November2024 2023 DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY DECEMBER 2023
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DECEMBER 2023
Index In this issue…
Page Christmas Picnic Reminder ......................................................................................... 7 Hunua 100 Review from Roslyn Lowe ...................................................................... 13 October Motorcycle Run to Musick Point Review ............................................ 15-16 2023 Annual Motorcycle Rally Review ............................................................... 17-19 Reminder from Mrs Claus ......................................................................................... 20 Far North Tour Review ......................................................................................... 21-22 Waikato Veteran Rally Review ................................................................................... 23 Regular Features Coming Events .................................................................................................. 4 Chairman’s Report ............................................................................................ 5 Club Captain’s Log ........................................................................................... 6 Vintage Notes .................................................................................................... 9 Library Notes ................................................................................................... 10 Motorcycle Notes ...................................................................................... 11-12 Mid-Week Tourers .......................................................................................... 13 New Members ........................................................................................... 22–23 Spares Dept. ................................................................................................... 24 Classifieds .................................................................................................. 24-25 Your Committee .............................................................................................. 26 February Bulletin submissions closing date: Strictly 25 January 2024 Late submissions will feature in the following month’s edition. Cover Designed by Melanie Ball
The views expressed by the correspondents in this Bulletin are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Auckland Veteran & Vintage Car Club Inc. Any articles of interest, comments, letters to the Editor etc are welcome. All contributions are presented to and approved by the club committee prior to printing. Please forward any submissions to the Bulletin Editor avvcceditor@gmail.com. DECEMBER 2023
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Coming Events
DECEMBER 2 3 9 10
Sat Sun Sat Sun
Veteran Meeting
14 16 23 28 30
Thur Sat Sat Thur Sat
Pot Luck Christmas Dinner
2:30pm 10:30am 2:30pm
Christmas Picnic - 48 Carter Road, Oratia
Vintage Meeting Motorcycle Run to Vintage Speedway Meremere Start from the Jolly Farmer Carpark, Gt South Rd, Drury
11:00am 7:00pm 2:30pm 4:30pm 7:30pm 4:30pm
Motorcycle Meeting Noggin’n’Natter Noggin’n’Natter—optional BBQ Dinner available (see email) Noggin’n’Natter
JANUARY 1 6 6 7 11 17 20 23 24 25
Mon Sat Sat Sun Thur Wed Sat Tue Wed Thur
New Year’s Day Run - starts Jolly Farmer Carpark
12:00pm 2:30pm 4:30pm
Veteran Meeting Noggin’n’Natter Waikato Blue Smoke & Pedals Run Noggin & Natter Mid-week Tourer’s Run Motorcycle Meeting Committee Meeting Charabanc Maintenance Night Club Night
7:30pm 2:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm
FEBRUARY 3 8 10 17 21 22 24 25 27 28 29
Sat Thur Sat Sat Wed Thur Sat Sun Tue Wed Thur
Veteran Meeting Noggin’n’Natter
2:30pm 7:30pm
51st Annual Veteran Run
Motorcycle Meeting Mid-week Tourer’s Run Club Night - discussion on progress of Constitution changes for our club. Vintage Meeting Club Run Committee Meeting Charabanc Maintenance Night Leap Day!!!
2:30pm 7:30pm 2:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm
All events are held at our clubrooms unless otherwise specified. 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 9:30am ’til noon.
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Chairman’s Report Here we are again in the thick of the ‘silly season’. By the time you read this the Charabanc will have been to the Farmers Christmas Parade. I must admit that when riding down Queen St it is hard to concentrate on pumping the gas to keep her going with all the noise and enthusiasm from the huge crowd cheering and waving. She certainly excites the crowd, young and old alike. Our November club outing drew a good assortment of AVVCC vehicles. The members of the Buddhist Temple community welcomed us with great enthusiasm. There was plenty to see and occupy ourselves. Along with Market Stalls, a Tea Ceremony, numerous demonstrations of art techniques, Artwork from 100 local artists was on display. The weather was kind to us, and the blossoms were at their best. It was the first longish run for our ’30 Chev after the floods, and I am pleased to report that she went ‘like a charm’. A large contingent of AVVCC members with their Commercial Vehicles ventured to Whanganui to the National Commercial Rally. The article written by Colin Shoebridge in the last Bulletin tells us that this was a great event and congratulations to Colin & Debbie Shoebridge (overall winners) and to Gavin Welch and Sophie (place getters) in the event. The motorcycle boys enjoyed a great weekend of riding and friendship at our Annual Motorcycle Rally. Congratulations to all the placegetters and a big thankyou to Don Green, Jeremy Lambert and helpers for organising this event, and to Lynda Spicer for the catering. It is pleasing to see larger numbers turning up at the clubrooms for Noggin and Natter and Club Nights. We are doing our best to get interesting speakers for you. Noggin and Natter Nights are a lot of fun and even if the crowd is smaller, we get a lot of laughs, and the suppers are worth coming for. The question of “what can we do to get more out of events” has been put to those attending the Vintage and Veteran Section Meetings. The committee is looking seriously at this problem and will be coming up with a new approach to some of our events.
