gmail.com

Greetings Members and welcome to the April Rivet.

Motoring highlights for me last month included a fun time over the Easter break at the old Kakariki metal pit where the Military Vehicle Club had it’s base camp for the Annual Easter Rally. I didn't overnight there though with the hardened old soldiers and their families. Bugger that I thought, I have had enough of sleeping rough in my younger days, so I travelled back and forth to and from my warm bed in Wanganui! Great time though flexing the muscles of our reliable old military vehicles over some stunning 4x4 country.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Sunday Run to Feilding that Mike and Brenda Marshall kindly organised for us, a full report from them plus my viewpoint is in this publication. The backroads into Feilding make for a most enjoyable drive in our VCC cars.

Most of you, or those members who have internet access and managed to read my infrequent emails, would have read my HELP request on behalf of IDEA Services (IHC). This fantastic organisation recently held a Masquerade Ball for adult people inflicted with this very sad disability. One of the organisers, Doreen Barns, phoned me to ask if I knew of any VCC members who could assist by transporting people to the Masquerade Ball that week. Very late notice I agree. Doreen acknowledged this but never the less four other VCC Member’s and their cars plus myself duly arrived to assist with transport. Special thanks to those members, Linda O’Keefe, Alice Green, and Wendy and Craig Ryland (pictured). Thanks heaps for turning out and helping to make it a special occasion for the residents of IDEA Services (IHC) homes. The organiser, Doreen Barns, phoned me to thank us for giving up a couple of hours of our Saturday to make it a special day for these people. She wanted to make a donation to our Branch, but I couldn't accept that. Instead I suggested that she take the residents out for a morning/afternoon tea shout somewhere. I hope that I have not overstepped my role as your humble Editor, but so be it if I have. Doreen also asked me to ‘put it out there’ by asking Members if anyone with a little bit of time on hand, would consider giving up an hour or so by taking residents out for a ride in their cars. The joy on their faces is a sight to behold! If anyone is interested to do their bit to put a ‘ smile on their dials’ then please call Doreen on 027 936 8633. I know that she would love to hear from you. Also thanks to those who contacted me to say that they had other commitments on the day. Such short notice I agree. Great publicity for our Branch to be seen to help others in need and to bring some joy to their lives.

I hope that you all enjoy the monthly articles in the Rivet highlighting Members and their cars and how they came to join our Club. I sometimes find it a little challenging about who to ask next, so PLEASE come forward with your suggestions. Don’t be shy to put your own name in!

That’s all from me for another month.

Yours in cruising Editor Ian

Chairman's Report — April 2024

I was so disappointed to miss Mike Marshall’s run last month, but I had to attend the VCC executive meeting in Christchurch. Neil was unable to attend due to health issues, so I took on his role this one time. I am really pleased I did as the issues raised had some really robust and constructive discussions. The outcome is a proposal to change the makeup of the management committee to facilitate a better connection between themselves and all the branches. I think this is very positive and I am looking forward to sharing this with all of our members very soon.

A couple of weeks ago Ian Ingram said he was going to buy a Puch SRA150 and would I like to come to assist picking it up. Ian is a good friend, so I was willing. The trouble was the motor scooter was in Whakatane. I reckoned on 5 to 5.30 hours each way so a full day. We set off before 7.00am and arrived in Whakatane via Rotorua just on lunchtime.

The bike turned out to be a treasure if you like oily rag restorations. Everything works very well, and it was well worth the money discussed. Apparently, the owners wanted a cash deal so Ian had a selection of larger denomination notes but the last $500.00 was unique in that it was made up of $1.00 coins neatly stacked into pill containers. I believe there was $20.00 in each pill box so there was a lot of them. It all up weighed around 5 kilograms. You will have to ask Ian the story behind the pill containers.

We left Whakatane via a different route recommended to us by the sellers which took us over a Hydro Dam, past a very remote corner store and close to Murapara. This was very back road travelling and the maps we had were of no use. We were very glad when we finally joined back up with the main road near Taupo but it did take about 1 hour off our journey. I just love this process of discovering and recovering some of our motoring treasures.

I have just had some chrome plating done by Dave of Wanganui Electroplating. The front fork stanchions were delivered in a sorry state but Dave returned them absolutely pristine. I am very impressed by his workmanship. It now is my challenge to restore the rest of the bike to this great standard.

Andrew Dittmer Chairman

Club Captains Report April 2024

March continued the busy time for our members with a good selection of outings with our own club and visiting other clubs around the country.

