A Tale of Two Caddies

WORDS AND PHOTOS BOB HAYTON

Another day in North America.

Charles Dickens wrote his epic novel A Tale of Two Cities against the grim backdrop of the French Revolution as well as life in 19th century London and Paris. At the time depicted, in 1844 the Auckland Cucksey family progenitors, James and his wife Mary welcomed into their lives in Greenwich, London, a son Alfred and a brother for Henry. In 1867 at the age of 23, Alfred was setting his sights on a better life on the far side of the world. He duly arrived in the port of Auckland in September of that year on the clipper ship Siam after 105 days at sea, to join his married older brother Henry who was at that time running a music salon in Queen Street. Alfred initially tried experimenting with uses for flax, but after a while went to the Thames goldfields where he was credited with discovering a new method of recovering gold from tailings. In 1870 he married Catherine Margaret Williams with whom he had three children. By 1874 Alfred had returned to Auckland and gone into trade, taking over a grocery business in Wakefield Street. Later, in 1881, he was to buy land to build a home and general store on the corner of Stokes and Mt Eden Roads, on the edge of a growing city.

By 1886 Alfred was providing postal facilities at these corner premises as well and then, soon after the turn of the century, he rebuilt and further extended the property with five shops. This was now popularly known as Cucksey’s Corner and had by then become the terminus for the trams coming up from Queen Street to Mt Eden. Margaret died in 1901 and Alfred married twice more (to Emily Shipway in 1911 and Charlotte Eleanor Smith in 1919) before he himself died in 1922 following a period of ill health. He left behind a widow and just one surviving son. Alfred had been very active in local affairs and by then had become known locally as ‘The Father of Mt. Eden’. There had been a daughter, Eleanor (Nellie) born 1871 who married late and died rather young in 1918. Also two sons, Alfred James born in 1872 who had also died young in 1920 and Edward Henry born in 1877. The years 1918 to 1920 were the time of the world-wide Spanish ‘Flu epidemic, which affected life in New Zealand so badly. The remaining son, Edward Henry was later nick-named Nudger because of his habit of nudging punters with a wink and a tip to back a certain horse. He was clearly something of a character – an accomplished singer, champion amateur cyclist, race-horse aficionado and interested early in all forms of motoring. It is said that he imported the first Indian motorcycle into New Zealand in 1905 and later had probably the first local Citroen Traction Avant car. In 1908 Nudger married Mabel Thomas in Christchurch. He was the respected proprietor of the Helensville Hotel in 1912, then is recorded as applying to renew his licence as the publican of Opotiki’s Masonic Hotel in 1920.

Evidently prosperous, at the time of Alfred’s death in 1922 Nudger and Mabel were away on an extensive rail and motor touring trip to the USA and Europe, taking delivery of a Cadillac car in America, which they also used in the United Kingdom and on the Continent. Being childless, they had adopted their young niece

Nudger, Mabel and Dorothy in North America. Cuckseys and friends, Yosemite.

Nudger with pony in Te Awamutu.

Dorothy (who thus changed her name from Plumley to Cucksey), following her own parents’ untimely death in the epidemic of 1918. Dorothy was at that time a boarder at the Sonning School for Girls in Hamilton, which was in time to become Diocesan. Later, during the heady days of the mid-1920s and now living in Auckland, they set off again by sea in 1927 for a world tour with, by now, seventeen-year-old Dorothy in tow. However not before ordering a Cadillac 7-seat limousine to be picked up in Detroit when they arrived there.

They sailed from Auckland aboard the USS Co. liner RMS Aorangi in early May, travelling via Suva and Honolulu, finally arriving at Vancouver, Canada, at the end of the month. It was here Nudger purchased a three-year-old left-hand drive 1924 Cadillac V63 7-seater touring car to transport them until picking up their new motor car in Detroit. Spurning the use of travellers cheques or other forms of more secure credit, Nudger is reputed to have carried their travel funds in a money-belt, in the form of gold nuggets! No doubt an ounce or two would have been required to secure the car. At least our man went prepared, as the V63 Caddie was later photographed in the States carrying a New Zealand number board.

Photographs taken at the time allow a fair idea of their tour route in the Cadillac. This seems to have been from Vancouver, through Seattle and south along Old Highway 99 (now largely the route of Interstate 5), following inland from the west coast to Portland and via the redwoods to Santa Rosa, a visit to San Francisco and nearby Stanford, then inland to Yosemite, south to Los Angeles and then eastward. They crossed the Mojave Desert, then the Colorado River on the Needles-Topock bridge following Highway 66 (Route 66, with its route markers and information, was formally established in November 1926), until turning at Williams to view the Grand Canyon. Back on 66 through Flagstaff, it is more than likely that the Mother Road (as the recognised transcontinental route at that time), took them through Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Amarillo, Oklahoma City and St Louis to Chicago – almost the same route that had been followed by Nudger and Mabel, but by train on the Santa Fe railway, some five years earlier.

