The Radiator Cap
December 2019 Newsletter 1
COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2019 Chairman
Anne Richardson
09 425 6298 / 021 277 9010
ricanne@gmail.com
Secretary
Peter Yarham
09 422 9685
pyarham@xtra.co.nz
Treasurer
Dave Oliver
027 443 8046
ollie.d@gmail.com
Club Captain
Paul Hodder
09 422 4067 / 027 473 4350
4hodders@gmail.com
CC’s Team
Neil Cremer
09 425 4955
neilm @xtra.co.nz
CC’s Team
Frances Ross
09 425 8737
Rep to ExCo
Anne Richardson
09 425 6298 / 021 277 9010
ricanne@gmail.com
Hospitality Convenors
Anne & Dennis McDonald
A: 021 214 2267 D: 021 265 2466
annedenmac@gmail.com
Social Convenor Neil & Lucy Cremer
09 425 4955
neilm @xtra.co.nz
Property Supervisors
09 425 7622 09 425 6139
yorksandlancs@gmail.com doug.hamil@xtra.co.nz
Health & Safety Brian Payne
09 425 9262
banddpayne@xtra.co.nz
Vehicle ID
09 425 9928
gloria-james-lawrie@xtra.co.nz
Motorcycle Rep Dave Oliver
027 443 8046
ollie.d@gmail.com
Librarian
09 425 8737
George Lloyd Doug Hamilton
James Lawrie
Frances Ross
Editor/Reporter Chris Harvey
09 422 2662 / 022 365 0171
chris.harvey@westnet.com.au
Badges
Dave Oliver
027 443 8046
ollie.d@gmail.com
Add. Member
Leon Salt
09 423 8122 / 027 423 8122
brendda@xtra.co.nz
Add. Member
Brendda Salt
09 423 8122
brendda@xtra.co.nz
Branch address PO Box 547, Warkworth 0941 Bank a/c
wellsfordwarkworth@vcc.org.nz
BNZ 02-0480-0047413-000
Visit our website at
VERO agency No. 0300159
www.vcc-wellswark.org.nz
VERO free phone 0800 658 411
The deadline for contribu ons to the Newsle er is the 23rd of the month. The views expressed in this newsle er are not necessarily the views of the Branch. 2
Sat 30 Nov
Wellsford Santa: meet at Community Centre at 10:00 for 11:30 start
Sun 1 Dec
Warkworth Santa: meet at Baxter Street at 10:00 for 11:30 start
Wed 4 Dec
12:00 Midweek picnic at the Esplanade, Manly Beach, Whangaparoa
Sun 15 Dec
12:00 Christmas Lunch at The Salty Dog Inn, Snell’s Beach $30 pp
Wed 8 Jan
12:00 Midweek picnic at Scandre ’s Bay
Thu 16 Jan
19:00 Club Commi ee
Wed 5 Feb
12:00 Midweek picnic
Sat 8 Feb
Leigh School Summer Fes val
Thu 13 Feb
17:30 Club Night
Wed 19 Feb
10:00 Cleaning & Coffee
Thu 20 Feb
19:30 Club Commi ee
Sat 29 Feb
Swapmeet
Wed 4 Mar
12:00 Midweek picnic
Thu 12 Mar
17:30 Club Night
Wed 18 Mar
10:00 Coffee & Cleaning
Thu 19 Mar
17:30 Club Commi ee
Christmas Lunch on 15 December: RSVP to Anne & Dennis by 10 December Wednesday picnics on 4 Dec, 8 Jan, 5 Feb & 4 Mar Santa Parades on 30 Nov & 1 Dec and Swapmeet on 29 Feb Cleaning & Coffee on Wed 19 Feb and 18 Mar: please join in and help
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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
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nne has been away most of the month touring India. She is due back soon.
