NOVEMBER 2024
Coming Events
All events are held at our clubrooms unless otherwise
Note: The clubrooms are open on the second and fourth Thursday evenings of the month from 7:30pm until 10:00pm and EVERY Saturday afternoon from 4:30pm until 6:30pm. Our Spares Dept & Library are open during the clubrooms opening hours PLUS Thursday mornings from 9:00am ’til noon.
Chairman’s Report
Thank you to all members who have attended and made this month’s events all very successful.
Twenty-three cars and three motorcycles entered the club run through West Auckland countryside finishing at The Morrison’s newly completed shed. Entrants were welcomed to the shed with sausage sizzle which was very much appreciated. Vehicles through all sections of club eligible cars to a collection of early hearses were on display. A very impressive collection of Matchbox toys, with boxes, lined a complete wall. Thank you for giving us the first viewing of your new shed and collections John and Roger. I’m sure we will visit again in the future.
The clubrooms, front garden, back yard and barn were a buzz of activity when a good number turned up for our annual Working Bee. The grounds, bar, and clubrooms were soon tidied up and looked ‘spick and span’ ready for the Hunua Spring Tour Garden Party. We enjoyed a shared morning tea before leaving for home.
Peter Alderdice along with Paul and Jodi Tomlin, plotted an excellent route for the Inaugural Hunua Spring Tour. Fifty-one vehicles were entered, including three from Waikato and one from North Shore. Traffic-free roads, lovely scenery, great weather, just enough tricks to keep our competitive entrants satisfied, and an excellent venue to visit at the end, made for a great day of vintage motoring. Thank you, team.
The weatherman listened to me and put on a second perfect day for our Garden Party and Fifty and Sixty Continuous Membership Awards presentations where approximately eighty people chatted over a shared afternoon tea and subsidized drinks. Thanks to Leo Fowler who stocked and manned the bar for the afternoon. I saw many books being taken away from the book sale in the Barn. Many people commented on the display of machines, tools and memorabilia and how impressive the Barn is looking. The Spares Team are to be congratulated for their work lining the walls and displaying the items.
I had the pleasure of welcoming George Kear (VCC National President), Glynn Clements (North Island Club Captain) and his wife Cathy, Neil Beckenham (Registrar) and his wife Jane. George read the citations and presented 50 Year Badges to Shirley Bovis, Pat Dewhurst, John Courtney, Tim Manning, and David Oliver. Neil Beckenham presented David Adams with his 60 Year Badge and Citation. John Stewart (60 Year Membership recipient) and Barry Phillips (50 Year Badge recipient) were not able to attend.
The award ceremony was followed by the Hunua Spring Tour prizegiving where Peter kept us entertained and in suspense waiting to hear who the overall winner was. Congratulations to all the prize winners. See results elsewhere in this Bulletin.
Jodi Tomlin is to be commended on the great job she did decorating the backyard and preparing the dinner for the fifty people who attended. Thank you, Jodi, and of course, Paul and the members who helped setting up, cooking the BBQ and cleaning up afterwards. A great night completed a perfect weekend. Well done everyone.
I look forward to seeing you all at Huntly House on 10th November where we are celebrating vehicles 100 years old plus. This event is for everyone and is taking the place of our Christmas Picnic. If you wish, you can be posh.
Shaaran
Club Captain’s Log
This month’s Club Run is on Sunday, November 10th, it will be a very short run to Huntly House in Clark’s Beach, for our Annual Picnic (this is replacing the Christmas Picnic event traditionally held on the first weekend of December).
The run starts at Elliot Street Carpark in Papakura at 11:00 am.
We want ALL of you and your club vehicles to join us. We will be showcasing vehicles 100 years and older. They will be parked separately to the other vehicles. BUT we will still be all together...
For those that would like to get your older vehicle closer to Huntly House there is secure trailer parking available at our home. From home, it is around 10km to the picnic.
As we mentioned last month, Huntly House is a 1911 villa, built in Palmerston North, and moved to Waiau Beach in 2020 and then fully restored. The historic home has quite a history and owner Hayley will give us a look through the house and a rundown of that history.
