I hope everybody had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year, spending time with family and friends. By the time you read this the Ladies Run organised by Janet McCulloch and the Moped Rally organized by Bruce Marshall will have been held.
Now that the weather has picked up its time to get your vehicles cleaned and ready for the 70th Anniversary and Southland rally. I will be entering the Darracq on the 70th Anniversary and Southland rally and look forward to seeing you on the road, lunch stop and the dinner. We will be presenting 50-year service awards at the rally dinner to: Gerry Pethick, Dave Calvert and Ron Irwin.
We have a new computer in the library which was generously donated by Nathan MacAskill of EZI Computing and Electrical Ltd. John Burke helped organise the machine and load all the software
The 70th Anniversary and Southland Rally entries closed 22 January, if you are not entering your vehicle you may wish to assist. Gerry is always looking for helpers to run rallies so if you cannot enter the rally what about giving him a hand. Volunteers are always needed, contact Gerry on 0210 298 5620
Remember, keep the rubber side down.
Next run is Wednesday - 5th February 2025
The VCC Wednesday Run is 5th February 2025 Cost $25 pp Leaving from the Racecourse at 10.30am, Ring Angus or Elaine @ 0273104239 or 2128956 by Sunday night prior.
December Run
On Wednesday, 4th December, 2024, the day dawned fine and sunny with warm temperatures. 57 People participated in 27 cars and they left the Racecourse and travelled east to Rimu, Woodlands South, Mataura and onto the Old Coach Road and then left at Kaiwera turn-off and left again onto Diamond Peak Road, which looks down onto Gore. That is where we had lunch at the Town and Country Restaurant.
Bar Roster
1/02/2025
8/02/2025
15/02/2025
22/02/2025
1/03/2025
Paul Hamilton
Mac McGarry
Peter Pryde
Tony Warren
Ken Officer
Office Bearers 2023/2024
Patron Wayne Nicoll 215 7136
Chairman Donald Ward 027 294 7692
Secretary Carol McGarry 027 277 6878.... southland@vcc.org.nz
Treasurer Sheryn Warren 021 712 198
Club Captain Gerry Pethick 0210 298 5620
Howard Kingsford-Smith 027 232 3464
Bulletin Editor Stuart Francis 03 213 0529 stuartfrancis9@gmail.com
Welfare Officer Barry Hayman 03 216 3639
Southland VCC website sporty.co.nz/southlandvintagecar VCC website www.vcc.org.nz VCC forum www.trash.co.nz/vccbb
46 Ariki Avenue, Otatara, Postal: PO Box 1240, Invercargill 9840
Parts Shed
The parts shed will be open the afternoon of meeting nights between 1 & 4 p.m. The following people can be contacted at anytime if requiring parts or information on parts in our Parts Shed.
John Burke 217 8177 & 027 226 0067 or Ray McCulloch 03 217 9667
Library
The library will be open on general meeting nights between 7&9 p.m. Other times by appointment - phone 021 159 8319
Rumour Notices
Copyright of the contents of the “Rumour” magazine rests with the VCC of NZ (Southland Branch) unless otherwise stated. The Rumour is available by e-mail as a PDF file, contact the secretary if you wish to receive it this way. Pictures are usually in colour! It also comes earlier. Views and opinions expressed in the Rumour are those of the authors of the articles and are not necessarily those of the Southland Branch of the VCC of NZ, the Branch Executive or the Editor. Mistakes will be corrected if possible if they are pointed out to the Editor.
Secretary’s Notes - Carol McGarry
A Leisurely Road Trip
Tom Grant and Kelvin Henderson are to meander around Southland and Central Otago over 10 days in their 1953 MGTD roadster, leaving Dunedin on the 21st Feb. Routes to be travelled will be as the mood and weather predict. We will not book accommodation as we cannot predict where, but anywhere from hotels to woolsheds. We will be carrying sleeping bags and a tent. The pace will be leisurely, no long legs. We invite all vintage cars, especially the slower ones from your private museums that have not been off their chocks for a long time. GET YOUR A into G. Travelling through the Catlins to Gore for the night to join their Festival Rally. We will meet at the Sunnyvale Sports Centre carpark, at 10.30am. From there, travelling via the coast road towards Te Anau. Unknown after that. Phone Tom on 027 299 3996 If people joining wish to continue further, they might eventually end up in Northland. Do it now before you get too old.