The 60th Ruahine Ramble run by the Manawatu branch ended the week long Club Captains tour which was a huge success and will hopefully be attended by some of our members next year. The Ruahine Ramble went up the Pohangina Valley and back down to Kimbolton for lunch followed by an afternoon run. The morning’s part of the rally saw us drive through what had to be some of the nicest rally roads in the country. Even the weather played its part, I’ve heard when you’re North Island Club Captain you have an influence on the weather. This event was well supported by our members.

The following Sunday we went on Mike and Brenda Marshalls full day run, 20 cars and about 40 members attended from our club. We were joined by members from Taihape and Manawatu at the Rush Museum. Mike’s run to get to the Rush Museum was very enjoyable and the museum was a bit of a surprise as to the size and array of objects in the museum. We all now have a good argument when we say one of each item isn’t enough. After lunch we went to the Dench tractor collection and artwork in the garden, that was very interesting. A great day out.

Terry Price gave a very informative talk at the March club meeting on his work with compliance of vehicles and his career working in and around Wanganui. Terry is a very well known person around town and spoke very well about his work. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Terry.

Coming up we have the Annual Vintage Motorcycle Rally, if you want to be involved or be a spectator talk to Bill or Heather James.

Dale has organized a run to Craig & Laura Cleveland’s Funeral home on the 21st of April, the afternoon includes a short run, informative talk and afternoon tea hosted by Craig and Laura. Please support this event and bring your club eligible vehicles, people seeing our cars is a good way for us to promote the club.

Working Bee on the 18th of May, what a lot of fun they are and a great chance for a bit of fellowship and a lovely morning tea. Bring your tools for the usual working bee tasks.

That’s all from me for this month, keep enjoying the club and your cars. My main source of enjoyment at the moment seems to be coming from working on them, but it’s still fun.

Rob and Linda O’Keefe

Averys’ Adventures

I have so much pleasure in bring this article to these pages. I met Philip and wife Gillian when I joined the Military Vehicle Club and took a genuine liking to them. Philip is an extraordinarily talented man. He has restored many old military vehicles and Land Rovers since leaving his IT career behind him. His latest project is the restoration of an extremely rare 1940 Austin Tilley which they imported last year from Kenya sight unseen. Known as the Austin 4x2 Light Utility, this vehicle started life with the military in the UK. No doubt you will all see this for yourselves at a future ‘Restoration of the Year’ in our branch. Enough to make all you ‘Austineers’ salivate, I kid you not! I was thrilled to bits when this lovely couple joined the VCC last year. Please seek them out for a chat or ask me to introduce you to them at the next opportunity. Wife Gillian ( nee Hurley from Waitotara) has Military Vehicles in her blood. Here is their incredible story written by them for your enjoyment. Editor Ian

In 1989, at a tender age of 22, I ended my IT career & jointly set up a Land Rover parts company. The back-story being; a few months beforehand I dragged an old Land Rover from the family farm and as a spare-time project, set about doing it up. I soon encountered the problem of getting spare parts, as this Land Rover was too old for NZ Motor Corp and the likes to help, so I had to look further afield. The Land Rover is a 1948 ( first year of Land Rover production) and was bought new by my grandfather, a HB sheep and beef farmer. The search took me to Pukekohe where another guy was well into restoring a similar Land Rover and he was looking for a partner to set up a parts business. Pukekohe was where I went. The business flourished and by the mid ‘90s there was talk of major Land Rover events in the UK planned for 1998 –celebrating 50-years of Land Rover. As I would have a 50-year-old specimen, I declared I would ship my vehicle there and attend said events. This evolved into driving it there and then further evolved into driving it around the world and merely stopping over in the UK.

Gillian Hurley (now Avery) joined me in the Series One while Ken and Jocelyn Watkin, from Auckland, accompanied us in their 1966 Series IIA short wheel base Land Rover. On February 17, 1998 the vehicles were shipped from Auckland to Seattle, USA, and we spent 7 weeks travelling around America, reaching New York some 7,000 miles later. Once shipped to the UK we spent 3 months touring all over the British Isles with the highlight being several “Land Rover 50th Anniversary Shows”. August 8, with the mileage so far at 14,268, we crossed the English Channel with a convoy of early Land Rovers, many being 1948 models, for a Commemoration Tour to Switzerland. When the event ended, the rest of the convoy returned to the UK while we kept heading east. In fact we headed east for an entire year! Through Germany, Austria and Hungary we motored trouble-free and continued through Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Gallipoli was a highlight in Turkey and then we were into the unknown territory of Iran. The people there were surprisingly friendly and genuinely interested in what we were doing. Land Rovers (Series IIIs) were a common sight on their roads as they built them there under license from the UK in the 1970’s. Also plentiful was petrol which cost only 9 cents a litre - I was filling the tank for $NZ3.