I hope to see you at the Christmas Picnic, Pot Luck Dinner and New Years Day Run. Safe motoring everyone. Take care and make sure those speed humps keep you calm!! From Alan and I - “Merry Christmas”.
DECEMBER 2023
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Club Captain’s Log December - always a time of reflection for me as I prepare for end of year reviews with my team at work but stopping to pause and reflect is important in all parts of our lives. If we keep on doing the same thing we can’t expect a different outcome. Works if you are happy with current outcomes but if not… The committee have been thinking long and hard about branch events and patronage of the same. We have been seeking feedback, and I encourage you all to make sure your views are heard – grab a committee member and have a chat when you see them, or if you aren’t out and about – please drop me an email or text. Numbers for the Vintage Muster, Post Era Rally and Hunua 100 were all down this year, and while its acknowledged this is not an issue specific to our branch alone, your committee is very keen to try some new things to see if we can get more of you out driving our history. With that in mind, March next year will see the Vintage Muster retired and transformed into a new event. This event will be the Auckland Autumn Tour. It will be open to all classes, will be a touring event first and there will be plenty of time to socialise with other entrants. You will have an option to select a competitive entry and the Vintage Muster and Post Era Rally trophies will be awarded, but the default entry will be non competitive. This will be the only motoring event the branch holds in March and we’ll be encouraging all classes to get out and join in the fun. Watch out for more details and entry form in the New Year. Many of you who I have spoken to are in agreement that moving the Hunua away from Labour weekend is a good thing, so the Hunua will be held on the weekend of Oct 19 and 20 next year, and it too will have a change of name and format – watch this space. The coming months are full of opportunities to get out in your club vehicles, both in the branch and out of town. We certainly have many miles planned in the next 4 months or so around the country, and I recommend you try and enter any of the great events around the country. Jodi puts links in the weekly email update to all entry forms available. Merry Christmas to you all.. we hope to see you soon! From the Winterbottoms
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IN 3 DAYS TIME!!! AVVCC Christmas Picnic by courtesy of
Penny & Murray Firth 48 Carter Road, Oratia
Sunday 3rd December from 10:30am Highlights are: Complimentary Sausage Sizzle A visit from Santa! Coffee Cart onsite Free Ice Creams BYO Picnic Lunch NO DOGS ALLOWED & NO SMOKING, THANK YOU Note: If EXTREMELY wet, the Picnic will be held at the clubrooms. Please watch your Emails or Facebook on the Sunday morning.
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Vintage Notes Penny and I missed the October meeting as we were away at the 6 th National Commercial Rally in Whanganui. Thank you to Chris Wood for standing in for me. The rally was very enjoyable and well run and attracted an entry of 60 varied vehicles ranging from a huge old White to Bradfords. Auckland branch was well represented with our own Colin and Debbie Shoebridge taking out the top award. As usual Penny and I took the longest possible route in the Bedford both getting there and back, clocking up over 1000 miles and finding many tiny back-country roads. The Springtime scenery was beautiful and the old truck never missed a beat. This month, Neil Bieleski, in his quest to get the Renault running smoothly, has dismantled the carburettor and immersed all the bits in an ultrasonic cleaner. The jet size became visible and is smaller than specified, so as he has a correct one, maybe that will help. John Towers has had a bit of a frustrating time with some of his cars suffering from problems. A replaced fuel pump got the ’30 Chev going, but the refurbished fuel tank for the Humber wouldn’t quite fit and a fair bit of fettling was required before it finally slipped into place. He was encouraged to restore the original vacuum fuel pump rather than take the easy route and fit an electric one.