I’m looking forward to seeing who gets a little posh with their picnic? We unfortunately have had to defer the Thermette Challenge to another day as it was considered a safety risk for the venue.
I look forward to seeing you at either Elliot Street Carpark, Papakura or at Huntly House around midday.
Tracey
November Club “Afternoon
The Committee have been pondering how to achieve better attendance for our guest speakers. One option that we are going to trial in November is to have our Guest Speaker present on a Saturday afternoon. So please mark your diaries for Saturday, 30th November at 2:30 pm
Harold Kidd, VCC member, and our Branch Solicitor, will join us to talk about his Panzer car (50 years in the crafting). He will also talk about his Maritime history interests, family association with car imports (his father brought in pre-war Vauxhall, DX's), his involvement with establishing the North Shore Branch and joint adventures in cars and motorcycles with the legends, Frank Delatour, Brian Johnstone and Ernie Williams.
Be sure to join us!
Club Picnic & 100 yr old Vehicle Celebration
ALL Vehicles Welcome
Dedicated space/display for the 100 year old+ vehicles.
Picnic Lunch at Huntly House be Posh if you like!
(There could be a prize…)
Sunday 10th November
A short run from Elliot Street Carpark, Papakura to Clark’s Beach will precede the Picnic, run starts at 11am. This event replaces the Annual Christmas Picnic.
NOTE: Thermette Challenge Deferred
NZ Welder Repair Services Ltd.
Unit 4/5 Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland
For personal service call Rod Rugg (Member)
Stick, MIG, TIG and Plasma cutters. All welding machine types and consumables for sale.
“Over 30 years experience”
Repairs to machines, new sales and used. Hire options available. For home or work. Large or small. We deal with only good machines not rubbish.
Phone: 09 8261425, e-mail: rod.rugg@nzwrs.com
Postal address: P.O. Box 19272, Avondale, Auckland 1746
Bieleski’s Believe It or Not
Thank you Neil! Very appropriate “fill” for right now!
Notes from Jodi
By now you should have paid your Subscription Invoice/s. If you have not, best you get it done asap, don’t let time slip away and you then find you are no longer a member of the club!
Club Night 24th October - Thank you to those who attended the evening. I know the Club’s Constitution is not that exciting for most, but there were some good suggestions and questions from the floor that we added/edited/highlighted in our reply to the Management Committee this week. We look forward to keeping you up to date with the progression of said document and the regionalisation.
Advanced notice in regards to editions of the Bulletin and The Week Ahead email. I would like to remind you that the next Bulletin is produced to cover both December and January, there is NO January Bulletin.
I will also be taking a break from the Week Ahead over December/January too. I will pre-schedule the Calendar of Events for delivery each week, but there will be no extra advertising able to be placed week to week. The last FULL Week Ahead email will be Monday 16th December and the next email with extra content will be Monday 13th January.
The February Bulletin will be issued early, as I will be joining the team heading off to the National Motorcycle Rally, in Palmerston North, the February release date is set for Monday 27th January with a closing date for content being 18th January.
THANK YOU
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Library Notes
This month we wish to acknowledge receipt of a quantity of books on Motor Racing from Neville Olsen. Clearly the history and the development of the Indianapolis 500 Speedway was a subject that fascinated him, as there were a number of books on the subject amongst the assortment. These have all been added to our collection of books on Motor Sport.
One particular book The Indianapolis 500 – The Story of the Motor Speedway, written by the famous American motoring journalist Brock Yates, gives the complete story in words and numerous pictures of every aspect of this most gruelling and exciting of all racing events. In it, the author reveals the American fascination with dedicated oval tracks as distinct from the European scene where the development of racing started and continued to evolve on road type circuits, and irregular shaped permanent racing circuits. Before the Indianapolis Speedway was built Americans had been watching automobile races for nearly ten years mostly at county fairs held on dirt horse tracks. Although some races were staged on open roads it was the enterprising organisers that realised by running these events on closed oval circuits, it was easier to control gate admissions and spectators entrance could be managed in an orderly fashion and assure them of healthy gate takings.