Invercargill Ramble 14 to16th February 2025
The Otago Vauxhall Owner club is running a rally to Invercargill over the weekend of 14/15/16 February 2025, if any of the Southland branch have a Vauxhall or a Bedford vehicle they may be interested in meeting up.
Friday 14th February - Arrive Invercargill.6pm meet Avenal Homestead Hotel opposite the Homestead Villa Motel meet and greet / dinner.
Saturday 15th -9am meet Homestead Villa Motel for the day's briefing. Visit Awarua Radio Museum /Lunch/ Thornbury Vintage Machinery 6pm Dinner Invercargill Working Men’s club.
Sunday 16th - 9am meet Homestead Villa Motel 329 Dee St, Visit Cockcroft Traffic Police Museum / Private Museum. Visits will be completed by 12.30pm and we then head home. Please let Grant 0274 822895 / grant.n.craig@gmail.com or Gail 022 0714761 / grimsaxton@gmail.com know if you are planning on coming or want more information. RSVP by 9 February 2025
Trash or Treasure Trashcan
Why not clear out your garage or ‘spare’ bedroom over the holiday break and get some cash for yourself on either or all the below dates. Saturday February 8th, Saturday March 8th & Saturday April 12th from 10am – 1pm. Your own table $10.00 or $15.00 for ours. Book now to secure your space as spaces and tables are limited. Contact Daphne Ellis 021 2531301
Happy New Year from The National Office and Management Committee
We start the new year with some exciting news. After an exhaustive search over the past 5 years, we have finally purchased a new building for the Club’s National Office and Archives. The new premises are situated on the corner of Main North Road and Meadow Street in Papanui. This places it midway between the airport and our current city location. While this is a residential area it is on a main thoroughfare and close to Northland Shopping centre. The site consists of two buildings, one which looks like a house but is in fact built as an open plan office while the other is one large modern hall type structure which is ideal for our archives. Both are under 13 years old. With 12 car parks on site and out of the city it will be far more accessible for the members who are on the various committees that meet onsite monthly and for general members to visit. At this stage as we enter a busy period with Executive meetings approaching, a relocation date has not yet been set. A full report will be provided at the Executive Meeting in March plus a drive by of the site for those on the bus attending the meeting.
Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Rally - 15th March 2025
The Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Rally has been a very popular event in the past. Ray McCulloch is asking whether there would be any interest in going up as a group to this event and possibly hiring some motel rooms for the night. If you are interested phone Ray on 03 217 9667
Aparima College Reunion - Sunday 26th January
Massive Motoring Meet on 2025, 12-3pm BYO Community picnic. Enter the draw to win $1000 in prizes, over 10 draws – 8 at the Rugby Grounds 2pm and 2 at the Carriers 3pm. $5 donation to enter and display vehicle donations goes to the Riverton Coast Guard. Vehicles to be parked from 12.30pm to 2:30pm Vehicle to be present to claim prize. Register on the day. BBQ operating. Entry top end of Napier Street past the Bowling Green.
