TOPICAL
Taranaki Branch Committee
TARANAKI BRANCH
BRANCH OFFICERS, BRANCH ADDRESS, AND MEETING DETAILS 2024- 2025.
CHAIRMAN:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE: E-MAIL:
SECRETARY/TREASURER:
COLIN JOHNSTON. 63 BROADWAY, WAITARA. 021 131 6699 / 06 754 6216. cajohnstoncollections@xtra.co.nz
ADDRESS: TELEPHONE: E-MAIL: ROB THOMSON. 7 LEATHAM AVE, STRANDON, NEW PLYMOUTH, 4312. 027 701 2485 vcc.taranaki@gmail.com
CLUB CAPTAIN:
TELEPHONE: E-MAIL: JOHN MUTER. 06 751 5554 megandjohnny@xtra.co.nz
NEWSLETTER EDITOR:
TELEPHONE: E-MAIL:
JIM LOGAN. 027 604 4821 / 06 751 0316. logandj49@gmail.com
BRANCH COMMITTEE:( ( ( ( KEVIN FABISH: 06 756 7665 kev.fabish@gmail.com
PARTS SHED:( ( (
LES BOGNUDA: 06 755 2810 021 084 82323 bognuda63@xtra.co.nz
DANNY PATTINSON: 06 756 7735 pattinson-family@farmside.co.nz
BRIAN EVANS: 027 956 0441 brian.julie@outlook.com
JOHN MUTER: 06 751 5554
CES BUDD: 06 241 0454
NEIL ROOK: 06 758 6737
COMPLIANCE / VIN’S / VIC’S: MIKE WILLIAMS: 06 765 4419 annmike21@hotmail.co.nz
LES BOGNUDA: 06 755 2810 021 084 82323 bognuda63@xtra.co.nz
MID WEEK COORDINATOR: BRYAN MORRIS: 06 272 8027
SCRIBE / BEADED WHEELS: MEMBERSHIP / ARCHIVIST: NAME BADGES: LIBRARIAN:
CLUBROOMS CUSTODIAN: GROUNDS CUSTODIANS:( (
BRANCH INFORMATION: CLUBROOMS ADDRESS: POSTAL ADDRESS: E-MAIL: MONTHLY MEETING:
COLIN JOHNSTON: 021 131 6699 cajohnstoncollections@xtra.co.nz
ROSE COX: 027 353 9968 roselcox7@gmail.com
KEVIN FABISH: 06 756 7665
JOHN MUTER: 06 751 5554
ROSE COX: 027 353 9968
LES BOGNUDA: 06 755 2810
DANNY PATTINSON: 06 756 7735
TARANAKI [19] 1040 MOUTAIN ROAD, SH3A, WAIONGANA, INGLEWOOD. C/o 7 LEATHAM AVE., STRANDON, NEW PLYMOUTH. 4312 taranaki@vcc.org.nz AT CLUBROOMS, 3RD THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH, 8.00pm.
On The Cover: At the morning tea stop, in Okato, of the Rubber Duckie Rally and Ozzy’s ManCave during our recent midweek run.
Chairmans Chatter for Topical Torque
Hello
Folks
The weather held fine with brilliant sunshine for our 47th Rubber Duckie Motorcycle Rally held in September. 46 entrants were treated to an exciting run from the Princess tourist court in Fitzroy out into the countryside that ended with a stop for morning tea at Okato and then a blast down to Kaponga for a magnificent lunch put on by the Kaponga Lions and the Kaponga Swiss Club.
The Swiss Club club rooms are certainly an ideal stop for this type of rally and its grateful thanks to members Danny and Sharron Hurley for organizing this for us.
Congratulations to our member Willie Woods who was the overall winner of the Rubber Duckie Motorcycle Rally this year. Well done!!
Many thanks to Peter Croot who computerized all the results making it very easy to determine the winners and placings and thanks to all the organizing team and check Marshalls from setting the course and the catering at the headquarters to organizing the annual dinner, photos and prizes. A tremendous amount of work goes into organizing these types of events.
Our branch is having a visit from 33 members of the Central Hawkes Bay VCC branch as they are participating in a tour of Taranaki for a few days in October. They will be attending local attractions including The Holden Museum etc and will make a visit to our clubrooms and Parts shed.
NZTA has made contact through Downers to look at our road frontage in front of the clubrooms and are going to fill with metal the potholes which at the moment, are filled with water. This has been an ongoing problem and we look forward to this being completed as it is unacceptable that we have to drive through water to enter our property and clubrooms.
Please check the program elsewhere in this newsletter that our Club Captains have put together for you as there is some beaut activities being arranged with guest speakers, club runs and Xmas parades all coming up as we get closer to the Xmas season.
Just a Reminder that Subs are now due and are payable to the National Office in Christchurch. So that's all from me for this month, hope to see you all out and about in your vehicles.