As is so often the case with many successful ventures the Indianapolis track was the dream of a small band of far-sighted adventurous men. In this case a group of local business men who had the initial idea to compete with Detroit as the centre for automotive excellence. They proposed a 2½ mile track to be used as a proving and testing ground available to all passenger-car manufacturers, and help the city become the centre of the automobile industry. In order to help with the cost of maintaining the track, they planned some racing events for which admission would be charged. The group led by Carl Fisher were highly impressed with the great bowl-shaped concrete track that had been built at Brooklands, Weybridge, England two years earlier. Their plans included many of the ideas used in that famous track, and eventually in the summer of 1909 the partially complete track was proudly opened to the citizens of Indianapolis. However, very soon racing and not testing dominated the event calendar.
The book contains a fascinating account of the many races, dramas, controversies, crashes and events that shaped the history in what has become “the Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
The Library Team
Veteran Section Notes
The attendance was down a little this month, we had apologies from Barry Birchall, Roy Sharman, the Mercers and Roslyn Lowe.
Much of the initial discussion was centred around memory tests for 75 and 80 plus age group drivers licence renewals and the various memory tests people in these age groups have to undertake, this included memorising Frank Barnes, 3 Church St, Woodville, Hawkes Bay. Naming as many animals as you can within a minute. Drawing a clock face and drawing ten past five on it. A tricky one is to count down from 100 in sevens, the answer to this is to subtract ten and add three i.e 100, minus ten is 90, add three and you get 93. Subtract ten from 93, you get 83, add three you get 86 and so on down.
David Lane didn't have anything to report, Denis Lowe informed us that Roslyn is improving after surgery, but still feeling pain.
Barry Wade reports that his 1909 Rover 2 cylinder is awaiting new tyres but his customers sometimes spend more time looking at the Rover rather than his Olive Oil.
John Morrison has his new shed pretty much complete and the September club run visited and checked out the building and vehicles, John also thought about buying the Quarrie 1915 GWK.
Phil Henley is getting more miles on the 1913 Mitchell, he's concerned about differential noise, but veteran diffs can be noisy anyway.
David Oliver is sorting the camshaft bearings in his Model T and also sorting the mains. David hopes to be ready for the Model T run in Taupo later in the year.
Gavin Welch attended the North Shore branch Spring Tour in his Ford Escort, the HCCNZ lunch at David Porters, while his veteran Model T appeared at the Howick HOP car display and another display at Sunnynook Primary school. He’s also looking at the Waikato Veteran Event and the Model T event in Taupo, brother Wayne didn't have anything to report.
Terry Jenkins had nothing on the veteran front, but his '29 DA Dodge is getting a full repaint.
That's it for the month.
John Stokes
Vintage Section Notes
Good numbers and lots to look at on the table this month.
Richard Green is about ready to start re assembly of the motor of his 1930 Rolls Royce 20/25. He brought along a freshly re metalled conrod – a thing of beauty in it’s own right. Very fine machined detail and even the gudgeon pin is pressure fed. The crankshaft webbing is all machined too – no rough castings here!
John Morrison took his beautiful Talbot Largo on the Hunua Spring Tour and apart from a little slippage in 1st gear the car drove very well. It is equipped with a Wilson pre select gearbox which is rather complicated, but once set up correctly is very reliable.
John Towers brought along some examples of his very creative imagination using car parts and machinery found in any good shed. I was particularly taken with his tractor using an old G clamp and timing gears.
John Stokes accompanied David Adams in his 1932 Sunbeam on the Hunua Spring Tour. Unfortunately, the brakes locked up, so after some brake fluid was bled out the car was carefully driven home on the handbrake.
Neil Lucas’s Dodge and Plymouth have both been feeling a little neglected of late, but he has now given them a little exercise with no problems. Despite fuel company assurances that there is no ethanol in their products, there is apparently still some doubt. Ethanol is considered to possibly be detrimental to some components of old car fuel systems, but no one is reporting any damage so far. (Editor: Please refer to page 23 for further detail on this subject.)