Averys’ Adventures

Through the rugged lands of Pakistan to the border of India, the Land Rovers covering 23,400 miles to date and were bearing up well - performing perfectly for the last couple of arduous months. We took a break from the chaos in India and headed into Nepal where we rested in the cool air of the Himalayas. Returning to India we drove a gruelling 1,200 miles south to Madras Progress through India was excruciatingly slow – the hardest driving conditions of our entire trip. We were driving 10 hour days in order to cover 200 miles – 20mph average speed! The roads were badly pot-holed and full of overladen trucks doing about 20 mph which we were constantly passing. Together with crowds of people, donkeys, tractors and the sacred cows - it was a mission. Worse were the cities, where the main road turned into a maze of dirt streets with no sign posts. Vision was hampered by thick smoke from the two-stroke Tuk-Tuks, and road rules were a luxury the locals couldn’t afford! Great relief was the feeling as we flew out of Madras to Singapore – we and the vehicles had survived Asia and now the relatively easy jaunt across Australia to NZ. The Land Rovers arrived in Perth, Western Australia on Dec 31, 1998 and I became aware of another burnt exhaust valve. The ‘48 Land Rover had experienced several of these during the trip, but this was soon rectified by our onboard spares. Within a day we were on the road again and following the southern coastline to Sydney. This was a real holiday compared to the previous few months as we visited friends and took in the sights of Australia. The Land Rovers just hummed across the Nullabor Plain, taking less than 4 days, and finally a month later we rolled into our shipping agent’s yard in Sydney, destined for Auckland. The trip had taken exactly one year, some 32,311 miles (approx. 52,000kms), 26 countries and not one puncture for the 1948 Land Rover.

To the present… other vehicles in the shed are WWII variants, as the origin of the Land Rover is the WWII Jeep, so that’s where I went. In fact that is how I met my wife, Gillian. I was a fresh new member of the Military Vehicle Club at an off-road event with my newly acquired Jeep. I became horribly stuck in river shingle and the other Jeeps that were around just took off –declaring we don’t want to break our Jeeps getting you out! So I stood there with tow rope hand waiting for a larger 4WD vehicle to come by, and one did – a heavy-duty Dodge Weapons Carrier driven by a lady! “Excuse me Miss – any chance for a tow?”

The holy-grail for WWII vehicle enthusiasts is attending the D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France, as hundreds of WWII vehicles make the pilgrimage. In 2014 one such pilgrimage was planned for Aussie and NZ vehicles and we signed up. Five Aussie and five NZ vehicles shipped to Sicily where we were soon motoring across Italy, along the Croatian coast, over the Austrian and Bavarian mountains. Keeping off the motorways meant we were often battling with mountains – the most extreme being the Grossglockner Pass in Austria which had us at over 8000 ft. Through the rolling hills of western France we pushed on to the Normandy coast where we laid up for the week-long commemorations, including amazing swap-meets, road-side parts’ vendors and D-Day dawn beach display. 4,700kms covered so far. Departing for the final week of the trip and with only 800kms to go our Dodge suffered a broken valve and holed-piston on a French motorway. Game over for the Dodge, it was trucked off to our shipping point and we continued by rental car. We weren’t the only casualty, another NZ Dodge suffered catastrophic engine failure in Bavaria and its engine was a Toyota!

Averys’ Adventures

Five years on and not to be deterred, we had another go, this time in our WWII Jeep. Originally a group of Aussie/NZ vehicles were planned for a different route, this time shipping into southern Spain, motoring north into the south of France, then across to Normandy. For various reasons the others were non-starters, but Gilly and I elected to have a crack at it by ourselves. Shipping into Algeciras (near Gibraltar), we got off to a non-auspicious start – our Jeep was held by Spanish customs for 3-weeks! Spanish bureaucracy is second to none. The upside was we were able to extensively explore southern Spain with our rental car, including 2 visits to Gibraltar and a trip to Morocco. The downside was a short time to cover great distance in order to make the D-Day event. For the first 4 days we covered 400kms per day! By southern France we were able to relax the pace and merely cruised on to Normandy. Commemorations once again (200 Jeeps on Arromanches beach dawn event) then through the Somme region visiting WWI sites, Belgium, and shipped out of Rotterdam. 3,500 kms overall and the Jeep didn’t miss a beat

Bloody hell guys...you don’t do things by half, do you! I mean around the world in a 1948 Series1 Land Rover 80 and to Europe again TWICE...in a 1942 Dodge WC-52 Weapons Carrier, my favourite, and to top it off, a return trip in a 1943 Ford GPW Jeep! I mean, I struggle to drive my old Willys Jeep any further than 50km on the road!!