On arriving in Detroit their new car was not ready, so it was decided to have that one sent on directly to New Zealand. They continued the trip in the tourer by way of the Canadian cities of London and Hamilton to Niagara, thence past the top of the New York State Finger Lakes and Jacob’s Ladder, to Boston in Massachusetts. Washington DC and then Atlantic City. Then to New York where they embarked on the RMS Scythia (a single funnel, 20,000 ton Cunard liner built by Vickers in 1920) on its August sailing and whose trans-Atlantic route to Liverpool had a stop at Cobh (Queenstown) in Ireland. Their tour of the United Kingdom was extensive, taking in all the principal sites of England, Wales, Scotland and also Ireland. Dorothy saved mementos from her many visits to theatres and events in London, whilst Nudger attended the British Grand Prix at Brooklands in October 1927 and the Lord Mayor’s Show in London, in November of that year.

Although it is unclear where they joined the ship, the family finally departed Europe aboard RMS Macedonia which left England around New Year 1928. This was a twin screw, 11,000 ton, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) ship built by Harland & Wolf Ltd at Belfast in 1903, which at that time was operating on the India and Far East Run. They certainly visited Monte Carlo and

Mabel and travel stained Cadillac.

other popular towns such as St Tropez and Cannes in the south of France. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that they motored to the CÔte d’Azur and then went aboard at the ship’s regular port of call of Marseille. The V63 would most likely have travelled with them and certainly did arrive back in New Zealand to be re-united with the family. In the meantime photos show that the world tour continued, with a further stop in Singapore before arriving in Hong Kong. From there our three travellers made a transfer to the Eastern and Australian Steam Navigation Company (E&A) vessel TSS Tanda (a 7,000 ton ship built in Scotland in 1912 as the Madras). This vessel was on a regular Australia to the Far East run, leaving for Shanghai and the southern Japanese ports of Kobe and Yokohama before returning to Hong Kong. It then went on with calls at Manila in the Philippines, Borneo, the Timor Sea Torres Strait islands and east coast ports in Australia.

By the end of March 1928 they were home again. Not to the familiarity of Cucksey’s Corner though, as their new life beckoned in Auckland where Nudger took over the Prince Arthur Hotel located near the present day Skytower. It was here that they took delivery of the new right-hand-drive 1928 model 341A 7-passenger limousine car direct from Detroit. At some time in the early 1930s, Nudger and Mabel moved south to look after the Te Awamutu Hotel located on the corner of Sloane and Alexandra Streets. This building has long been demolished and nowadays its former site is occupied by shops. The row of shops in Mt Eden, which still stands today, were inherited from his father and were retained by Nudger until his death, no doubt providing a comfortable and steady income.

Both cars were well known around Te Awamutu in the 1930s, being often seen on family outings and at race meetings. The tourer was famously used on occasion to transport foals and other livestock in the back-seat area, or to feed out hay on their small Te Awamutu farm, with the jump-seats folded away. It would be seen loaded with gear and towing a horse float to race meetings around the North Island - Nudger was a successful owner and very keen follower of flat, steeplechase and harness racing. Bill Grant, father of the late Waikato Branch member Barrie Grant, used to drive the car for the Cuckseys while he was working on the Joe Storey farm at Te Rahu. On one occasion in 1938, when he was pulling a loaded two-horse float to Cambridge races, Bill was told by Nudger “Take care, Boy! It’s the best car you will ever drive”. ‘Boy’ was at the time father of four sons! It is also on record that Nudger and Mabel used one of the Cadillacs to complete a tour of New Zealand in 1930 or ‘31, driving the Taupo to Napier road before the 1931 earthquake and going as far south as Invercargill. In all of the records, correspondence or memorabilia available there is never any suggestion that either car caused any trouble while put to use by the Cucksey family.

From time to time both cars were taken for a lube to Advance Cars Ltd in Te Awamutu by Nudger, where Ron Patterson was a young apprentice designated to do the job. Late Waikato Branch member, Grant Patterson, who was later to own the 1924 tourer, recalled that his father was not very interested in helping with the lube job when it was required, no doubt having had his fill of its complexity in earlier years. Grant has recorded that his mother Jean also worked for the Cuckseys in the pre-war years as a maid at their Te Awamutu hotel.