David Goryl separated the brake drums from their wood spoke wheels, destroying the bolts in the process. However, he has found 20 correct replacements for $90 and the brakes are working well.
Bill and Sherrill Hulse are looking forward to the Far North Tour. Penny and I will try to keep up in the Riley.
Ross Bellamy has replaced all the tyre tube stems on his Model A with the original solid stem Schrader type and had an example to show us.
Peter Wood is making steady progress on the ’29 Buick Marquette. The dicky seat armrests are polished and ready to be upholstered. He is making a new wooden floor using as much as he can of the old ones and new trunk lid hinges. Most of the car is 12v but the tail lights and indicators are 6v necessitating their own mini loom.
Norm Dewhurst has the engine out of the Essex for reconditioning and it is now with Graham Henderson, the same very fastidious engineer who has done the work on Richard Green’s RR. It should be good for another 100 years after that! Norm would like to see warning buzzers on the indicators of old vehicles that don’t have a self-cancelling system. How often have we followed someone for miles with their indicators flashing?
Murray & Penny
Motorcycle Section Notes
Malcolm Brown was waiting for me at Bombay. Once onboard we made our way north to the motorcycle meeting. Just as we arrived the sun came out. Trevor Hacket was already there setting up three iconic Vincent's for our meeting. There were two sidecar outfits, one scooter and 7 bikes parked out the back. By the time the meeting started we had just under 50 seated in the clubrooms.
VISITORS - Stewart Rice, John Grinter who came on his Vincent Black Shadow and guest speakers Jim Lawson, with his Vincent Comet and George Lewis with his Vincent Black Shadow.
Martin told us a joke to get us started.
REPORTS - Martin told us about the recent Taranaki Rubber Duckie rally, see report in last month’s Bulletin. He then told us about the recent New Zealand Motorcycle Show held at Auckland Showgrounds, this was a successful show with 5000 paying spectators.
Peter Alderdice outlined the up coming Hunua Spring tour weekend that he and Paul Tomlin have organised, the entries were just under 50.
Martin told us of the sad news about the passing of Barry Dean’s wife Linley after a long illness.
We reminded the members that the Auckland Motorcycle Rally entry forms were now available online, so please come and join us on our annual event.
COMING UP - By the time you read this we will have been on a motorcycle run to visit an East Tamaki alloy vapour cleaning business. While there we will also view the owners collection of Kawasaki 250, 350, 500 and 750 triples.
10th November - Our Branches Annual Picnic. A short run will get you from the Elliott Street Carpark in Papakura, to the venue at Clark’s Beach. See notice on Pg. 8. 16th November - Motorcycle Meeting.
22nd 24th November - Auckland’s Annual Motorcycle Rally.
24th November - Motorcycle run, leaving Jolly Farmer, Drury at 11am.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Waitemata member Mike Grieg asked if anyone was interested in buying his leather riding gear, this was sold after the meeting. Member John Bryant said that after the meeting he would be giving away items from the boot of his car, if any was left they could go into the spares.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Trevor Hackett spoke first, he told us about his Vincent bug, he bought a Comet 500, he really loved that bike, but when the children came along it had to be sold to buy cots, prams and other things needed. He did eventually buy another Comet that he still has. He then acquired a 1949 1000cc Vincent Rapide, he has ridden this bike from the top to the bottom of NZ many times. Trevor then briefly told us the history of Vincent.
HRD Vincent made about 1,000 motorcycles before World War II and then 11,000 post-war models. The Vincent Club knows the whereabouts of approximately 7,000 Vincent motorcycles world wide.
George Lewis gave us a brief history of his, NZ Motorcycle Show award winning, Vincent Black Shadow, this bike is in stunning condition, even though George does ride it on the roads. It all started with a pair of crank cases, Ken McIntosh has had some input into the engine development too.