Tim Gray identified his mystery object as a booster coil as fitted to American WW2 military aircraft, to help with starting when the starter motor was drawing most of the current. Owen Hayward is advertising his Paige in the Paige and Graham Paige owners club magazine in America. No response yet, but it does seem likely that the car will sadly leave NZ. Ross Bellamy brought along his photo album of the restoration of his 1929 Model A. The beautifully presented car in the carpark bears no resemblance to the pile of rusty bits he started with. Penny & Murray
DECEMBER 2023
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Library Notes This month the club library received from an unknown donor a copy of The MORRIS 11.9 hp and 14/28 hp SERVICE INFORMATION. This is an extremely rare and valuable publication containing a complete set of MORRIS Service Instruction Sheets for all cars up to 1932. It turned up on the library table last month and we are anxious to acknowledge the generosity of the member who dropped it off. Another very interesting document received by the club was a scanned copy of an exceeding rare Rolls-Royce publication “The First Aero Engines made by Rolls-Royce Limited”. This is a collection of all the memos that Henry Royce wrote to all parties during the design of the Eagle Aero Engine and provides an astonishing insight into the engineering genius of Sir Henry Royce. In 1914 after the war broke out, the Admiralty and what was the for-runner of the RAF, approached Royce to design a 250hp aircraft engine. Work began in September on what was to become known as the “Eagle”, and its design was revolutionary and far in advance of anything in existence. At the time, for health reasons Royce was living in Saint Margret’s Bay where he had a small design team. All Royce’s instructions and designs had to be transmitted by daily post/telegram to the works in Derby, some 200 miles to the north. The speed at which Royce and the team worked was scarcely believable as the first engine was running on a test bed developing power in excess of the specification, just six months after the first design was sketched out. The directors at the time were so impressed they decided to publish (internally) his communications which display his incredible foresight and clever engineering decisions. The book became known as the R-R Design Bible. For the next Bulletin, I have picked out a couple of instances which highlight his exceptionally clear thinking, which may appeal to our mechanically minded members. Season’s Greetings from The Library Team
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Motorcycle Notes The weather forecast for Saturday was rain, and sure enough it was raining when we left Pokeno, it was still spitting when we arrived at the club rooms. Jeremy had already opened up for us, and had helped our guest speaker Gene Nehring to bring his great looking 1947 Vincent Rapide into the club rooms. David Broadhead braved the weather and came along on his 600cc Panther, plus there was a scooter parked next to it. The members started arriving, and by 2.30pm we had 47 members seated. As usual Martin started off with a joke. Martin welcomed back a few members that we hadn't seen for a while. REPORTS Martin reported on our recent Hunua 100 rally that was won by Paul Tomlin and Peter Alderdice, riding Paul's 1925 Harley and sidecar, well done boys. Trevor Hackett told us about his and Alice Leney’s recent Vincent rally that was in the South Island, Trevor said they clocked up around 3.000 miles. Peter Alderdice told us about his and Jodi and Paul Tomlin’s trip down to Palmerston North as a reunion of the NZ group of Harley Davidson riders that went to Milwaukee USA 20 years ago to celebrate Harley Davidson’s 100th anniversary. Martin reported on the November motorcycle run that started at the Jolly Farmer Drury and after an hours ride finished at the Musick Point Radio Station in Bucklands Beach. COMING UP The December 10th motorcycle run will leave from the Jolly Farmer car park at 11am. We will have a 30 minute run down to Meremere Vintage Speedway. December 14th Christmas Pot Luck dinner December 16th Motorcycle Meeting – speaker will be member Al Gill, Al said he will talk about the time he was part of TT legend John McGuinness’ pit crew at the 2019 IOM TT. January 1st New Year’s Day Fish’n’Chip Run to Kaiaua, leaving the Jolly Farmer Drury 11am.
GUEST SPEAKER Our speaker was Gene Nehring. Gene told us about his life in Canada, where he lived for 16 years before returning to NZ three years ago. He told us about when he was a teenager he used to go to the Classic Motorcycle Festival at Pukekohe, this is where he first got the Vincent bug. His hero was Kiwi Rod Dunshea who was racing an Egli Vincent. Fast forward to living in Canada, he bought a Honda CB750 in the Yukon when he was a commercial pilot. He then sold the Honda to buy a 500 Vincent Comet. Shortly after DECEMBER 2023
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Motorcycle Notes continued buying the Comet it seized up. He finally rebuilt the bike after two years, while he was based in Vancouver. He rode the Comet all over Western British Columbia and also had trips down into the United States.
