Spring is well and truly with us so get out there and give your old cars a whirl. Nothing quite like it!
For those of you at our last Club Night you would have been made aware of the newly installed heat pumps. Great for cooling down over the coming months as well as warming the place up in cooler weather. As a committee we have deliberated whether or not to have these installed for many years. But it was our Rally Secretary, Christine Savage, who brought it to the table that we should approach an organisation called the Four Regions Trust to apply for a grant to cover part of the expenses. Great idea Christine, as blow me down, the trust came back with an offer to compensate our branch for half of the approximately $14000 cost! Too good an opportunity to let this offer go up in smoke, so committeeman Wayne Gedye, who is employed by a local firm supplying and fitting heat pumps, came up with various makes and models to choose from. Thank for your expertise Wayne. No point having funds sitting in the bank while members are not comfortable. The aforementioned trust will re-imburse our branch for half of the costs. I must confess that I have never heard of this Charitable Trust before Christine brought it to our attention. Mr Google informed me that this trust was formerly known as the Powerco Wanganui Trust. It was created when by virtue of the Energy Companies Act 1992, the whole of the undertaking of the Wanganui Rangitikei Electric Power Board was vested into Powerco Ltd. Google this yourselves to unlock a very interesting tale. I wonder if this Trust will help a certain poor old Editor in his advancing years? Worth a crack? Probably not as I am not yet a charity case!
For those of you who did not attend the last Club Night, you missed a real cracker of an evening. Former Army Engineer, Mark Allington, and now Whanganui District Council Roading Engineer, presented a very entertaining, informative and amusing synopsis of his new portfolio. What really impressed me was that Mark spoke off the cuff without any prepared notes and answered questions from the floor extremely well. From pot holes to curbing, tree trimming to the old Dublin Street bridge, Mark had us attentive and at times in fits of laughter, as he navigated his way through some rather serious issues facing Council and how to deal with the new world of digital/social media. I loved his concluding remark to members” My hope is that when my staff and I go home at night from work, we have a good feeling about ourselves in the workplace and how we have interacted with the public” Not a bad way to reflect on your day’s work I reckon.
I presume members have heard that our fellow club member, Hinemoa Ransom-Boyd, has recently been appointed a Justice of the Peace. Well done and congratulations Hinemoa. I believe that you are a very worthy person to hold this position.
Committee person, Dale Whitaker, keeps me informed of the recent residential burglaries being committed in our city and district. Usually about a dozen or so reported every week. Scumbags the lot of them. Probably a hell of a lot more that go unreported to Police. I was in Victoria Avenue the other day when I heard and saw a very angry young lady come hurtling out of a store yelling out to a hooded young man running off with what I presume was her scooter. Dear me, the language coming from that young lady was very fierce, resulting in the young guy dropping the scooter and scarpering. No, not funny, but I must confess I did have a bit of a smirk. Pleased she retrieved her obviously much loved scooter though. That’s all from me this month, yours in cruising Editor Ian.
Chairman's Report — October 2024
Greetings members
Please be aware that there is an internet scam going around that uses my name. It is a case of fraud where someone using my name, but not my e-mail address, is asking for money or tokens of some kind. If you have any doubts about any e-mail with my name on the it, please phone me and I will give you the answer. Do not reply to that e-mail but you can report it to (me@rescam.org).
With daylight saving now here we have a few events that always occur and one not on our Club Captain’s calendar is the Christmas Hamper. This will be drawn on the December Club meeting. My request is for Items suitable to be included in the hamper but please ensure that they are not out of date or perishable.
It was great to see John Miles back at our meeting. He and a few other members have been struggling with health issues for some time.
Sue and I really enjoyed the last monthly run. It was really interesting to see what goes on at East Town Timber. Our highlight was the visit the visit to Summerset Village. For us it was not the excellent afternoon tea but catching up with old friends who now live there. I was able to take Uta for a slow cruise around the complex. Isn’t it interesting that when we were young we drove old vehicles, because that was what we could afford, but now our vehicle that give us so much pleasure are the old ones still.
We wish to congratulate Hinemoa Ransom-Boyd on being sworn in as a Justice of the Peace. This is a huge honour and a great responsibility for her to undertake.
Andrew Dittmer Chairman
Club Captain’s Report— October 2024
Daylight Saving has arrived and at the moment bought warm weather and early starts with it.
September’s Shiny parts auction went eggceptionally well. Thank you very much to Bill James our guest and mystery auctioneer. Also a big thank you to Ian Higgins who brought eggs along on the evening which greatly helped the saleability of a lot of items. Thank you to Chris and Wayne for holding up and help marketing the items.