Jim Lawson gave us a bit of his amazing history. Jim left the RAF after WW2. In 1950 his first bike was a side valve 500 AJS, his next bike was a new Vincent Comet, this was, in Jim's words, his girly bike, to attract the girls, it worked and before you could say Vincent he and Nanette were married. They then decided to emigrate to NZ. Sadly the Comet had to be sold to pay for the journey. They set up home in Manurewa.
Jim was a very talented engineer and has worked for a number of big companies over the years. At 94 Jim is still working as a contract aero engineer at Aero Technology Ltd at Ardmore airport. Back in 1965 Jim was driving along the Auckland motorway when he spotted a bike leaning on the barrier, it was a Vincent Comet, he tried to start it but there was no compression. He wrote the rego number down, and some how found the owners address in Henderson. Jim turned up and offered the owner 5 pounds, he said no he wanted 15, which Jim paid. So Jim hurried back to the bike, but to his horror he found that thieves had stripped off half of the components. Disillusioned he stored the remains away under his house.
Jim then turned his attention to aircraft, he flew Tiger Moths, and had his own Chip Monk, an ex RAF flight training aircraft. Then Auckland airport asked him for help, they had renamed the Airport after New Zealander Jean Batten and they had bought Jean’s Percival Gull 6 airplane that she flew from the UK to NZ in 1936. It had arrived from the UK in pieces, Jim took on the job of reassembling the plane, and then flew it around Auckland city. Then Jim removed the wings and supervised the plane being suspended from the roof of the airport for display. Fifteen years later Jim was asked to move the plane to another position in the airport. Then back
around 2008 Jim was asked to join the NZ team of ‘Jet Black’, they were building a jet powered land speed car, to try and do 1000 mph, like the Brits and Aussies were going for. Sadly the program was cancelled.
Getting back to the poor Vincent Comet lying under Jim's house. Two years ago Jim moved the bike to his workshop. He stripped it down to the last nut and bolt. He has worked nearly every weekend of the last two years on restoring the Comet. The restoration was finished 2 days before the NZ Motorcycle Show, at which the Comet won an award.
Martin thanked our speakers for bringing their Vincent's and for telling us their stories.
Jack Clark & Martin Spicer
Hunua Spring Tour
This year’s revamp of the Hunua 100 Rally, now the Hunua Spring Tour, seems to have hit the mark. Was it the change of weekend, moving away from Labour Weekend? The change to being primarily a tour but still being able to opt-in to be competitive if you wished? Was the final destination a drawcard? Whatever it may have been, our final count was 51 entrants, a 76% increase over last year. As organisers we were delighted and to those of you that entered thank you very much for choosing to join us.
The tour started in Ramarama, where Jodi provided a morning tea and rally packs were issued. Jodi had also made sure that there was something in the packs for the ladies this year. The extra goodies were well received. Vehicles set off at 30 second intervals out into the fine Spring weather. The run headed south through the upper Waikato to pass through Rangiriri and loop past the Whangamarino Wetlands, (yes, those that were engulfed by a large fire last week) and onto lunch at Mangatawhiri Hall.
Nearly half the competitors purchased a lunch instead of carrying their own, so the hall kitchen was abuzz. After lunch, it was a short drive to Clevedon, where over 100 people were treated to a tour of Zealandia Horticulture. This company is the source of most of New Zealand’s domestic vegetable and flower plants, providing 1400 plant varieties sold at Nurseries, Bunnings and Mitre 10. The facility is a state-of-the-art, computer-controlled facility, reusing all water collected from the large roof area and using local forestry slash to woodchip and use in the boilers to keep a constant heat in the glass houses. Packaging is blow moulded on-site, and any waste is reused. It is a very impressive facility, all of you seemed to enjoy the visit. Thanks to owner Graham Windross for making the facility available to us on his day off.
While Peter and Paul kept the instructions straightforward and simple they still included a couple of tricks, for the competitive crews, in order to find a winner. Six entrants only, noticed that the silent check BUICK was past the manned check sign at the start, meaning it was on course.