Gene loved the Comet but he found it slow compared to the big V twins, he was always late to lunch on rally runs. Gene had a great friend and mentor, John McDougall, who taught him a great deal about Vincents. John owned a 1000 Vincente Black Shadow and was rebuilding the engine, but sadly he died from cancer, quite quickly after his retirement. John’s estate gave Gene the opportunity to buy one of John’s V-twin engines. Gene then returned to NZ. He still has the Comet. Gene has spent the last two years building up a 1947 Vincent Rapide from spare parts found all over the world. Gene is an enthusiastic member of the Vincent Owners Club. Through the club, members can buy new parts for their engines and frames. Gene then showed us a slide show of his recent trip to the International Vincent Rally held in California. On this rally he visited a number of car and motorcycle museums or collections. One highlight was a visit to J Leno's collection. He saw and photographed the Vincent Black Lightning that American Rollie Free rode to a 150mph record at the Bonneville Salt Flats wearing only a pair of shorts and sand shoes in order to save weight. Gene concluded his talk by answering a number of questions from the members. Martin thanked Gene for coming to show us his great looking Vincent and telling us his story. Martin Spicer and Jack Clark
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Mid-week Tourers A reminder for you of the next couple of months events: December: NO Mid-week run, we'll be supporting the Club Gymnic on Sunday. January 17th - A short run finishing at members David and Linda Jones’ home in Waiau Pa, to view their garden and motor workshop. BYO everything. February 21st - The long anticipated run to Dave Tuke’s magnificent collection of cars and motorcycles in Silverdale. BYO lunch. Numbers will be limited, so you must pre-register with Jack, and there will be a small donation from those attending that will be passed on to a charity . Compliments of the season to you all. Kind regards The Dewdrops
Hunua 100 Review from Roslyn Lowe On the Sunday morning of Labour Weekend we met at the Jolly Farmer Carpark. With only 28 cars entered, I’m sure the number was a little disappointing for the organizers as they go to a lot of trouble plotting runs like this. Both Dennis and myself go on the Touring run and have done so for years.
We thought the run was very well organized, it took us through the South Auckland country side with the lunch stop at the Te Kauwhata Bowling Club. Our Chairman Shaaran Price served us the tea and coffee while her husband Alan did the check and parking. With the low vehicle numbers we mostly knew each other and had an enjoyable lunch break catching up. The afternoon was very scenic, heading out the back of Hunua, ending up at Hunua village. We were all given a ticket to go to the local café and get a tea or coffee it was a nice touch. We enjoyed the day and will certainly be entering again next year. Hopefully we will have more vehicles on the run? See you there Roslyn Lowe DECEMBER 2023
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Phone: 09 8261425, e-mail: rod.rugg@nzwrs.com Postal address: P.O. Box 19272, Avondale, Auckland 1746 14 | The Bulletin
DECEMBER 2023
October Motorcycle Run to Musick Point The Sunday morning of this run started off very sad as we had just watched the All Blacks lose to South Africa in the world cup by one point. We picked ourselves up anyway and got on with the day. At least we had a pleasant ride and visit ahead. Our grandson Riley and I set off from Pokeno and headed up to the Jolly Farmer Drury for the start of the October motorcycle run. On arrival just after 10.30am, there were already assembled about 10 motorcycles, 5 club cars and 5 modern cars. We had a moments silence in respect for the AB’s. I then told a joke, of course, to brighten things up. We set off, Riley and I leading the way in the car. We travelled down through Opaheke, Papakura / Clevedon, over West Road to Brookby, on through Whitford, up to Howick, through the shops, and wandered down to Bucklands Beach, onto The Parade with the Tamaki river on our left, and finally left onto Musick Point Road. This takes you through the middle of the Howick golf course, and at the end of the road you arrive at the Musick Point Memorial Radio Station. One of the Radio Station group was there to let us into the driveway up to the station. Once we had all arrived, Auckland branch member Martyn Seay, who is also part of the radio group, welcomed us into the building. Martyn then told us the history of the building, which was built as a memorial to American Captain Edwin C Musick, for his flight in the Pan American Sikorsky flying boat ‘Samoan Clipper’ in 1937 on its inaugural flight across the Pacific. Sadly in 1938 the plane exploded in mid air off Pago Pago with the loss of all on board. Martyn then showed us around the building. In 1938 the building of the Musick Point memorial station commenced. In1942 the building was officially opened by Prime Minister Peter Fraser and was then utilised as a major communications centre for messages from the Pacific Theatre during DECEMBER 2023
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October Motorcycle Run to Musick Point continued WW2, it was run by the Americans. After the war New Zealand took it back for shipping and aircraft communications. In 1966 all aircraft long range communications were transferred to the newly opened Auckland International airport. In 1993 all marine services from Musick Point was discontinued, and the building was mothballed by the owners Telecom (previously known as The NZ Post Office). 1999, the Suburban Amateur Radio Club, later renamed Musick Point Radio Group, were granted a lease for $1 a year, by now owners ‘Spark’. In 2002 US Ambassador Charles Swindell unveils plaque rededicating the memorial to Captain Edwin C Musick, in the presence of Musick’s granddaughter and family. The building is now recognised as a significant historic place with a plaque in the entrance way. I thanked Martyn and his radio group for letting us see and hear all about The Musick Point Memorial Radio Station. A very fascinating afternoon. Martin Spicer
Congratulations Martin Spicer Overall winner of our Annual Motorcycle Rally