The September club run to Eastown Timber and Summerset Retirement Village were both very enjoyable visits. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the outing. I understand the setup at Eastown was very impressive and an asset to our community. Likewise Summerset Retirement Village put on a lovely afternoon tea and adds to the richly woven fabric of our community. I was very disappointed because I couldn’t come along, Covid had come to visit. I was out of jail on the Friday before, but I thought best not to risk passing it on. Both Eastown & Summerset have invited us back so everyone must have behaved.
We have a Sunday run coming up on the 20th of October, meet at the clubrooms from 1.00pm. If you can please bring a plate for afternoon tea at the clubrooms.
Please support the parade on the Saturday of Labour Weekend, line up at Cooks St from 12.15pm, Frank or someone else from the club will be there in a fluorescent vest and direct you where to park, which will be around the old telecom building.
Linda and I took part in the Manawatu Branch’s Vintage Rally on Sunday the 29th of September, the rally took us over the Saddle Road from Ashurst and along the foothills to the Pahiatua Railcar Society for lunch and a look around. After lunch we headed to the eastern side of Pahiatua on a road parallel to the main road, this bought us out at Oringi. We crossed the main road and headed back to the Saddle Road and Manawatu clubrooms on back country roads. The rally route was 120miles. Derek Haycock did a wonderful job of organizing the rally day and cooking tea. A man of many talents.
November’s Club night is the annual night trial, please support this evening. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun and a nice evening.
We’ve got a lot to look forward to and enjoy before the end of the year so get ready to make the most of the activities.
Rob
The Zeilstra Bros
This month Pierre and Sietse Zeilstra open up their garage doors for readers to have a peek inside and to talk about their journey into the VCC. These two are real trojan workhorses for the club. They are always there to assist with the various jobs around the grounds, which as running their own gardening business, they are very skilled at. They frequently assist at club events as well. What really does impress me, is that they are always willing to help and with a smile on their faces. Such people are like gold to any club or organization.
I recently called around to their home on a lifestyle block in Westmere. The same home where they were brought up in by their now deceased parents. Quite a well known Westmere family as the parents were recognized German Shepherd breeders with their show dogs. They are great guys and very likeable indeed. Here is their story written by the brothers. Editor Ian
The both of us have always had an interest in vehicles but never took that step to purchase a vintage or classic car and furthermore our interest is not as focused as some of the other members of the branch. As we own a small lifestyle block, our lives to some degree have been groomed by that and supporting our parents’ interests. We admit that we’re not all that mechanically minded, so our background and history with vehicles is quite shallow compared to many others.
Over the years we’ve owned a variety of vehicles but nothing earlier than a 1971. Our selection of past vehicles include two Mk 3 Cortina Gt’s, a Mk 1 Capri, Mk 4 Cortina Ghia, 2 Hondas (1 Integra and the other a Euro), 1 Mazda 626 Limited last of the rear wheel drive, 2 Mitsubishis of which one was a GTO GSR 2000 with flared guards and Cheviot mags (a bit of a lads car that didn’t do much for my image when working in the Bank) and a Toyota Corona GLXI Hatch Back.
Our parents came out to NZ back in 1953 and going through our photo albums with appropriate narrative the first car they bought was an early 1950’s Vauxhall, not sure if it was a Wyvern or Velox, but it did possess those distinctive central pillar hinged doors. Over the years mum and dad also bought and sold a variety of vehicles which included a Fiat 600 used as a delivery van of sorts for their butchery business in Khandallah, Wellington, split window Volkswagen Kombi in which we travelled to many Dog Shows, A & P Shows and up the Wanganui River to Jerusalem, Vauxhalls Velox/Wyvern and PB, Mk 2 Zephyr ex MoT, (which still had the standard MoT speedometer attached to the steering column and free flow exhaust it sounded great and everybody knew when we were arriving), Hillman Hunter, 2 XY Ford Falcons ( 1 sedan and 1 station wagon) again much used for travelling to dog shows, a glorious Toyota Crown and the Honda Accord which we still possess.
The Accord is a 1985, so qualifies as club eligible but is in need of some minor attention which should be addressed in the next few months. The vehicle hasn’t been driven for a couple of years, but we did participate in the Taihape Gumboot Rally in January 2021. We’re not going to part with this vehicle as we have learnt from the past.