Dorothy married Leonard Kay in 1932, going to live on their Korakonui farm near Kihikihi. In time it was Leonard’s brother Alan that took ownership of the 1924 V63 tourer, which was last seen on the roads around the area in the 1940s and later on his property at Arapuni. It was here that Barrie Grant, riding round the district in 1952 on his LE Velocette motorcycle, and on the lookout for a suitable old car to buy for weekend work, first saw the tourer in a rather poor state. He just had to have it and persuaded his father to lend him the necessary money until he could repay it from his apprentice motor mechanic wages. Father and son, together with the local carrier Paddy Kempthorne, then set about bringing the car back home to Ngahinapouri. As soon as he saw it, Bill Grant recognised the Caddie as the car he had driven before the war.

Barrie immediately started to pull the car apart, doing more of a clean-up than a restoration. He had it running by 1956 and drove around the paddocks with it in chassis form. Then he and wife Lynn moved into Hamilton and the car was now destined to sit in Bill’s Rotokauri scrap yard, protected by an old bus body. 1959 came around and Barrie had the chance to purchase a Cadillac V16 limo, which he could not refuse. This car is now on display at the Nelson Classic Car Museum (formerly WOW) following a more recent full restoration. A year or two passed and with an impending business move to Tokoroa for Barrie, something had to go. Fortunately Fred Ryan, a locomotive driver with NZR, came into the picture and in 1962 bought the V63, restoring some parts of the car and gathering some further historical information. After earlier restoring a 1930 Cadillac 353 service car (ex Webbs Motors of Raetahi and later part of Newman’s fleet) Fred Ryan’s son Danny eventually gained ownership and in 1990 set about completing a thorough nut and bolt restoration of the V63 tourer.

The painstaking work was undertaken by Danny and Fred, with help from Barrie Grant in rebuilding the engine and gearbox. Ivon Ryan prepared and painted the chassis, Graeme Parkinson repaired or remade parts and gave assistance with assembly work, John Curtis assembled the wooden components and Rob Bouwknegt did the painting with a finish of green over black. All this activity enabled the car to be started again in 1996, for the first time in 40 years. With a mere 200 miles on the now restored speedometer, Danny and Vicki Ryan (together with Fred Ryan and Vicki’s parents, Les and Eve), drove to Christchurch for the VCC 50th Anniversary Rally, arriving home three weeks later having covered a further 2,000 relatively incident free miles. The V63 Caddie was later taken to the colonial village at Mystery Creek near Hamilton, where it was photographed with Danny and Vicki, for use on the Vintage Car Club’s Royal & SunAlliance Rally 2000 poster and programme.

By 2007, with room needed as the Ryan workshop was filling up with too many projects, the Caddie found a ready Hamilton buyer in Grant Patterson whose parents we have seen had previous experience with the vehicle and the Cucksey family. Grant and his wife Anita used the car in local VCC and Cadillac Club events, as well as on local coffee runs, while also carrying out finishing work and substantial research into its previous ownership and history. Among the information that Grant uncovered with his fastidious research were details of the original manufacturing data from the GM archives. Known correctly as a 1924 V63 Cadillac 7-seater tourer, the car has chassis and engine number 63-A-1626 (number 1626 off the production line) and it still has the original motor. This is a 314 cubic inch, 90-degree, L-head V8 with balanced crankshaft. It runs morse chain instead of fan belts and has two water pumps. The 4-wheel braking was original when the car was delivered to its first owner, a Detroit newspaper magnate, in December 1923. Unfortunately, at a far-too-early age, Grant became very ill and passed away in 2013, leaving the V63 in the care of Anita, where it remains today.

During the research carried out by Grant, clues were uncovered regarding the possible fate of the second Cucksey car, the 1928 Model 341A limo. Nudger died in 1954 (remarried to Tui after Mabel had preceded him in 1937), but it was probably during WWII that it was purchased from him by Alfred & Edward Brown, colourful proprietors of Cambridge Service Station in a location on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets now occupied by the town’s Z fuel outlet. It is said that their tow truck had been requisitioned for the war effort, so they used the Caddie to do breakdown towing work. Alfred’s son and Waikato Branch member Terry Brown can recall riding in the car as a small boy in the late 1940s. Dennis (Dinny) Kelly had the car for quite a while later in the 1950s to run in his Cambridge to Auckland service car operation alongside a Packard Clipper, a run which was later replaced by a NZ Railways bus service. This led to a sale to Russell Plaw who farmed on Victoria Road in nearby Hautapu, where the Caddie was used on local roads and at times about the farm property. Elaine Heaslip (now Budd), also living on Victoria Road, is shown as the limo’s owner in November 1964, but she may have had the car earlier than that. Elaine was the daughter of Russell Plaw and upon marriage built a home with her husband on land sub-divided from the family farm. 1964 was also the year when those permanent silver/black number plates were first issued in New Zealand, so Elaine’s car got a new number and from then on wore DB2686.