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2023 Annual Motorcycle Rally In the week leading up to our Annual Rally the weather forecast was showing rain for the weekend. But luckily that was wrong and the whole weekend was sunny. Lynda and I arrived at the club rooms on Friday afternoon around 4pm, Bob and Debbie Ballantyne arrived soon after, Debbie was Lynda’s helper to get the evening meal ready for 33 of the rallyists. The meal was mince and cheese pies, creamy mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and gravy, for dessert there was mixed fruit and 3 types of ice cream. Saturday morning we trailered my 1960 BSA Golden Flash up to the Ramarama Hall for the start of the rally. There were already people there unloading their bikes—at 8am! Member Alan Greenslade was there to help Lynda serve up refreshments. Last year’s overall winner and this year’s plotter Don Green was looking forward to be riding his recently restored Norton Commando around the route, but unfortunately over the previous weekend he picked up a bug that laid him low all week, he missed Friday nights meal, but did turn up on Saturday morning in his car. We had 53 entries for the rally, it was pleasing to see a good number of out of town entries, 5 from Waikato, 3 from EBOP, 5 from Northland, 1 from Rotorua, 1 from Wellington, 3 from Hawkes Bay, 1 from Warkworth, 2 from Manawatu, 1 from Tauranga and finally 29 were from our branch. The motorcycle marque break down was — 3 Ariel, 5 BSA, 4 BMW, 2 Indian, 1 Kawasaki, 4 Harley Davidson, 2 Moto Guzzi, 5 Matchless, 7 Norton, 1 Panther, 1 Sunbeam, 2 Triumph, 2 Royal Enfield, 5 Velocette, 2 Vincent, 2 Yamaha. At 9.15 am Don Green and I gave the briefing and health and safety talk. I then sent the riders on their way with a joke. As we had done last year, there was an observation test, placed out along the route in the timed section were a number of orange (Jaffa’s) that you had to count, and then tell the marshal's how many you saw (there were 4). Don had plotted a great rural route that had very little traffic. From Ramarama we headed up to Bombay, and then over to the outskirts of Pokeno, we then crossed over the Waikato river via the Tuakau Bridge, then passed through Onewhero, on the next instruction there was a question – who was the famous Doctor? In a field was a UK blue police phone box (TARDIS), so it was, of course, Doctor Who. The roads were perfect for our classic motorcycling with no traffic, sweeping bends and gentle hills, travelling continued alongside the mighty Waikato river, including a 3 kilometre stretch of very good metal road.
We then skirted Glen Murray and crossed back over the river on the single lane road bridge at Rangiriri. After passing through the township of Te Kauwhata, some stopping to refuel their tanks, it was then a 10 kilometre ride to lunch at the small rural school of Waerenga. The principle and some teachers plus a number of the pupils were waiting for us. The lunch was supplied by a lovely lady ‘’ Sophie’’ from the PTA. Every one agreed that this lunch was the best we’d ever had. Then Mike O’Kane, Martyn Seay and Paul Tomlin gave the children and teachers rides in their sidecars ‘’BSA, Indian and Harley’’ around the playing fields, a first for the children and teachers. DECEMBER 2023
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2023 Annual Motorcycle Rally We then resumed our ride that took us along Falls and Coalfields Roads, passing Island Block, a short drive along SH2, and then crossed over to the old SH2 passing through Mangatawhiri , passed the old infamous Castle Dairy, and then crossed back over SH2 heading towards Mercer. We passed under SH1, took the Pokeno slip road and rode around to The Pokeno Whisky Distillery. This company has been running for 4 years, has a staff of 12. It was built here because of the Pokeno pure water, it is the largest water aquifer in north Waikato. The owners Mat and wife Celine are keen motorcyclist who ride Harley-Davidsons, they have previously run distilleries in England and Europe before coming here. The whisky tasting tour is $25 that lasts around 45 minutes, but as we were riding, we didn't do any tasting, so they only charged us $5 each. We went through in 3 groups. The process of making whisky and how it gets its flavours and smoothness was very interesting, the three main reasons are water, the wood in the barrels and the copper from the stills. We found out that Jack Daniels make 3 million barrels a year, that are used only once, and are then sold to whisky distillers around the world. Also popular are Spanish Sherry barrels. Pokeno whisky have their own cooper, Mike from Scotland, he builds and repairs barrels. We did have a tiny tipple of one of their three brands, very nice it was. The last part of the tour was looking at the full barrel storage buildings, amazing to see the hundreds of barrels stacked from floor to ceiling. These whiskies are even being sold in the UK. We left Pokeno and headed back to the Ramarama Hall for a cuppa laid on for us by Malcolm and Merit Brown and Alan Greenslade. Lynda and our daughter Bea had been up at the club rooms since 2pm preparing the food for the prize giving dinner. People started arriving around 4.30pm. By 6.30pm we had 45 sitting down chatting away about the days event. Before the meal we had our guest speaker, Neil Barnard, talk to us about his involvement with our club’s motorcycle section starting in the mid 1960’s. Neil told us his story starting at the age of 15, with his first bike a baby Triumph, about his rally exploits over the years, about the first bike meetings held at MOTAT and then how they moved to Bruce Anderson’s Garage in Remuera. Then into the club rooms in the mid eighty's. Neil’s main love of motorcycles were Vincent's. He was a founding member of the Classic Motorcycle Racing Register back in 1980. He raced an AJS 7R for many years. He moved away from Auckland to the quiet life in Whakatane 30+ years ago. And as a prominent member of the Vincent Owners Club, he still takes part in their rallies. Just recently he and Auckland members Alice Leney and Trevor Hackett (he and Trevor have been friends since their school days) rode at the Vincent Rally in the South Island they covered around 3.000 kilometres. A very interesting talk. Don Green had made up 12 feely bags that had a bike or a car part inside, and people had to guess what it was, Don gave out mini chocolate bars to those that guessed right or wrong. After we had finished Lynda’s great dinner we had the prize giving. First up we had a vote of thanks to the marshals and back up people, and to the morning and afternoon tea people, and to Lynda and Bea for the meals. We then thanked Don Green the plotter, for a great rally route, our rally secretary Jeremy 18 | The Bulletin
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2023 Annual Motorcycle Rally Lambert who processed the entries and processed the rally results on the day. Our two timing check marshals Jack Clark and Graham Viall and Leo Fowler along with Brian King who were our back up/break down team.