We joined the VCC movement in November 2020 and this was all bought about by Hinemoa and Evan. They believed this was an opportunity for us 2 brothers to indulge in more than just work, and that has worked out very well indeed as we now have a far better work leisure life balance. So we are so thankful to those 2 for persuading us to join up. Although we didn’t own a vehicle (what we perceived would be club eligible) that matter was soon addressed through the assistance of Bill and Heather James. At the Branch barbeque in January 2021, Heather offered us to take out her MG MGB for a test run. When we returned , we agreed that this was worthy of consideration and the seed was planted. Later that evening, we learnt that Lee and Karen Taylor were considering selling their MG Roadster. A visit to their place on the weekend, following a test drive vendor and purchaser entered into some serious negotiation and now the rest is history.
The Zeilstra Bros
We (more so Pierre) doesn’t want to focus solely on motoring/vehicular memorabilia and so has embarked on collecting and establishing an array of motoring, farming, timber/carpentry related items of interest. In addition to this, we scored a pony gig from John Bullock and a telephone box from Shane and Noeline Hobman (previously owned by Edgar Boyd). Numerous other items have been provided by the following Branch members, Lee Taylor, Bruce Ardell, Bill and Heather James, Frank James, Evan Forsyth, John Miles, Steven Vos and Lee Turner contributing towards this evolving collection. There is still work to be done and it is coming together slowly but surely, …..but then it may never ever be finished, … who knows?
Well, that’s our background and we are so pleased that Hinemoa and Evan persuaded us to become members of the VCC.
To conclude in the words of the one and only cheerful former local car salesman, Clive Spencer
Thank you for taking the time to read my advert. Pierre and Sietse
Top left: The brother’s hot looking 1965 MGB convertible. Love this in my shed!
Top right: A car with plenty of family history, 1985 Honda Accord.
Other pics: A sample of their collection. Love the Pony Gig above left.
Thanks guys for your story. Editor Ian
A visit to Eastown Timber
Our September Sunday Run’s first stop was at Eastown Timber’s impressive site. Production and Retail Managers, James and Matt greeted members, and after a company profile and safety briefing, they showed us around their large and impressive site. Great to see the former Eastown Railway’s site put to productive use after railways closed it down many years ago. A large fire demolished a large portion of Eastown Timber’s complex, which thankfully has since been rebuilt. Thank you James and Matt ( pictured below) for taking time to show our members around. A most impressive visit. Editor Ian.
Eastown Buildlink is your local supplier of quality Outdoor Timber and Rural Products. They have been servicing the Whanganui Region for over 25 years. They are proud members of the Buildlink Group which allows their customers to take advantage of the low price and high quality products that only a large buying group can offer. You can get the best of both worlds with BuildLink: shopping local while still getting great value for money.
Matt and his friendly accommodating staff operate from an expansive yard in Wanganui East. They have many years combined experience selling timber products and are able to give expert advice on the choice of timber, grades, finish, and treatment required for whatever project you have. They value establishing solid relationships with their clients and no job is too big or too small. Eastown Buildlink has put a large focus into the supply of rural products to the local farming community and landowners since they have the capacity to hold a full range of farm fence posts and strainers and all of the fencing accessories to go with them. They felt this was an area that they needed attention after some local closures left a gap in the market. Their ‘Rural Link’ Farm Building programme introduced in 2012 has grown over the years and they now have pole sheds popping up all over the region. These can be custom designed and are ideal for the farm or lifestyle block.
Although they specialise in outdoor timber products, Eastown has access to all of the well known brands in the industry and is able to offer competitive pricing and prompt supply for any building project. They also have a trellis manufacturing department supplying quality custom made trellis panels and can build traditional wooden farm gates to your specifications. They have a range of delivery vehicle options available to deliver direct to your home or job site. Eastown Timber Processors is a sister company of Eastown Buildlink focusing on custom processing of customers timber. They are a family owned business and have been operating from the site in Whanganui East for over 30 years. Their services cover:
Timber treatment
Re-sawing and profiling
Lamination
Kiln drying
Coating
Other processing They employ 20+ people and their products are predominantly sent direct to port for export all over the world. They have spent the last 2 years rebuilding a substantial shed for the new planer and treatment plant and are now in a position to start focusing on expanding their production capacity.
Article prepared by Eastown Timber. Thanks guys Editor Ian
Summerset in the River City
On a recent Sunday Club Run, many members took the opportunity to visit Summerset Retirement Village at the conclusion of a visit to nearby Eastown Timber. On entering the entrance at the end of Burton Avenue in Wanganui East, we were greeted by a lovely array of quality homes set in beautifully manicured grounds and gardens. All seemingly very secure and peaceful. We drove a little way around the grounds waving to residents until we parked alongside their spacious communal lounge and restaurant where our branch member James Whibley greeted us. James is the Property Manager at Summerset. He was accompanied by the Village’s Activities Manager, Sarah Smith. Members chattered away to residents inside the lounge and outside where many viewed our prized cars. Memories appeared to come flooding back to some with comments like ‘ We used to have one of these’ or ‘I remember cars like this back in the day’ Priceless. We all love to talk about our cars and here was a captive audience.