Not driven very much by Elaine, the car was sold again locally and later advertised for sale for a substantial amount in the American motoring press by the next owner, Denis Arnold of nearby Fencourt. Apparently it was not sold to the US as it came into the hands of Colin Higgins, a second-hand car dealer with a couple of small yards in Cambridge, who at that time lived on Taylor Street. He subsequently sold it in 1979 to a New Zealand Cadillac enthusiast, Denis McLachlan of Oxford in Canterbury. Fortunately, at a time when he was president of the NZ Cadillac/ La Salle Club, Denis maintained quite comprehensive records of the many Cadillacs he was able to locate around the country and is certain he obtained the 341A from Higgins for the sum of $1,000. He also recorded it had a Fleetwood limousine body with cloth roof and a towbar fork on the back suitable for a hay rake. Perhaps more likely though, this fork would have been fitted by the Brown brothers during their breakdown towing days. After doing some preparation work, Denis set out to drive the car to the South Island. On the Desert Road traffic enforcement claimed he was clocked downhill at 78 mph; luckily, this seemed so unlikely to all concerned that he was not ticketed. His good luck did not last however, as the journey home was terminated prematurely at Kaikoura with wheel problems: the car subsequently arrived at Oxford on a trailer. Denis claims that he purchased the vehicle with the intention of restoring it for his own use, it being still registered by him for the road at least during the 1981/82 period. But after starting the restoration, by the mid-1980s he had sold the limo to David Merryweather of Auckland for whom he completed further work before the car was sent north again.

Now, Cadillac enthusiast Danny Ryan comes back into the picture. While undertaking full restoration of the V63 tourer, he was contacted about the limo. It was now at Gulf Motor Bodies Ltd in Auckland, restoration work having come to a standstill. The owner, it appears, had lost interest. So, the 341A was purchased by Danny from David Merryweather in 1993 as a partially restored project intended for future completion. It still carried those silver/ black plates of DB2686 at that time, indicating that it was indeed the same car. Having done no further work on the vehicle over the intervening years and with too many projects in the workshop to complete, Danny felt that it needed to move on again. The new owner in 1998 became Phil Dunstan of Queenstown, so back it went again to the South Island.

Phil makes no claims to be a mechanic, limiting his involvement to building a double garage to work in at Wanaka and, with the invaluable help of the late Robert Duncan, hiring different people to complete all outstanding work required. This included finishing the bodywork and rebuilding the engine, which initially would

Dorothy Kay reunited with the Cadillac in 1996.

1928 Limo at Skippers Canyon. 1928 Limo at Wanaka Museum May 2012.

not run well. Eventually it was found that factory timing marks were incorrect. Having solved that little problem, the car is now nice to drive, cruising comfortably at 55mph despite its low ratio differential. Somewhere along the way the silver/black number plates have become mislaid so the limousine is now registered as AGE182, although Phil would be keen to see it return to its earlier identification if this proves possible. Finished in dark blue with upholstery in Bedford cord, it is used occasionally for weddings or pleasure motoring, residing mostly now at the Warbirds and Wheels Museum in Wanaka.

The story would not be complete without mention of a couple of events which have occurred around the Waikato in more recent years. In 1996 Danny, Vicki and Fred Ryan took the V63 to Te Awamutu specially to visit Dorothy Kay. She had so willingly provided them access to historical information and photographs from the car’s past over the preceding five years to assist with the restoration. One surely has to wonder what would be passing through her mind as she once again rode around town in the very same vehicle as on that great touring adventure with her relatives almost seventy years previously. Dorothy has now passed on, but her help has ensured that a good legacy has remained for posterity. Ten years later, and once the tourer had passed to Grant Patterson’s care, members from three later generations of the Cucksey family were to enjoy a similar experience. Harold (grandson of Eleanor) and his wife Brenda, together with their son Brian and his wife Pip came down to the Waikato to be treated to a ride of reminiscence around the district. Shortly afterwards the V63 was out again, this time to do wedding service for Brian’s nephew Sam Cucksey and his new bride Katrina, driven on this occasion by Danny Ryan. Both cars now live quietly in rather dignified retirement with time to reminisce, as we tend to do in old age.

So, there we have it, The Story of Two Caddies that enjoyed various adventures, spent a lot of time together, then apart and briefly back together again, before continuing on different journeys. They have given transport, interest, satisfaction and pleasure to a large range of different people whose lives are intertwined by an involvement and admiration of these two great surviving vehicles.