Restoration of the Year

Restoration of the Year Rally

Dave Inwood did his usual great job of penning out this run, and started it off perfectly by having us meet at Don Crawford’s business in Belfast (Crawford’s Mouldings) for morning tea. Don had his Model A there with fresh Irishman’s dirt on it, and a Model A pickup part way through construction of a new rear deck. Thanks for your hospitality Don. Around a dozen cars took part in the run, including both cars that would later be presented for judging at the finish at Cutler Park –the Model T Ford Tourer belonging to the Perrin family, and the FB Holden belonging to Heather Harris - more about them later. The run took us out through Brooklands, Kaiapoi, Tuahiwi and then through the outskirts of Rangiora and towards Cust. We then headed back through Ohoka and Mandeville, with a quick squirt down the northern bypass to blow out the cobwebs properly, before turning off Johns Road in Harewood and heading back to the clubrooms. The run was probably around 40 miles long, and even I went down some roads I’d never been down before, including a very short section of unsealed track just to make it interesting (and to ensure the two new restorations were appropriately christened). Everyone seemed to enjoy it – even Vance and Janine in the Model T, who did the whole route with the hood down and surprisingly arrived at Cutler Park no more than about 10 minutes behind everyone else. At the clubrooms around 20 other cars joined us with people keen to see what turned up for judging. By then it was actually warm enough to sit around outside in front of the Barn for lunch while the cars were judged by Don Bennetts and Mark Drury. Although disappointing only to have two cars entered for judging, it has to be said that the quality of both was absolutely outstanding. Each of course won their respective class trophy (PWV and Vintage), but it has to be said that they were worthy winners, both having been treated to full ground-up nut-and-bolt restorations that produced 100% authentic cars, with no original detail being overlooked. The 1958 FB Holden belonged to Heather Harris – the daughter of the late Bud Grosse and sister of Joe – both well known and

skilled restorers in their own right. Heather’s own skills have come to light with this car, which had been in the Grose family for much of its life. All of the restoration management was done by Heather, with her being involved in most of the work in some way, particularly the disassembly and reassembly work. She has also compiled a very detailed story/photo book right through the whole process which shows despite it starting off as a very complete and original car, every effort was made to return it to as-new condition (if not slightly better) which involved a huge amount of work over several years. Her Dad would have been very proud to see the finished result, and Joe certainly is too. The Vintage class entrant was a 1920 Model T Ford Tourer, restored over many years by Evan Perrin of Darfield. Unfortunately Evan succumbed to a long battle with cancer and passed away shortly before the rally – his last outing in the car was to the Dutton Malvern Anzac Day run on 25th April, driven by his son Vance (Evan and the car were featured on the front cover of the May Hub). Vance and Evan’s wife Janine motored the T on the Restoration of the Year Rally, both being extremely proud to show off Evan’s skills and perseverance with the restoration – the bulk of it carried out once Evan realised he had cancer, with a steadfast resolution to ensure it was finished while he was still around to see it done. Vance joked about how determined his father was to ensure a 100% authentic restoration – right down to even using the correct Robertson screws in the wooden body framework. Vance told him he had to use a couple of crosshead screws in one place and told him not to worry because he’d never find them, and he couldn’t, because he didn’t dare do it! The car has a fully traced history, and was restored with all of the correct detail for a 1920 car, including an unusual generator configuration and several period extras. A stunning restoration, and what a great legacy to leave for Evan’s family to now enjoy. Apparently there are another couple of ‘T’s to come, also collected by Evan (as you do!) and now passed down to Vance. All up, a very good day out, and great to see the handiwork of our members getting the chance to be shown off once again.

Colin Hey