A beautiful afternoon tea awaited us in the lavish restaurant. A very impressive complex. Quality living at it’s best. I wonder how many of our group wondered how they would fit in here? Many I would say. Thank you Summerset for making us feel so very welcome. Editor Ian
An article below prepared by management of Summerset for the Rivet.
Summerset started from humble beginnings in 1997 with founder John O’Sullivan’s simple vision to create a retirement community that our own parents would be happy to call home; and has since become one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing companies.
The very first village was Wanganui, and Summerset has now grown to be the second largest retirement village operator in New Zealand with 37 villages from Whangarei to Dunedin, as well as recently opening its first village in Melbourne, Australia.
Summerset is proudly home to 8,000 residents enjoying resort-style facilities in secure, vibrant and welcoming communities.
The Whanganui village, Summerset in the River City, offers a range of modern, high quality living options including 2 bedroom villas, 1 bedroom apartments, serviced apartments and a thirty seven bed care centre which is Ministry of Health certified.
Situated in a quiet spot, it is an easy stroll away from the tranquil and historic Wanganui river, and the village’s beautiful setting has been recognised by a civic garden award.
The village has a vibrant community, and offers a range of indoor and outdoor facilities, and with an on-site Activities Co-ordinator, there’s always a calendar of events and activities to keep residents entertained. A bus stop is situated at the front gate. For any of your VCC members or friends wanting information about available homes, please contact Brent on 06 825 1062.
Pictured above, Bruce Ardell presents Sarah Smith and James Whibley a token of our thanks.
Rubber Duckie 2024
This year Bill had to consider whether to race at Taupo or attend Taranaki VCC’s annual Rubber Duckie Rally. After much thought the Rubber Duckie won and we set off with all our wet weather gear because according to the forecast it was going to live up to its name. I had said if it was raining at the start I wouldn’t be on the back of the bike. However after a wet trip up on Friday it dawned a beautiful day for the rally with blue sky and sunshine.
There were 45 entrants and we headed off from the Top Ten Holiday Park in Fitzroy (Rally Headquarters) at our allotted time. First stop was Okato for a very nice morning tea. There was then a timed section which finished at lunchtime in Kaponga. The back roads were lovely to travel on the bike with many spots to pass the riders who were on the slower speeds. There were no silent checks or yellow duckies to look out for so I was able to sit back and enjoy the scenery and leave the navigation to Bill. The local Lions club cooked a beaut BBQ lunch with many yummy salads. Then it was back on the bike for the afternoon run back to Fitzroy which took us through Inglewood and Bell Block to complete a circuit of Mount Egmont. The day remained fine and warm and we arrived back at the camp site around 3pm.
There was time to relax before we got ready for the dinner and prize giving which was held at the Beach Street Hall in Fitzroy. Pre dinner drinks commenced at 6pm and was followed by a delicious dinner as is usual. Bill did a good job as he was only 1/2 a minute slow in the timed section which resulted in a win in our P60V class. The overall winner was 88 year old Willie Wood from Taranaki on his 1955 Matchless. This is the same Willie Wood that was the overall winner in our Wanganui Branch Motorcycle Rally earlier in the year. He was very happy.
We came back to Wanganui on the Sunday though heavy rain, hail, thunder and lightening so were extremely lucky with the weather. All in all another great weekend.
That’s us pictured on the right on our 1978 Triumph Bonneville.
Bill and Heather James.
Thank you Bill and Heather for sharing your trip with readers. Congratulations on winning the P60V class.
Editor Ian
Vintage Car Club of NZ Exclusive Discounted
Bluebridge Ferry Fares
Promo code: ANTIQUECAR
Peak Fares apply for travel on 15 December 2024 to 31 January 2025 and Easter weekend 17 to 22 April 2025.