Keep the passion...........Keep to the Left.............Stay Safe on the roads...... Summer and Daylight savings are here.
Cheers
Chairman Colin
EDITORS REPORT
Here you are folks your October newsletter.
A very enjoyable afternoon was spent visiting the Gables Gallery, Ozzy’s car collection and Man Cave last month. After which we motored to John and Megans for a welcome cuppa. Thanks John for an interesting run.
We are hoping to have another event in November, hope to email you with details soon with some details on this.
A notification of an event in January to celebrate Inglewood’s 150 year. It will be happening on the 25th and will include a street parade with a couple of vehicles representing each decade from 1900 to 1960. More information on this later.
Jim Logan
CLUB CAPTAINS REPORT
The September mid-week run was well attended with the weather being kind to us. We met at the Gables (an old colonial hospital) in Brookland Park and after a brief talk on its history by Derek Hughes, members were able to inspect the interior of this magnificent 1860s building. Then it was off to have a look at Ozzy's Man cave packed full of memorabilia. Further up the road we visited his collection of breathtaking classic cars. I hope all that attended enj oyed their afternoon with us.
COMING EVENTS
Thursday 17th October, club night, Brian and Julie Evans have organised a guest speaker from the Department of conservation who will be speaking on Kiwi conservation in Taranaki. I don't have any further details as Brian and Julie are away in the UK on holiday.
Sunday 3rd November, Fringe Garden Festival run has been organised by Brian and Ali Bollan d through central Taranaki. We will meet at Pembroke Road in Stratford just around the corner from Broadway to leave by 11 am. Please bring a picnic lunch which we will enjoy in King Edward Park. If it is fine we could spend an hour viewing the Rhododendron Dell and possibly the Loop River Walk, if wet we could use a local café. If there is any member who has restored a vehicle since 2021 could you please contact me so that your restoration can be recorded on our Restoration Board.
Safe Motoring, John.
OTHER BRANCH’S EVENTS
OCTOBER 5 Te Aroha Cruise, E Bay of Plenty – 5 Swap Meet, Manawatu - 12/13 Motorcycle Rally, Manawatu – 13 Rex Porter Rally, Wairarapa – 14- 18 Taranaki Tour, C Hawkes Bay – 19-20 Hunua Spring Tour, Auckland –
NOVEMBER 1-3 Far North Tour, Northland – 2 Annual Rally and Dinner, Wellington – 9 Veteran and Two Wheel Brake Rally, Waikato – 10 Tararua Trundle, Horowhenua – Gold Medal M/C Trial, Wairarapa – 17 Swap Meet, Waikato – 22- 23 Annual Motor Cycle Rally, Auckland - 23-24 Branch 60th, Hawkes Bay – 24 Mangatainoka Vintage and Classic Car day Wairarapa.
NATIONAL EVENTS 25 – 28 October National Commercial Rally hosted by the North Otago Branch.
25 – 27 January 2025 National Motorcycle Rally hosted by Manawatu Branch
Events Calendar
RUBBER DUCKIE RESULTS
RUBBER DUCKIE MOTORCYCLE RALLY 2024 RESULTS CLASS ENTRANT FROM MACHINE
POST VINTAGE
1st Dennis Young
New Plymouth 1936 Ariel
2nd Graeme Crawley Napier 1938 Ariel
3rd Norm Hill Stokes Valley 1938 Velocette
POST WAR
1st Willy Wood
New Plymouth 1955 Matchless
2nd Robert Young Whangarei 1948 Ariel
3rd Peter Simpson Lower Hutt 1954 Matchless
POST 60
1st Bill James Wanganui 1978 Triumph
2nd David Henwood Wanganui 1980 Honda
3rd Ian Street New Plymouth 1977 Honda
POST 80
1st Verdon Heath Levin 1988 ETZ
2nd Robert Heath Fielding 1986 Honda
3rd Chris Clark Ngatea 1981 BMW
COMBINATION AND MORGAN
1st John & Jill Williams Auckland 1937 Morgan
2nd Michael O’Kane/Trevor Appleby Auckland 1952 BSA
3rd Paul & Judy Tomlin Auckland 1925 Harley Davidson INVITED GUEST
1st Alan Gudopp New Plymouth 1971 Norton
2nd John Newport New Plymouth 1955 Triumph
3rd Ian Hubbard Auckland 2024 Royal Enfield
RUBBER DUCKIE MOTORCYCLE RALLY 2024 TROPHY WINNERS
TROPHY ENTRANT FROM MACHINE
HARDLUCK Norm Hill Stokes Valley 1938 Velocette
BRIAN HOPKINS CUP Dennis Young New Plymouth 1936 Ariel
1st TARANAKI ENTRANT Willy Wood New Plymouth 1955 Matchless
OVERALL WINNER Willy Wood New Plymouth 1955 Matchless
BEST PRESENTED BIKE Pam Howatt Thames 1955 Triumph
WALLY HUNT MEMORIAL Don Green (21 Yrs) Auckland 1971 Norton
RAFFLE RESULTS
RAFFLE TICKET NUMBER NAME FROM TOOLBOX No 131
ROTARY DRILL KIT No 114
LARGE CRESCENT No 94
Dennis Young NEW PLYMOUTH
Bill James WANGANUI
Michael O’Kane AUCKLAND
[ The following story was researched by Trevor Benton in Brisbane who is an ex New Plymouth motor enthusiast. It was put together by Max Rutherford for the Historic Speedway monthly newsletter “ Two Notes” here in New Plymouth.]