Thank you to Peter Alderdice for acquiring a host of rally prizes for our event, thanks also to Bob Ballantyne for donating caps and pens. We acknowledge and thank our sponsors this year. They were Auckland Harley Davidson, Drury Performance Motorcycles, CRC ADOS, Castrol Oil, and AEGIS Oil. The Rally Results VINTAGE 1st Peter Alderdice Auckland 2nd Alice Leney Auckland PV 1st Robert Simpson Hamilton 2nd Peter Bell Auckland PWV 1st Martin Spicer Auckland 2nd Graeme Crawley Auckland 3rd Simon Clearwater Northland P60V 1st Mark Beston Auckland 2nd Errol Gray Manawatu 3rd Ian Hubbard Auckland P80V 1st Ian Bell Auckland 2nd Andrew Peers-Adams Tauranga COMBINATION 1st Martyn Seay Auckland 2nd Michael O'Kane Auckland 3rd Paul Tomlin Auckland 1st AMERICAN Peter Alderdice Auckland 1st VELOCETTE Warwick Darrow Auckland 1st ENTRY Peter Alderdice Auckland FARTHEST RIDDEN Errol Gray Manawatu 576 km FARTHEST TRAVELLED Peter Simpson Wellington 682 km YONGEST RIDER Lee Walker Holt Auckland OLDEST RIDER David Mayhew Rotorua HARD LUCK Wayne Bennett no electrics on his Sunbeam OVERALL WINNER
Martin Spicer on the BSA Golden Flash
Finally, thanks to Shaaran Price, our chairman, who kindly presented the awards for us. Martin Spicer DECEMBER 2023
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Marshals Required 51st Veteran Run Saturday 10th February 2024 If you can help... Please contact John Stokes Email: jcstokes96a@xtra.co.nz or Ph: 027 277 2108
Reminder from Mrs Claus
1 December 2023
The Claus’ Household 123 Elf Road NORTH POLE
Hello Children I am just popping in here to remind you that your club picnic is on THIS SUNDAY! Will Santa and I be seeing you there? We’ve packaged some special treats in anticipation that you’ve remembered to ask your friends, cousins, brothers and sisters to all be there on Sunday 3rd December? We’re looking forward to meeting you all! Merry Christmas and Thank YOU! Mrs Claus 20 | The Bulletin
DECEMBER 2023
Far North Tour by John Stokes Like our own Hunua 100, this year’s Far north Tour was significantly down on entrants, with thirty three in total. P60 and P80 classes dominated with a total of twenty cars. Four vintage entries were received with Allen Godfrey's 1926 Clyno (right) being the oldest vehicle. Three PV entries came in, of which two started and the four PWV entries included Brian Taylors 1953 Royal Enfield Interceptor, the sole motorcycle entry, Brian had his fifteen year old grandson as pillion.