Just after Onewhero, you pass a paddock with a Tardis in it. So, in the instructions was the question: “Who is the famous doctor... ?” Some interesting answers included Dr Dolittle, Dr Tilsley and Lance O’Sullivan? We appreciated the sense of humour in the guesses...
A special thanks to Marshals Dawn and Bob Pickering and Martyn Seay for their assistance.
Thanks to Mark Tomlin for helping on the day and being the spotter at the compulsory Stop sign. Eleven vehicles failed to stop!
And last but certainly not least, CONGRATULATIONS goes to Rodger and Val Ball the overall winners! They won by one point from Wayne and Carrie Roberts.
Peter, Paul & Jodi
The full results are:
Fast Vintage
1st Rodger & Val Ball
2nd Glenn & Marion Morris
3rd Russel & Jocelyn McAlpine
Slow Vintage
1st Wayne & Carrie Roberts
2nd Michael & Elizabeth Hilliar
3rd Bill Quinn & Anh Hoang
Post War Vintage
1st Alan & Shaaran Price
2nd John & Roger Morrison
3rd John & Janice Gardner
P60/P80 Vintage
1st Colin & Pam Bell
2nd Debbie & Bob Ballantyne
1930 Ford Model A First Overall
1928 Ford Model A
1930 Ford Model A
1924 Velie Second Overall
1930 Ford Model A
1924 Oakland 6/54
1949 Chevrolet Styleline Third Overall
1949 Talbot Largo
1949 Ford Anglia
1979 Holden Premier
1972 Holden Torana GTR 3rd Gary Bax & Murray Atkinson
Motorcycle
1st Trevor Hackett
2nd Ron & Rosie Dunn
3rd Michael O’Kane
1st Lady Driver
Debbie Ballantyne
Age/Distance Award
Russel & Jocelyn McAlpine
1970 Volvo Amazon
1949 Vincent Rapide
1969 BSA Rocket 3
1952 BSA Golden Flash
John Morrison’ s 1949 Talbot Largo
Last Run of 2024—maybe the Last Run!
Wednesday 20th November
This month we are pleased to have Murray and Penny Firth plan a run for the Mid-week Tourists.
• Starting from the Warehouse Carpark, Old Westgate.
• 10:00 am for a 10:30am departure.
The November mid-week run is not long, but takes us through a truly spectacular private property and on to the end of a very scenic no exit road seldom travelled.
The destination has a large rural garden featuring native plants, Japanese maples, large deciduous trees and an oversize lotus pond. The 110 year old packing shed is full of history (junk?) and scattered around are old cars, trucks and machinery.
Plenty of parking and shelter should the weather be inclement and toilets, but bring a chair and your lunch and flask.
Murray & Penny Firth
With no-one taking on this role there will be NO more Mid-week Runs.
If you are interested, please contact Tracey: runnymede@hotmail.co.nz
The Shell Sign has a New Home
It is with much pride that the boys involved finally see the club’s old Shell Sign now illuminated and in a prominent position in the Barn.
Our editor posed the question, how did it all start and who was involved in making this happen?
It started quite a number of years ago when Bob Ballantyne kindly donated this sign along with the Renault sign to our Branch. Then when I took on the job of getting the parts under control the sign was in a dark spot near the back of the barn and I thought it worthy of being featured with the Shell Bowser.
After the original idea of the bowser and sign being tidied up and placed on the wall outside the barn. It was decided that it would be too easily seen from the road, causing the club’s security to be compromised, the last thing we wanted was to lose them, so then a rethink.
Then, one day, while talking bowsers with Steve Keys, Steve was saying how he planned to restore petrol bowsers in his shed. Tongue in cheek I asked him would he restore the club’s Shell Bowser. He replied that he would and he would give me a bell when he was ready to start. Not long after we got the call and Steve came and collected it.
I called around a few times and followed the restoration taking place. While I was away overseas the bowser was brought back and was wired up. It looked great.