Note the inscription on the back of the Land Rover. Literally around the world. Great story thank you.

Editor Ian

Philip and Gillian Avery

65th Burma Rally Pics

Above

Below

Below

Top left: 1966 Renault R8 with Paraparaumu’s Phil and Pat Pearce at the start.

Top right: Wanganui’s Sam and Irene Wilson in their 1958 Morris Minor 1000.

Above left: Wanganui, 1928 Ford Model A Pickup belonging to John and Wendy Bullock

right: 1959 Hillman Minx with Paraparaumu’s Colin and Cheryl Brooks aboard.

left: Win and Daphne Williams from Levin in their 1980 Ford Cortina 2.L

right: 1931 Ford Model A with Don McLaren and Julie Riepen also from Levin

Mike and Brenda’s Run to Feilding

About 5 years ago Bruce Ardell, Dave Dench and myself were having a coffee at the Horowhenua swap meet and we discussed the idea of going to see Terry Rush’s racing car collection and Dave Dench’s International tractors and trucks. I worked out a run and a date but COVID came along and all our plans flew out the window.

last December I told Rob and Linda my plans and Rob said make a date and I will run with it. We decided on March 17th we also invited the Taihape and Manawatu members to join us which they did.

It was a beautiful day for a run in the country an after viewing Terry ‘s wonderful collection of racing cars, motorbikes and models, everyone ate their picnic lunches on Terry and Joy’s manicured lawn.

After lunch there was a short run to see Dave and Gail Dench’s collection of International tractors, trucks, models and memorabilia.

Everyone agreed it was a great day out. Thanks to Terry and Joy, Dave and Gail and everyone who supported Mike and Brenda’s Run to Feilding.

Mike Marshall.

Thank you Mike and Brenda for organising this well planned Sunday Run. I enjoyed the lovely back roads into Feilding-first time for me. Editor Ian.

65th Burma Rally Pics

Left: 1970 Singer Vogue, driver is James Whibley, Whanganui. Thomas Wilson the navigator

Right: David and Glynis Robinson, Whanganui, in their 1930 Ford Model A.

Top left: 1969 Ford Zephyr with Elvery and Ada Hunt from Palmerston North.

Top right: Colin and Tracey Matthews from Whanganui in their 1944 Willys Jeep.

Above left: 1973 MGB Roadster with Barry and Tessa Keene all the way from Whakatane.

Above right: Sue Voss and Dale Whitaker from Whanganui in Sue’s 1978 Morris Marina.

Below left:1955 Hillman Californian from Marton with Michael Hirst and Trevor Evans.

Below right: Philip and Gillian Avery, Whanganui, in their 1948 Land Rover 80.

Annual Rally

2nd June 2024

Incorporating

70th Anniversary Rally

Sponsored by: Higgins Poultry Farm Ltd.

Entries close 17th May 2024

Wanganui Branch Vintage Car Club of New Zealand Inc.

Classes

Programme

Saturday 1st June

3-5.00pm You can collect your rally packs from the Clubrooms 25 Patapu St, Wanganui East.

Sunday 2nd June

Bring your own picnic lunch and tea/coffee gear including your thermos of hot water.

9.00am Assemble at the Cornmarket Reserve, Somme Parade, Wanganui.

9.15am Safety briefing, all drivers and navigators must attend.

9.30am First car away.

Dinner and prizegiving will be held in the Eulogy Lounge at the Racecourse, Purnell Street.

Period dress is encouraged but optional.

6.00pm Pre-dinner drinks.

6.30pm Dinner.

Entries close: 17th May 2024. Late entries accepted will be entered as non-competitive. Preferred method of entry is by online registration at the site bit.ly/2024wvccar. If registering online you still need to make payment by bank deposit. Alternatively, by

Bank

Rally Regulations

1. This rally is open to vehicles as defined in the rules of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.)

2. Eligible entrants must be current financial members of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.), or overseas residents who are members of a recognised Antique Motoring Club. The entrant must be either the driver, rider, navigator, or passenger of the vehicle entered. Invited guests are deemed Non-Competitive and should not interfere with the competitive section of the rally.

3. Actions that may bring The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) into disrepute will incur disqualification.