The trip up in my 1937 Buick was "entertaining", I discovered it leaks. I did however pass Vacuum Wipers 101, after many years absence, this requires much concentration. As usual we stayed with Tony and Angela Forster on Friday night, along with Stuart Craig and his 1974 Citroen DS. Saturday morning we attended the start and noted over half the entrants were from out of town. Wellsford/Warkworth branch were strongly represented, as well as entrants from five other branches. The tour followed State Highway 14 to Dargaville where an optional morning tea break was available, we didn't bother. Then we travelled up to the Waipoua Forest and on to a newly built Māori Cultural Centre at Omapere for lunch. There was some confusion about the date of our arrival, but things were quickly sorted out and everyone was fed. After lunch we were offered a variety of routes once we crossed on the Hokianga ferry. The first option was to get off the ferry at Kohukohu and follow the Broadwood Herekino road to Kaitaia and Awanui and thence to the finish at Mangonui. We opted for this route as we wanted to see a recently bereaved friend at Motukaraka. Option 2 was to take the ferry to Kohukohu and then go via Mangamuka Bridge, Fern Flat and Peria, then down Highway 10 to Mangonui. The other two options precluded the ferry and went through Kaikohe and Ohaewai across to Mangonui, the metal option skirting the Puketi Forest. The dinner at the Mangonui Cruising club was enjoyed by all and on Sunday morning it was back to Tony and Angela’s for the evening.. DECEMBER 2023
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Far North Tour continued Monday we went back towards Dargaville to see Mike and Jan Brenstrums 1954 Citroen Light Fifteen, they also have a c1924 Citroen Cloverleaf, but farming and the construction of a very large boat and trailer have intervened over some years, there are also a couple of Model A’s, a tourer and a TUDOR. The tourer would be a very suitable Irishman/Highland Fling vehicle. Tuesday morning we headed home, and upon leaving Whangarei we encountered a short and very heavy shower. The Buick’s leak now became a flood, soon after the engine began to miss, I pulled off the road and removed the distributor cap there was nothing obvious. There is a cover over the spark plugs so I left well alone. This was probably just as well because I then noticed that the cowl vent was up and you can't see this from inside the car. I closed it and pressed on miss and all, by the time we reached the Brynderwyns the miss had gone and we went home strongly, using the new Warkworth-Puhoi motorway, which makes life a lot easier. We travelled 126 miles from Whangarei to the BP on the Southern Motorway and seemed to get about 18 mpg despite the miss, which seems good for a 'thirties straight eight”. I thank my navigator Doug Pinker for his cool, calm attitude during Vacuum Wipers 101, which must have tried his patience? Unfortunately, there aren't photos except for the Clyno. John Stokes
New Members A most sincere welcome is extended to this month’s new members. 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? Tony Paterson Massey 1961 Ford Prefect
Ian Christie Browns Bay 1931 Austin RM
Tony Christy Matakana 1924 Norton 18 1959 Norton 99 1950 Vincent Rapide 1979 ? McIntosh
Ross Webster Pukekohe 1970 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 1968 NSU 1200TT 1965 Renault R8 1989 Renault Alpine GTA
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DECEMBER 2023
Waikato Veteran Rally by Phil Henley The Rally start was a little after 10.00am from a member’s home just south of Te Awamutu. A steep incline greeted the starters within seconds. We headed east out of Kihikihi for some distance towards the Waikato river then we turned south west and ambled through rolling countryside then through the Tauraroa Valley as we followed the Waipa River. As we passed through this valley we were now experiencing the westerly that was forecast to rise in the afternoon. We thought we might have to climb steeply to get out of this valley but soon we noticed that the river was running in our direction of travel so our one cylinder was spared that effort. Eventually we arrived in Otorohanga and assembled alongside the local railway station. Various luncheon opportunities were on offer and by 1.00pm we were back in the cars and headed around the corner to view an assemblage of cars and military vehicles accumulated by Peter Still who is a prominent local “towie”. We then headed off north again by a circuitous route around the 1500 ft Mt. Kakepuku and back to our start point near Te Awamutu where we had tea and a short presentation. The morning route was a little over 80 kms and the afternoon around 50 kms. All told about 3 hours motoring for our 1906 veteran. The weather was fine but coolish. Present were 7 Model T Fords. The one dressed up as the Waikato Breweries delivery van was judged the winner of the Rally. Also, the Gordon White Jackson Dogcart was accompanied by Alan Sharp’s very original 1916 DB tourer, a 1924 Essex tourer, a two wheel braked quite small Triumph roadster, and our Cadillac single. 12 all up. Sadly not a great showing.