As most club members will know, the parts team have been fixing 12mm ply to the wall so as to firmly screw the brackets they make for displaying the many treasures we have.
With the Shell Sign, before the ply was fixed there were various issues that had to be sorted. The wall behind the sign had wire running in all directions and sprinkler pipes to contend with. It is also quite high. John Towers brought in his scaffolding, but there was another problem, as the tub and cabinets didn’t allow the access to be near the wall. John being very clever sorted out access to have the situation safely workable.
Leo Fowler who had tidied up the wiring and installed the Renault sign above the Charabanc bench with a new lighting pad, was back to sort out the wiring before John, Bill Hulse, and Rory King could fix the ply. John did an amazing job of designing and making a frame to not only house the sign so that it had no pressure on it that could cause cracking, but also clear the sprinkler pipes and give ventilation to the four lighting pads needed to provide the even illumination it has.
A job well done by ALL involved. Jack Nazer
At right: the Spares team and the sign in pride of place: Bill Hulse, Jack Nazer and John Towers. Above: Steve Keys with the Bowser.
Vehicle Identity Cards (VIC)
Did you know that you must have one of these for your vehicle to enter any National Rally? The VIC is the club’s formal system for identifying and verifying the authenticity of your vehicle and officially it’s vehicle class.
There is an application form to be completed and emailed along with photos to one of our VIC signatories. They will check things over before sending to Head Office. The process is run by volunteers, and is a serious one (our system is recognised by LTSA).
Please allow 3 months from lodging the forms to receiving your card.
Note that renewals can now be done on-line.
Auckland Branch Signatories are:
John Stokes
Phone No: 09 236 4582
Alan Price Phone No: 09 833 8575
Neil Stott Phone No: 027 494 9059
Email: jcstokes96a@xtra.co.nz
Email: birdwoodprices@gmail.com
Email: neilxstott@gmail.com
Hunua Spring Tour Pics
Above: Tracey was left wondering where lunch was? They made it to Mangatawhiri Hall half an hour AFTER we ’d locked up! Oops!
Fuel Content Summary
So it seems that getting the answers of our fuel content, from the horses mouth, was not sufficient. After several emails challenging the accuracy of the information we supplied, I decided to ask the AA as they are the watchdogs of the whole motoring industry. This is the email that I received back from their Principal Policy Advisor.
There are five companies that currently import fuel into New Zealand, they are BP, Gull, Mobil, Timaru Oil Service Ltd (TOSL), and Z Energy.
The quality of the fuel is monitored throughout the year by Trading Standards who take samples and send to a lab for testing. Actually the quality of our fuel is good. The worst sample being one that met the standard (within tolerance) all the others sampled exceeded their octane numbers and criteria. Below is a link to their web page that has the reports.
Gull is the only company to include ethanol in their fuel, and it is clearly labelled, however they seem to be backing away from it and I assume it’s for commercial reasons.
The data sheets are the specifications listed in the Regulations, which allow for ethanol to be added. But why would they?
Adding ethanol is more expensive than distilling from oil. They only reason Gull used it was for “ green” marketing purposes. The Government no longer has a biofuel mandate, so that is dead in the water.
To say the likes of, “ALL fuel except for NPDs 100 Plus fuel now contains ethanol and that “they” have snuck this in,” is just wrong.
Fuel quality monitoring annual reports | Fuel Quality Monitoring (tradingstandards.govt.nz)
Cheers
Terry Collins
Principal Policy Advisor
The New Zealand Automobile Association Incorporated
I now hope that this matter, with the same result as last month, is now answered and closed.
Thanks Jodi
New Members of our Branch
A most sincere welcome is extended to the most recent new member. We hope to see you taking an active part in Branch activities whenever possible. Should you require any assistance or advice, please feel free to ask any Committee member?
Helene Higbee Remuera 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint
Mid-week Run Co-ordinator POSITION STILL VACANCT
With no-one taking on this role there will be NO more Mid-week Runs.