Forthcoming Events
Edendale Crankup 25 & 26th January 2025
29th National Motorcycle Rally - 25 to 27th January 2025
& After Rally Tour - 27th - 31st January
Kick Start Motorcycle Rally (Waimate) - 27th January 2025
70th Southland Anniversary Rally - 1st February 2025
VCC OF NZ Veteran Rally 5 to 8th February 2025 Marlborough
Classic Speedfest Teretonga 14 to 16th February 2025
Gore Festival Rally Saturday 22nd February 2025 enquiries to Katy Parish jandkparish@gmail.com
Drive a Dream Teretonga Park 23rd February 2025
Veteran and Vintage Rally - 1st March 2025
South Otago Annual Motorcycle Rally Saturday 8th March 2025 enquiries to southotago@vcc.org.nz
Race4Life Teretonga Park 11th March 2025
Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Rally Saturday 15th March 2025 enquiries to martin_jw@xtra.co.nz
Gore Car Boot Sale and Swap Meet Sunday 16th March 2025 contact Katherine on 021 261 6986
Central Otago Anniversary Weekend Run 22 to 24th March 2025
George Begg Festival, Teretonga Park 10 to 13th April 2025
South Island Club Captains Tour 11 to18th April 2025 enquiries to Mark Wilkinson at sicc@vcc.org.nz
National South Island Easter Rally - 18th to 21st April 2025
Wheels at Wanaka - 18 to 20th April 2025
Waimea Motorcycle Rally - 10th May 2025
P60/P80 Rally - 17th May
Golden Times Rally Saturday 26th April 2025 contact mwhyit@gmail.com
Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring 2026
Editorial
Over the Christmas Holiday we were lucky enough to visit my cousin June who lives in Hobart Tasmania, I had not seen her in 53 years. June is the curator of the family’s artwork. In the 1860s my Great(X3)Grandparents were noted artists and manufacturers of stained glass windows for churches. June is an artist and calligrapher and she undertook weeks of painstaking work to preserve around 60 sketches, drawings, watercolours and oil paintings, that arrived, in Tasmania from the UK. They arrived bundled up in old soap boxes, after my great uncle’s death in 1976. I knew of some of these artworks, particularly the rather impressive painting of Alfred Beer, but did not appreciate how much more she had preserved. Exeter Cathedral is very interested in the collection because the Beer family had a workshop within the cathedral grounds and were involved with producing the cathedral’s magnificent stained glass windows.
Admiring these works of art got me thinking about how quickly information is transmitted around the world today compared to 1850/60s years when the bulk of the artwork was produced. A good portrait painting would have taken a couple of weeks to complete and Henry Fox Talbot had only just started producing low quality portrait photographs. Once you had your image it had to be shipped to Australia, which could easily take 16 weeks, if it got there at all! If you just wanted to transmit information, the first telegraph transmission from the UK to Australia did not happen until 1872 (the transmission was made possible by the construction of a submarine cable in the Java straights and the Overland Telegraph Line). Even then the maximum speed was 45 characters a second over short distances and much slower over the long distance lines to Australia. Today’s fibre broad band that transmits about a billion times faster. The telegraph messages also had to be gotten to and from the Post Office which in itself could take hours, or days from remote areas.
This revolution in transmitting information has bought significant benefits, social changes and some problems, like being able to video call my older sister back in the UK every Sunday night ( the jury is still out as to whether this is a positive or a negative!). The down side is the sheer volume of unwanted information one can receive and how to regulate what we receive. However most of us now expect to be able communicate quickly and cleanly locally and internationally, and receive information much more swiftly than we used to through online sources.
So getting to the point of this whole article, the management board have agreed to take up Dyan Passchier‘s offer to set up a Southland Vintage Car Club (SVCC) Facebook page for a trial period. Carol McGarry is going to work with Dyan to establish some rules and guidelines for the site. It may be a generational thing, but the younger people who we are trying to attract to the club, communicate this way all the time and find monthly newsletters rather old fashioned.
70th Anniversary Southland Rally
There has been a slight change to the departure point for the rally: Entrants will depart from the Jessie Calder Garden, Queens Park (Victoria Avenue), Invercargill. Saturday 1st February 2025. All entrants are asked to arrive & park on the east side of Kelvin St near Victoria Ave, by 9:30am for the rally briefing –first vehicle away at 10:00am. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Club Captain, Gerry Pethick on 0210 298 5620.
70th Anniversary Dinner
Club members, family and friends attended the 70th Anniversary Christmas Dinner on Sunday 15th December. Musical entertainment was provided by Dale and Chris Simmons. The clubrooms had been decorated with Christmas decorations by Dyan Passicher and the tables beautifully decorated by Ken Officer and his team. The food was plentiful and beautifully prepared by Country Manor. It was lovely to see old members and new enjoying the Christmas festivities.