4. Any entrant found using any electronic navigation device may be disqualified.

5. Any vehicle changes made after the closing date will see the entry moved to the non-competitive class.

6. We prefer that you carry a fire extinguisher in your vehicle.

7. Safety briefing: Entrants must attend the pre-rally briefing at 9.15am on Sunday 2nd June 2024.

Please support our Sponsors

65th Burma Rally Pics

Top left: Ken and Annette Foot, Feilding, in their 1958 Humber 80.

Top right: Another Humber, a 90, belonging to Bruce and Janet Pullan, Te Kauwhata.

Above left: 1964 Hillman series 5 with Mike Green and Les Kelly, Whanganui, aboard.

Above right: Bruce Thomas and Jacky Evans, Whanganui, in Bruce’s 1952 Vauxhall Velox.

Below left: 1965 Rover 110 with Peter Toy and Kate Claughton from Whanganui.

Below right: Neville Gorrie and Roy Sharman, Whanganui, in the 1950 Bradford S/W. That’s all the available space for the Burma entrants in this issue. The remaining 15 in the May Rivet. Sorry it has taken so long. Please have patience to see your pride and joy in these pages. Editor Ian

Club Calendar

Club Runs meet at the Clubrooms at 1pm unless stated

April 11th Ladies Coffee Meet at Mitre 10. 11am.

20th Annual Autumn Vintage Motorcycle Rally. Open to ALL Motorcycles. Contact Bill or Heather James 027 353 2190

21st Dale’s Run. Includes a short run and afternoon tea hosted by Craig and Laura Cleveland at their Funeral Home as well as an informative visit.

25th ANZAC Day. Ladies Coffee Meet at McDonalds Lifiton Street at 11am.

28th River City Rodders Parkup at City College. Meet in Cooks Street at 7.45am

May 1st Club Night 7.30pm. Guest speaker.

9th & 23rd Ladies Coffee Meet Mitre 10. 11am

12th Sietse & Pierre Sunday Run. Afternoon tea to be confirmed.

18th Working Bee. Clubrooms 9am-12 noon.

19th Toy Fair. Sietse & Pierre inviting participants to attend.

Various other Rallies and events regularly emailed to Members

107 Rapanui Road Westmere

‘

Farm shop opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 8am to 5pm Saturday 8am to 1-30 pm

Bates Watchmakers

130 Victoria Ave, Wanganui

Phone/Fax 06 345-2235

Email: bateswatch@gmail.com

Watch Specialists for Whanganui

Sales & Repairs

Mainstreet’s Top Shop Award Winner

WANGANUI ELECTROPLATING CO. LTD

NZ’s Finest Automotive Platers’ 68 Wilson Street Wanganui

Acknowledged experts on all types of Vintage and Post Vintage Nickel and Chrome Plating.

For all your METAL FINISHING REQUIREMENTS

Copper, Brass, Bronze, Antique Finishing and Metal Polishing

Phone Dave on Wanganui 06 345 5042 or 021 057 6726 for prompt and efficient service.

Ed Boyd Parts Shed

We have an outstanding collection of engines, gearboxes, body parts, spares, new and used, from a vast range of manufacturers. These parts span from the early 1900’s to more modern production vehicles. If you are looking for anything, large or small, to keep your car on the road call us to see if we can assist. You will find our prices unbelievable. Please call or email us:

Dave 06 347 6915 027 555 4201 whanganuiriverboats@xtra.co.nz

Chris 06 348 7335 027 443 1184 cgandkrwhite@gmail.com

Graeme 06 3431324 027 929 5026 graemepurves@yahoo.com

lf we don’t have it, we may know someone who does

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor

To the Wanganui Branch:

Thankyou so much for making the recent Club Captain's North Island Tour such a success. From the start your members were there to support us, with a few coming along to the "Barracks" for the meal on the Saturday night, a great turnout for the Sunday run up the River Road and then a good contingent at the dinner in your Clubrooms. A heartfelt thanks to all those involved in what ever capacity, special thanks to the "team" in the kitchen. What a great meal and atmosphere, even down to Tour placemats on the tables!

You have a terrific bunch of people who make the Whanganui Branch a most enjoyable place to visit time and time again. Cath and I have been regulars for many years and have always enjoyed ourselves with the many new friends we continue to make on our trips.

Thanks good people of the Wanganui VCC, you make being part of this great Club of ours a pleasure to be involved with.

In the words of Arnie...."I'll be back"

Best Regards

Glyn Clements NICC

For Sale

For Sale: Morris Minor 1000 gearbox. Good condition. Put straight in. $350. Phone Sam Wilson 06 343 6477

Obituary

We offer our condolences to Members Pat and Paul Tasker and their families over the sad loss of their Mother, Bev Tasker.