VINTAGE MOTORING FOR SENIOR CITIZENS WORDS AND PHOTOS JOHN HENDERSON
I guess the older members of the club may castigate me about this article but at 82, I probably qualify as an older member myself. Having been in the club over 50 years and owning a lot of old vehicles I am at the stage in life where my reaction is not as good as it was, but I still want to go out on the odd rally so what to do? Unfortunately most of my previous vehicles needed a lot of patience and anticipation as regards stopping and travelling in modern traffic. Many years ago I started with a beltdrive Baby Triumph which was followed by a model P Triumph. I made a move into cars with a 1921 Oldsmobile tourer. Over subsequent years the list grew to include a lowlight Minor, Jowett Javelin, Morris 8 sports and two Morris series E. I was told about the Oldsmobile location by the late Maurice Cross in Timaru, who informed me this vehicle had been lying behind the Mayfield Garage for many years. The body had been taken off and disposed of and the car used as a tow truck. I purchased it for $25 then restored it completely, including building a new body. My wife Ann and I took it to the International Rally in 1980 at Rotorua, which turned out to be a great motoring event. So on to the present day where I decided it was time to upgrade to something more modern but within the Vintage Car Club eligibility rules. Something less stressful
and I did say to Ann no buying any more cars until the ‘52 Morris Minor sold. Yeah right! This 323 Mazda came on the market, I looked at it, loved it and, bought it. It is a 1986 1500cc 4 cyl Limited model with basically two owners, no rust and original throughout. These vehicles were stock standard around-town cars with a top speed of 160kph and capable of 0-100 in 12 seconds. Of course the modern grunt cars do this a lot quicker. At least we can stop in a hurry with disc brakes on the front. The only minus is no power steering, but with the front tyres at max pressure it is not too bad. Good arm exercise.
There were a couple of jobs needed initially. It had an oil leak from the base of the distributor which required a new O-ring, a new distributor cap, and no doubt there will be other little things over the months ahead. All par for the course in old motoring. Of course then we had to sell the Morrie. Ann did not approve of three cars in the garage. So if you see us on a rally just realize it is a new start for us so say kon’nichiwa not sayonara.
I have been in the Canterbury branch forever. To find a photo of me with a car is not easy but here I am with our Morrie sports after it was finished. This one I completely restored, building a new wooden body also bought an old treadle sewing machine to do the hood. It’s a begger when you are hard up. John Henderson
Beaded Wheels 11