Carol
Moped Run- Sunday January 19 2025
11 mopeds arrived at Bruce Marshall’s in Winton, unfortunately only 10 started and travelled part of the way on a gravel road to the first stop at Les and Flora Andrews where we had a good look around his sheds, Chev truck, motorbikes and museum. We then went down the main road to the second stop. Allan Batt, his son Darryl, and grandson Robbie showed us around their garages full of Datsuns and various racing cars, go karts and matchbox toys.
My Solex couldn’t keep up with the much faster mopeds and gave up just before the second stop. John Cook had travelled from Balclutha to take part. Dale Simmons rode all the way from West Plains and back to Invercargill, the other machines from Invercargill arrived by trailer. Many thanks to Bruce Marshall for organising an extremely interesting day out. Photos of mopeds at Les Andrews (on front page) and Les Andrews Museum.
Carol McGarry
Ladies Run - Sunday January 19 2025
The Southland weather can make a run in two ways cold, wet and miserable lets go home or fine, warm and here are the instructions lets go.
A beautiful day for the Ladies Run with 19 people attending. Janet always gives detailed directions without giving away the ultimate ending, we knew we were finishing at Jump n Fun in Nith St which created a number of scenarios to be talked about but the first stop in Otatara was great. We crowded the workshop of Norris Johnston a tutor now at the WEA but started his leadlighting career attending Polytech classes. An engineer by original trade sometimes opportunities come from out of the blue which happened to Norris when his Polytech tutor left he was asked to take over the class and thirty five years later is a master at this art. His artistry was evident from showing our group the repair of an existing leadlight window to examples of coloured glass hanging birds, lampshades and decorative hangings that asked for the sunlight to shine through. His teaching style was relaxed and effective leaving us with the thought we can do this.
Afternoon tea at the Cabbage Tree moving onto Jump n Fun for Mini Golf we did put the staff into hopefully paid overtime not just volunteering until we were off the premises. There were a couple of holes where I heard there were design faults of course this did entail a fresh start when I asked what the record was for the course, I was told it was not unheard of 20 at Hole 1. Robson who helped us with our questions said we were a great group and he enjoyed working with us This was really fun as a group but on a cold wet afternoon go and play finish off with a coffee and it should make you laugh.
Janet - well done on this run total fun and great to get together after the holiday break. Looking forward to the next one.
Jennifer Sycamore
The Ladies Run - Leadlighting
For Sale
DA Dodge De-Lux ex Milton car Very original in concours condition with original upholstery twin wire spare wheels $25,000 phone Russell McIvor 2178481 (repriced)
VCC early edition surplus library books for the sales table
1969 Triumph Herald Convertible in good condition but is not on the road (no WOF and registration is on hold, in Auckland(!)) contact david@mcewen.co.nz.
Peugeot 404 windows Windscreen, back & side windows, Contact Ray McCulloch.
2001 Jaguar Daimler Super- charged V/8, 4 litre, long wheel base. Has travelled 93,000 km. Very tidy and runs well. Heaps of grunt. Ex Steve Thomas. $16,000.00 ono. Contact Barry on 021949531
1995 Jaguar XJ6 3.2 litre, long wheel base. Travelled 141384 km. Light green metallic paintwork. Tidy car. Ex Steve Thomas $6,000.00 ono. Contact Barry on 021949531
1960 Austin Westminster. It has been looked after wonderfully so it’s in lovely condition. The rego is good till the 04/03/25 and recent Wof. Time for another good owner to look after it, $15,000 ono . Contact Kavindu on 0274830972.
Wanted
Suitable old vintage era objects for the sale table (sold $40 of items last month)
Lucas D tail light lens wanted a lens for a Lucas D tail light (a glass one), picture attached. Peter Harkness (Dunedin member)Email: pharkness1958@gmail.com.