Late October and November have been even ul as Paul reports. The run to Port Albert and the Far North Tour were both enjoyed in beau ful weather. The Far North Tour again took us over roads I cannot recall travelling. The gravel stretches were in good order and the coastal run from Whangaroa down to Matauri Bay was spectacular. This coming weekend features two Christmas parades. Wellsford’s is on Saturday star ng from the Community Centre at the top of the town and running to the railway sta on and back. We need to assemble there at 10.00 a.m. Warkworth’s is on Sunday and starts from the end of Baxter St. Again, we need to assemble by 10.00 a.m. The Christmas dinner is on Sunday 15 December at the Salty Dog Inn. Please let Dennis or Anne McDonald know you are coming before 10 December and don’t forget the Secret Santa gi – one each! At our club commi ee mee ng we were given a training session on the use and opera on of the club’s new defibrillator. It is kept on the library shelves and is clearly signposted. It is very straight forward to use with clear recorded instruc ons being given as soon as the green bu on is pressed. If you’re not already a member of St Johns, it’s perhaps worth considering joining. Adver sed annual subs are: $50 for an individual, $65 for joint membership and $80 for family membership but I understand these are about to go up if they haven’t already. Non-members are always charged for the service if it is required. James & George have had a busy month carrying out vehicle inspec ons for VICs. A VIC is essen al for entering a vehicle in a Na onal or Interna onal event. They can some mes take me to process so folk should not leave it to the last minute to obtain a VIC.
Our annual Swap Meet to be held on 29 February 2020 will be upon us before we know it. It is our main fund-raiser for the year so please circle the date. I will be sending out a roster in early February with names alongside the various jobs we need to have covered at the event. Finally, a message from Anne: It is nearly the end of the calendar year again. Time seems to fly by. I would like to thank all the commi ee members for their support this year and all those members who have helped the club in any way. All your contribu ons are much appreciated. I will be home as this newsle er goes out, so I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas & a Healthy New Year. Happy motoring;
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CLUB CAPTAIN’S REPORT
T
he end of the year is in sight and we seem to be heading there with what seems like a “sprint to the finish line”! This month has seen a few interes ng events star ng with the Coast to Coast run on 27 October. A wonderful sunny Spring day saw 10 cars lining up at the Omaha Surf Life Saving Club car park for the start. A quick briefing and we were away for a jaunt through the local countryside to end up at the wharf at Port Albert and, more importantly, we enjoyed lunch at the fish and chip shop! Over 2-3 November a number of cars from our club entered the 47th Far North Tour. Star ng from the Northland’s clubrooms in Heritage Park in Whangarei, we headed west and then north to stop at Kaeo School for a superb buffet-style lunch put on by the PTA. The a ernoon’s run included some truly spectacular views at the scenic lookouts as we made our way back to Kerikeri for the evening. On our way home on Sunday we stopped at the Northland’s clubrooms for a quick cuppa and a rummage through their large spare parts department.
The first of this summer’s picnics was at Snell’s Beach. This had an a endance of around 15 people. As to upcoming events… ∑
Sunday 24 November is the Posh Picnic. This will be held at Leon and Brendda Salt’s place at 413 Whangaripo Valley Rd at Midday. ∑
Christmas Parade #1 Saturday 30 November is the Wellsford Christmas Parade. Please be at the Wellsford Community Centre on Matheson Rd by 10:00 am to dress up your car with decora ons for the parade star ng at 11:30 am. ∑
Christmas Parade #2 Sunday 1 December is the Warkworth Christmas Parade. Please be at the end of Baxter St by 10:00 am (again) to decorate your car to be ready for the parade star ng at 11:30 am. ∑
Wednesday 4 December is the midweek picnic. This will be at the Esplanade at Manly Beach in Whangaparoa at midday. ∑
Sunday 15 December is the Club Christmas Lunch at the Salty Dog Inn at 12:00 noon. The cost is $30. per person payable at the door and only in cash. RSVP to Anne or Dennis McDonald by 10 December. We will be doing a Secret Santa. Ladies bring a gi for a lady and gents bring a blokey gi . All gi s to the maximum value of $5. ∑
NO club commi ee mee ng in December.