Part Two
This first car Harkness designed and built became the 'Anzac', using a Rolls-Royce aero engine and a Cadillac chassis. Smith was aware of its inadequacies, so he concentrated on Australasian records and while searching for a suitable site for his speed runs, set new inter-city records in New Zealand. For that he used a Chrysler and on January 11, 1927, he took 1 hour and 15 minutes off the Auckland to Wellington record. A few days later he took on the Christchurch to Bluff record. Covering 402 miles in 8 hours and 50 minutes he smashed this record and the Christchurch - Invercargill record along the way.
Smith's drive was the last officially sanctioned intercity record breaking in New Zealand on public roads. The Government had decided the risks associated with record breaking were too high and called a halt to any further attempts (at least legal attempts?).
When testing the Anzac at Gerringong in New South Wales on the first of December 1929, he created an Australian record of 128.571 miles (206.909 km) per hour.
The next month, at Ninety Mile Beach, north of Auckland, with Smith driving they set an unofficial Australasian ten-mile record at an average speed of over 148 miles per hour (238 km). The site was at the end of Hukatere Road off SH1 about 40 km North of Kaitaia.
This beach was chosen after checking sites in Australia. Gerringong beach 130 km South of Sydney was where Don Harkness had set an Australian record of 107 mph in the 1920`s but was considered too short. Although places like Lake Eyre and the salt flats of Lake Gairdner, both in South Australia, were used in later years as record attempt courses it has to be presumed they were either unavailable, inaccessible or unsuitable possibly due to weather related condition at the time of consideration.
In any event the Sydney team in 1929 came to the conclusion that there was not a suitable track to run at the projected speeds in Australia and their only options were either Daytona Beach in Florida where Segraves and Campbell had set records, or 90-mile beach in NZ.
At the beach site the men built a special workshop in the sand hills and the concrete foundations were still there in 1974 when the late Eoin Young visited the site for information for an article he wrote on the record attempts.
On returning to Sydney and using a borrowed seaplane engine, Smith and Harkness began building a better car, the (Sir) Fred. H. Stewart 'Enterprise', named in honour of their main sponsor. Delays occurred when they disagreed about its design and Harkness became ill. Their differences came to a head in New Zealand in December 1931, when Smith altered the car. Harkness began legal proceedings in Sydney, but later settled out of court.
Another rift that came between the men started when Harkness wanted an alteration to the ignition system so that the spark could be altered during a run. This system was installed by a Mr. Nadl who first wanted to check the compression of each cylinder, but Smith refused, saying the British Air Ministry who supplied the engine wanted the compression ratios kept secret or the permit to use the engine might be withdrawn. He further suggested that if Nadl approached the engine he might throw him and the compression tester into the surf.
The engine [borrowed from the British Air Force under a bond of £1000] was a W12 Napier Lion of about 1450 cubic inches first built in 1917. In 1929 eight Napier Lion engines were built with superchargers rated at 1350 hp with one of these powering the Enterprise.
Finance for the project was raised through a Sydney based sponsorship cartel which included Vacuum Oil, “The Sun” picture bureau, C. C. Wakefield and Co and “The Sunday Times” a newspaper that Smith penned for. The funds required would have been considerable, especially during a global depression and to some extent a tribute to both Don Harkness and Norman Smiths credentials in addition to a world land speed record as a possible outcome.
They had to beat 245 mph set by Malcom Campbell in 1931 who in turn had upped Sir Henry Segraves 1929
record of 231 mph. At the time the land speed record was attractive and of interest to the fast-growing motor industry so that would have helped gain sponsorship. Long distance aviators like Kingsford-Smith had also captured the imagination of the public and thus attracted sponsorship for their efforts.
On 26 January 1932, on a wet and bumpy surface, 'Wizard' Smith set an official World speed record for ten miles of 164.084 miles (264.06 km) per hour. Although intending to challenge Sir Malcolm Campbell's one mile and five as well, months of inactivity followed, amid adverse publicity. He had broken a record, but it was not the outright land speed record for one mile that he was after.