If you are interested, please contact Tracey: runnymede@hotmail.co.nz
For more information or to purchase Contact: Peter Alderdice peter.alderdice@me.com 021 743 906
STAYS FLEXIBLE
Will never crack or peel off.
ALCOHOL RESISTANT
No expensive come-backs.
BRIGHT COLOUR
You can see results.
COVERS RUST
Seals old rust in and prevents future rusting.
SEALS LEAKS
Gets the multitude of pin-holes you can ’t find.
FOR SALE
FOR SALE: 1936 Nash Lafayette. 81,090 miles. Vehicle has been in our extended family since new and is now ready to be renovated and enjoyed by a new owner. Please phone Ann on 021 634 061 for further information.
13 Fleming Street, Onehunga, Auckland 1061
P O Box 13426 Onehunga, Auckland 1643 Mob 0278 173 885 Ph (09) 636 5836
Email: sales@robinsoninstruments.co.nz www.robinsoninstruments.co.nz
Robinson Instruments Ltd
Chairman
Your Committee & Officers
Shaaran Price (Alan) Email: birdwoodprices@gmail.com
Vice Chairman/Continuous Membership Awards Steward
Glenn Morris (Marion) Email: glenn-maze@xtra.co.nz
H: 09 833 8575
M: 0204 195 2476
M: 021 136 5926
Secretary / New Members & Privacy Offcr / Bulletin & Website Editor / Branch Delegate
Jodi Tomlin (Paul) Secretary Email: auckland@vcc.org.nz
M: 021 678 258 Editor Email: avvcceditor@gmail.com
Treasurer
Ian Hubbard (Lesley) Email: iant120@outlook.com
Club Captain / Trophy Steward
Tracey Winterbottom Email: runnymede@hotmail.co.nz
M: 0274 426 748
H: 09 232 0246 (Stephen)
Committee Members
Martin Spicer (Lynda)
Motorcycle Section Rep/Entertainment
M: 021 732 209
H: 09 233 6382 Email: spicerclan2017@gmail.com
M: 022 102 5954
Lynda Spicer (Martin) Social Convenor
H: 09 233 6382 Email: spicerclan2017@gmail.com
Jeremy Lambert (Michelle) Clubroom Bookings/ Health & Safety Officer
M: 021 189 3120
M: 027 576 7045 Email: velo500@icloud.com
Rory King (Louann) Building Maintenance
Email: roryking53@gmail.com
Neil Stott (Christine) Spares Liaison
Non-Committee Positions
Library Team Leader
Richard Green (Lois)
H: 09 579 6891
M: 021 530 302
M: 0274 949 059 Email: neilxstott@gmail.com
Spares Team Leader
Bill Hulse (Sherrill)
Email: randlgreen@orcon.net.nz
H: 09 489 2427
M: 021 818 334
Beaded Wheels Scribes
John Stokes
Jocelyn McAlpine
Peter Wood
Insurance
Email: bill.sherrill@xtra.co.nz
H: 09 579 0494
Veteran Section Rep & VIC Officer
John Stokes
Email: jcstokes96a@xtra.co.nz
H: 09 236 4582 or
M: 0272 772 108
Mid-Week Tourers Rep
Jack Nazer (Marilyn)
Email: jack_nazer@yahoo.co.nz
H: 09 378 4580
Vintage Section Rep
Murray Firth (Penny)
E: pennyandmurray@xtra.co.nz
H: 09 818 6434
Vero Consumer Insurance Specialist F: 0800 505 905 or B: 09 356 4501 Agency Number: 0300126
Clubrooms
Phone: 09 579 5625
Street Address: 39 Fairfax Ave, Penrose
Postal Address: PO Box 12 138, Penrose, Auckland 1642
Club Night: 4th Thursday of the month
Open: 2nd & 4th Thursday 7:30-10:00pm, Every Saturday 4:30-6:30 pm
Branch Email Address: auckland@vcc.org.nz
Library Email Address: libraryavvcc@gmail.com
Branch Website: www.avvcc.org.nz
Branch Honorary Life Members: Barry Robert
Norm Dewhurst QSM