Wednesday 8 January is the January midweek picnic at Scandre ’s Bay, at midday. Till next me...may your Santa hat s ll have on it he decora ons le over from last year. Paul 5
CLUB CAR OF THE MONTH ANNE & DENNIS’S 1965 MG 1100
A
t a Christmas func on in 2015 I was talking with a group of people and the topic of vintage and classic cars came up. As it so happened, Anne and I had been toying with the idea of finding a vintage|classic car with which to have some fun and a er further discussion with the group we heard of an MG 1100 that was for sale. We managed to obtain a contact number and—yes—the vehicle was s ll for sale and a consequently a trip to was arranged to Te Aroha where the car was located. So off we went to inspect the vehicle. accompanied by our neighbours Ian and Eileen Cunningham, Ian being an old-school mechanic. A er two hours or so of close inspec on— including pu ng it up on a hoist at a local garage—and a road test, we decided to buy it. Two weeks later we went back to Te Aroha to pick up the car a er a couple of minor requirements (a Warrant of Fitness etc). This was followed by a very uneven ul drive back to Mahurangi West with my second oldest grand-daughter who loves the car and has given me strict instruc ons never to sell it as she wants it, come what may. 6
ANNE &DENNIS’S 1965 MG 1100—CONT.
I don’t have much history about the car, however I believe it was assembled in Newmarket, Auckland and sold by Coster Motors on Dominion Road in 1965. At some stage in its life it was put into storage for about 15 years, hence the steel brake lines suffered internal rust issues and they needed replacing. Some inves ga ve work on the gearbox gave an opportunity to replace the clutch while the engine was out of the car. A new set of res was fi ed and it had a full service of the cooling system, including a strip-down and total rebuild of the radiator, as well as a professional clean. Other than that, all that it requires is regular love and care: lots of elbow grease to keep her sparkling and regular use to keep her moving. Use it or lose it, as the saying goes. Numerous rallies later she has done us proud and never let us down. Long may you con nue to do so, Marigold, as you are affec onally named. Dennis
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P
VEHICLE INSPECTION CERTIFICATES lease note that Head Office (VCC NZ) now requires all VIC Applica ons to be recorded in Branch Mee ng Minutes before being posted to Head Office.
As there is no Branch Commi ee mee ng in December, this means that no new applica ons for VICs will be posted un l a er the mee ng on 16th January 2020 ! James Lawrie VIC Inspector
Discounted rates for NZ VCC members on The Interislander, and Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific & Tranzalpine trains. Book at www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz/members-fares using Promo Code WH5465
Save $0.20 cpl on diesel for 3 months star ng 1st December (therea er $0.15 cpl) and also save up to $0.12 cpl on petrol. Sign up at www.nzmca.org.nz/kiwi-fuel-cards 8
MYSTERY MOTORS
W
hat car is this?
Last month’s mystery motor was the 1938 Buick Y-Job, considered to be the first ‘concept car’, and a fully func onal one at that. It was commissioned and inspired by Harley Earl who was head of GM’s Art & Colour Sec on but was actually designed by George Snyder and engineered by Charlie Chayne, and Earl used it as his personal car throughout the 1940s. Its low, full-width frontal sheet-metal and radiator grille with hidden lights (possibly copied from the 1937 Cord) was in stark contrast to the prevailing style of high ver cal radiator grilles, separate head lights and mudguards flowing into running boards. It had electric windows and a powerretractable so top that stored beneath a metal deck panel when the top was open. The war years put a brake on car design but the style of this car was a good ten years ahead of the pack.
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ADDRESS
If undelivered return to PO Box 547 Warkworth 0941
Sales.warkworth@guthriebowron,co.nz Tel 09 425 8187 Fax 09 425 8585
STAMP
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