After all the failures and disappointments Smith returned to Sydney where he sued Smith's Weekly for alleging that he was a coward. Although he was awarded damages, his public standing remained low and, with insufficient funds, he abandoned plans for any further challenges. Later he was accused by the Sydney papers who said he “was afraid to go for the one- mile record.”
The large crowds of locals that had attended the early attempts slowly diminished as more attempts failed and the locals were getting very agitated about losing their access to the 20 odd miles of the beach which was controlled by police during runs.
There had been significant input to the attempts by the Auckland Automobile Racing Club who did the timing and organised such things as the closing of the beach for the attempts. When Smith was back in Sydney Harkness contacted the club to say he would return and attempt the record himself. Also, CWF Hamilton, father of the NZ invented jet boat was suggested as a possible driver but the club turned down both these suggestions and declared the attempt closed.
The car was shipped back to Sydney and dismantled. The engine was purchased from The British Air Ministry and fitted in a speed boat.
The NZ Post Office had laid telephone cables along the course to take the signal from the special photoelectric timing equipment that had been imported from England. There were some delays while faults in the cable were found which proved to be the result of enterprising locals cutting the cable while they removed the lead sheathing, probably to be melted down for fishing sinkers. Another timing problem was sea-gulls flying overhead and their shadows triggering the equipment.
This is the start of the Enterprise with the aircraft engine installed. Left to right are Jock Clark and Cyril Westcott from CC Wakefield, Norman Smith and Donald Harkness.
The car was not originally fitted with the forward extended radiator shown in some photographs but missing in the picture taken during an earlier test run, so they must have had overheating problems. The additional cooling was added by Smith and it was this that caused another rift between the two men. A system of ice tanks had been tried but failed and the use of methyl chloride and glycol had been abandoned due to the high cost involved and the decreasing budget they were working on.
Although both Smith and Harkness were quoted earlier in Sydney papers as saying Ninety Mile Beach was the “best venue in the world for record attempts” there were several problems that they encountered. The worst was the un-seasonal weather which produced high winds and rain even in January of that year.
Then there were the flocks of seagulls that insisted on using the same stretch of sand but the worst was the native shellfish that lived in the sand. These were Toheroa which poked their razor-sharp shells up through the sand and badly cut the car’s special 37” Dunlop tires.
Another problem with this beach is that wet patches can come and go at different places and times and can be hard to spot from any reasonable distance. Several people have been killed on the beach over the years, especially when their motorbikes have hit these ‘quicksand’ like patches.
The photographs from the area during the event show some strange sights. Note Wizards wife Mrs. Harriet Smith (in the centre) on the 1930 trip wearing fur stoles and gloves on a beach! Though mid-summer it looked like it might have been a cold day. Using the same beach was a Fokker plane with three engines flown by another Australian, Charles Kingsford Smith, who had started a mail delivery service to Australia from Ninety Mile Beach using the shed that the record attempt men had built. In one photo of the plane Kingsford Smith is shown at the left of the picture in the old pit area on the beach prior to setting out on a 20-hour flight back to Sydney. The Policemen are worth a laugh too! That plane is now on display at Brisbane Airport. In 1933 Smith twice reduced the Brisbane-Sydney Road record and, surveying the route for a contest in 1936, drove around the entire continent in 45 days. That year he joined Stack and Co. motorcar dealers from where he retired as their import representative in 1957.
(Below is Kingsford Smith’s plane that flew from 90-mile beach to Australia with mail and some of the men from the record attempts. Kingsford Smith is at far left. I love that ‘rolly polly’ policeman!!)
DID YOU KNOW –
That any members are welcome to visit our parts shed by contacting a committee member to organise a suitable time for a visit. There are a wealth of parts within and there is not always time on Club night to rummage through them all.
WANTED TO BUY
• Ford T 21-inch wheel and rim, 4 stud bolt on type, ph John 7515554(mem)
FOR SALE
• Yakima brand roof rack. Excellent condition. New price $495, will sell for $200 cash.
The S16Y Aero ThruBar silver pair, fits around 1,000 makes and models. Visit www.yakima.co.nz to see if it fits your vehicle (Neil also has a list). Contact Neil Rook, 06 7586737.
• Kent driving lights , chrome, as new $40.00 pr. Electric cooling fan, as new, $25.00 Metal Velocette sign, approx 400mm x 300mm new $20.0. Sunroof, suit 80’s on. NOS Vanguard rocker panels [sills] NOS, light surface rust, $50. Mazda B1600 ute tail gate skin, NOS, $5. Luggage carrier, rusty but will clean up, $50.00. Audi 5-cylinder engine, $200.00. Contact Taranaki Branch - Parts Dept.
• Morris 1300, twin engined, unique, road legal and drives well, asking $9,000, ph Albert 0278588072)mem)
Anyone wanting one or more of these stylish decals to go on your vehicle’s windows, please see Kevin Fabish, size 5cm x 12cm