Fare type Off-Peak Peak
Adult/Senior
$58
$62
Child $28 $30
Motorcycle up to 2m $58 $62
Car/Van/Trailer up to 5.5m $135 $142
Extra length each 0.5m $35 $35
These discounted Fares are exclusively for Vintage Car Club of NZ members and are valid for bookings and travel from 1 November 2024 through 31 October 2025
Phone 0800 844 844
Interislander Cook Strait Ferry
Vintage Car Club of NZ - Discount Rates
Valid 01 February 2025 to 15 December 2025. Phone 0800 802 802 Promo Code: WH5465
Peak rates apply 01 – 28 February and 17 to 22 April 2025. Off Peak rates apply 01 March to 16 April and 23 April to 15 December 2025
One Way Fare Off-Peak Peak Comments
Adult-18+
Child-2 to17 years
$61 $67 2 x luggage items up to 23kg
$33 $34
Child under 2 years Free Free
Car/SUV/4X4/Van/Minibus $164 $182 Up to 5.5m and 2500kg gross
Light trailer/Caravan $164 $182 Up to 5.5m and 2500kg gross
Extra per 500mm over 5.5m $27 $28 On light trailer fare
Premium Lounge additional $90 $90 Restricted 18+ years old
Pelorus Jack Lounge additional $45 $45 Kaitaki only. Ages 2+years old
Queen Charlotte lounge additional $34 $34 Kaitaki only 18+years old
Kakaki Cabin additional $45 $45 Max 4 per cabin. Ensuite
Club Calendar
Club Runs meet at the Clubrooms at 1pm unless stated
October
10th & 24th Ladies Coffee Meet at Mitre 10 at 11.00am
20th Sunday Run. Bring a plate for afternoon tea at the Clubrooms.
26th Wanganui City Centennial Parade. Assemble at Cooks Street from 12.15pm. Look out for Frank for parking directions by the old Telecom building.
27th Pierre and Sietse organising cars for Jubilee Stadium. They will contact members to attend.
November
6th Club Night at 7.30pm. Night Trial.
14th Ladies Coffee Meet at Mire 10 at 11.00am
16th Manawatu Branch overnight to Whangamomona. Lunch at our Clubrooms. Our members invited to take part in the run. See our notice board for information.
17th Sunday Run.
23rd Working Bee at the Clubrooms. 9.00am-12 noon.
28th Ladies Christmas Lunch. 12 noon at Behind the Door at 4. RSVP Dale 021 0888 2371
December
January 2025
4th Club Night at 7.30pm. Restoration of The Year.
7th Christmas Parade. Line up in Cooks Street 1.00pm
12th Ladies Coffee Meet at Mitre 10 at 11.00am
1st Gumboot Rally Taihape. Details to follow.
8th Club Picnic at Bason Reserve. Details to follow.
17th-20th Vintage Weekend, Wheels on Victoria, Classic Cruise, Burma Rally and Anniversary Run.
Inter Branch Camp Out. Labour weekend Saturday 26th October to Monday 28th October.2 nights away. Base camp at Apiti. Email cbz1@xtra.co.nz
107 Rapanui Road Westmere
Farm shop opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 8am to 5pm
Saturday 8am to 1-30 pm
Bates Watchmakers
130 Victoria Ave, Wanganui
Phone/Fax 06 345-2235
Email: bateswatch@gmail.com
Watch Specialists for Whanganui
Sales & Repairs
Mainstreet’s Top Shop Award Winner
WANGANUI ELECTROPLATING CO. LTD
‘NZ’s Finest Automotive Platers’ 68 Wilson Street Wanganui
Acknowledged experts on all types of Vintage and Post Vintage Nickel and Chrome Plating.
For all your METAL FINISHING REQUIREMENTS
Copper, Brass, Bronze, Antique Finishing and Metal Polishing Phone Dave on Wanganui 06 345 5042 or 021 057 6726 for prompt and efficient service.
Ed Boyd Parts Shed
We have an outstanding collection of engines, gearboxes, body parts, spares, new and used, from a vast range of manufacturers. These parts span from the early 1900’s to more modern production vehicles. If you are looking for anything, large or small, to keep your car on the road call us to see if we can assist. You will find our prices unbelievable. Please call or email us:
Dave 06 347 6915 027 555 4201 whanganuiriverboats@xtra.co.nz
Chris 06 348 7335 027 443 1184 cgandkrwhite@gmail.com
For Sale: 1978 Triumph 2500S. Tidy condition. New Rego and WOF. Some spare parts. $2000 o.n.o. Phone Keith Bing 06 343 9076
For Sale: 1920’s Studebaker, 1920’s Dodge and a Yamaha motorcycle.(pics below) Includes numerous parts for the cars. Suitable restoration or parts. Phone Maggie 027 450 0590
For Sale: Leyland Marina HDL 1978 ( left) $8750 or near offer. Phone Sue Voss 021 296 6210
For Sale: 1955 Hillman Californian (right) suit restoration / parts and also comes with some spares. Open to reasonable offers. Phone Carole 027 447 7216