New Members continued Greg Beatson Drury 1967 Ford Mustang 1967 MG Midget Mk 3 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina 1986 Daimler Double Six 1962 Ducati Daytona 250 1972 Benelli Super Sport 250 1965 BSA Star 250 1988 BMW R80 1987 Ducati Paso 750
DECEMBER 2023
Igor Pakhomov Greenhithe 1929 Velocette MAC 1960 Jaguar Mk 9 1956 Velocette Venom
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Spares Dept. Both Bill and Jack have been away on holiday in the South Island leaving John Towers to keep our Thursday act together following the Barry Robert workshop clearance sale that raised $3,660 for the clubs funds. We have, in the past, promoted different sections of stock items that we have sorted and catalogued, to find that there has been little response. We’ve suggested that a very cheap insurance against your car stopping in the middle of nowhere and out of cell phone range is to photograph your distributor with the cap off and come and buy a new condenser. 2 of you have taken up this opportunity. With a shortage of shelf space what would you suggest we do with stock that nobody seems to want? We’re open to all suggestions. The pics below are of a passenger Auster type windscreen for a small tourer. It is a type "A" Perfecta - made in Darlington England. Yours for just $100 Your Spares Team
Classifieds HELP WANTED Brian has an English Royal Enfield, late 1940's, and probably 350cc. He is having gearbox problems and needs help or another gearbox (Albion). If you could help, please contact Brian Jenkins Ph: 09 238 9618 or Mob 021 212 1849 24 | The Bulletin
DECEMBER 2023
Classifieds FOR SALE - 1965 HONDA S600
Peter Cooper is offering these cars on behalf of a friend, descriptions as supplied: 1965 Honda S600 roadster, mileage: 82902k. Right hand drive & this model is chain driven (the seller means: camshaft). First imported into NZ from Japan 1968. We have owned the car since 1976 and drove it a lot; last registered 1986, then stored since. A cylinder needs reboring because it is rusted due to storage not because it blew. We have accessories - wind deflector that clips onto the windscreen for example. We also have the dealer's spare parts, manual, and the workshop service manual. They are a very rare car - apparently only 7 left in Southern Hemisphere? Price: $25,000 ono.
FOR SALE - 1975 HOLDEN STATESMAN DE VILLE
In tidy condition. NZ-assembled, with 308 V8/Trimatic, P/S, P/B, E/W, A/C, etc, etc. Original interior, resprayed in its original colour many years ago. Runs and drives well; last used in May 2023. $45,000 ono If you are interested in viewing either of these cars, please contact Peter and he will arrange for you. pteeboy@hotmail.com DECEMBER 2023
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Your Committee & Officers Chairman Shaaran Price (Alan)
Email: birdwoodprices@gmail.com
H: 09 833 8575 M: 0204 195 2476
Vice Chairman/Continuous Membership Awards Steward Glenn Morris (Marion) Email: glenn-maze@xtra.co.nz
M: 021 136 5926
Secretary /Privacy Officer /Bulletin Editor /Website Maint. /New Member Liaison 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
M: 0274 426 748
Club Captain / Branch Delegate/Trophy Steward Tracey Winterbottom Email: runnymede@hotmail.co.nz (Stephen) Committee Members: Martin Spicer (Lynda)
H: 09 232 0246 M: 021 732 209
Motorcycle Section Rep/Entertainment Email: spicerclan2017@gmail.com
H: 09 233 6382 M: 022 102 5954
Social Convenor Email: spicerclan2017@gmail.com
H: 09 233 6382 M: 021 189 3120
Russel McAlpine (Jocelyn) Building & Garden Maintenance Email: rjmcalpine@xtra.co.nz
H: 09 818 4285 M: 027 473 5451
Jeremy Lambert (Michelle) Clubroom Bookings/ Health & Safety Officer Email: velo500@icloud.com
M: 027 576 7045
Lynda Spicer (Martin)
Non-Committee Positions: Library Team Leader Richard Green (Lois) Email: randlgreen@orcon.net.nz H: 09 489 2427 M: 021 818 334
Spares Team Leader Bill Hulse (Sherrill) Email: bill.sherrill@xtra.co.nz M: 09 579 0494
Beaded Wheels Reporters John Stokes Jocelyn McAlpine Peter Wood
Mid-Week Tourers Rep Jack Nazer H: 09 378 4580 Email: jack_nazer@yahoo.co.nz
Veteran Section Rep & VIC Officer John Stokes H: 09 236 4582 or M: 0272 772 108 Email: jcstokes96a@xtra.co.nz
Vintage Section Rep Murray Firth (Penny) Email: pennyandmurray@xtra.co.nz H: 09 818 6434
Insurance Vero Consumer Insurance Specialist F: 0800 505 905 or B: 09 356 4501 Agency Number: 0300126 Clubrooms Street Address: Postal Address: Club Night: Open:
Phone: 09 579 5625 39 Fairfax Ave, Penrose PO Box 12 138, Penrose, Auckland 1642 4th Thursday of the month 2nd & 4th Thursday 7:30-10:00pm, Every Saturday 4:30-6:30 pm
Branch Email Address: auckland@vcc.org.nz Branch Website: www.avvcc.org.nz Library Email Address: libraryavvcc@gmail.com Branch Honorary Life Members: 26 | The Bulletin
Barry Robert
Norm Dewhurst QSM DECEMBER 2023
DECEMBER 2023
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DECEMBER 2023