#0135 2022 2022
December 2023
PO Box 458, LEVIN 14 Tiro Tiro Road, LEVIN
Patron Chair Deputy Chair Secretary Treasurer Co-Treasurer Club Captains Committee
Welfare Officer Custodian & Maintenance Spares Team
Library Archives Branch Delegate Spark Editor Spark Distribution VIC Team
Tom Hayes Bill Laney w.a.laney@xtra.co.nz Robin Strachan Sharon Meredith horowhenua@vcc.org.nz Jackie Job jackiejob73@gmail.com Daphne Williams dh.dub@xtra.co.nz Bruce Lawrie
06 367 9445 027 4512408 06 364 6780 021 08543434 027 2011806 06 364 0061 021 02792199 04 293 6803 (W) 04 293 4943 (H) 06 368 3824 022 1601189 027 4509636 06 3647238 06 367 2046 06 368 6891 021 02792199 06 367 2046 027 5674431 027 4509636 06 364 7238
Verdon Heath John White Bill Cottle Callum Farmer Nigel Wheeler Andrew Judd Daphne Williams Nigel Wheeler nigelgwheeler@gmail.com Bill Cottle Callum Farmer callumfarmer77@hotmail.com Rex Williams 022 5114084 Mike Khull 06 363 5633 Jeff Fox 027 4486888 Colin Brooks 04 298 5458 Robert Cammish 027 4441333 Don Macdonald 06 364 8305 George McLean 027 2121705 Robin Strachan 06 364 6780 Diane Strachan 021 468763 John White 022 1601189 Bruce Jamieson 027 6357336 brucejamieson48@hotmail.com 06 825 9102 Murray Tinsley 021 02625971 Verdon Heath, Ivan Horn and Mike Khull
Meeting Branch Night - 1st Wednesday of the month at 7 30 pm Committee Meeting - Last Wednesday of the month at 7 30 pm Working Bee - Saturday following Branch Night at 9 00 am Spare Parts - Open Saturday following Branch Night Club Bank Account No - 03 0667 0269227 00 (Westpac)
This past month has been one that has led me on to a number of new experiences, some of which I have no intention of repeating. November is the month when it is necessary for me to put on my other cap, that of the New Zealand Goldwing Riders Club. I have been a member since purchasing my first Goldwing back in 1998, a 1976 Aspencade 1200cc four cylinder. Since then I have graduated to a 1500cc six cylinder (“Gypsie Rose”) in 2002 and then on to a GL1800cc six cylinder (“Justadream”) which I purchased new in 2007 (if I remember correctly, the first thing of any consequence I had done this for) and since then I have covered 154,000 kms cruising all over the country. All the motors are ‘boxer’ flat four or six cylinder, water cooled and have shaft drive to the wheel. Generally, November is taken up with a trip somewhere in the country for the A.G.M. on the third weekend of the month, then it’s a cruise back home. The A.G.M. varies North Island, South Island on a yearly basis and the ride to it is generally 7 days. Every fifth year, since 2000, we have the option of doing a special trip from Cape Reinga to Bluff (or in reverse direction). This year the setting was in Cromwell, Central Otago (incidentally my place of birth and I lived there until 1955). We had assembled in Christchurch for the start of the tour and after the first day to Tekapo for the overnight stay, we suddenly found that one of the members had developed symptoms of Covid: a test proved positive, and he was on his way home. Well that was the start of what turned out to be a disaster. Of the 27 that started the run, we got down to 7, plus an extra 2 who came for the A.G.M. only, by the end of the week. I left Cromwell for Christchurch on the Sunday morning and by the time I got there I was feeling real xxxxxxx. A good night’s sleep did not save me. I tested positive on Monday morning and was locked down in Christchurch until Friday lunchtime. A change of bookings on the ferry and home to Wellington on Saturday night. Still, I did the tour and covered about 2,500 kms altogether.
On arrival home, it was change of cap and get into the Vintage Car Club stuff again; meetings, followed by the Christmas Dinner on the 10th. What a ripper, again well supported and the meal from Raewyn’s was top line as always. Presentations of membership year badges to worthy recipients were delivered after the meal. Everyone seemed to enjoy the whole affair which to me indicates that we have a very happy club, and then before we knew it, the room was totally cleared and cleaned up before everyone went home. What more can I say? Thanks to all who had anything to do with the event. Since then we have had another ‘Garage Raid’ but it would probably be better, under the circumstances, if I left the comments for and against to those members who attended. I have nothing else to add except to wish you, one and all, the very best for a Happy Christmas and New Year. Have fun and make the most of the chance of seeing friends, family or enjoying anything that you may have planned. Both Denise and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2024.
Bill Laney
Brucie’s Burblings A big thank you to all the members and visitors who entered and took part in our annual Tararua Trundle on the 26th November. It was great to see a wide spread of vehicles and people enjoying themselves with them. To the helping hands of Derek Ransom, Ian Thomson, George McLean and Viv Spiers the event would not have happened without your input and help. Thanks a million. Also we thank Landcorp / Pamu farms for the use of their roads within the Moutoa area. It is nice to travel on roads very rarely travelled by the general public. Finally, to Peter and Jeanette Cranstouns for access to their Italian Renaissance gardens at Villa Candotti, we give a very big “Thank you”. The amount of work just to keep up with the lawns and hedges alone would be endless. Class winners: Vintage class Post Vintage class Post War Class Post 60 class Highest placed Ford Overall winner
Alan Porter . Ford Model A Bruce Lawrie Chrysler P4 Ken Foot Humber 80 Philip Pearce Renault R8 Alan Porter Ford Model A Philip Pearce Renault R8
Photos later in this issue of Spark.
I hope you all will be able to keep up with all the activities happening over the next few months. Visit the VCC web site and news letters from our neighbouring clubs to be up to date, and see our own events listed on the last page of "Spark". Wishing you all the very best for a great Christmas & Bright and Happy New Year. Take Care.
Bruce Lawrie & Verdon Heath
From Bruce Lawrie
Speaker for February
We don’t have a speaker for February, so come along and get updated with all that club members have been doing.
New Club Members
David Anderson and Brendon Letts have had their membership confirmed by VCC in September. Bill Blackwell, Josh Inglis and Martin Gibbs have attended club meetings and are in the process of being vetted by VCC. We welcome you all.
Recovering
Don McLaren has had his hip operation. No stopping him now. Bill Laney and Winton Cleal both got over their doses of Covid. Ian Bade had a spell in hospital, but we believe that he is on the mend. Fred Carrick has been admitted to hospital, and remains in a serious condition.
Sadly Missed
It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Mark Morgan’s wife, Lynette on 2nd December. Lynette had been unwell for some time, fighting a very brave battle with cancer. She was a much loved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, nurse, and a good friend to many. She will be sadly missed. Our sincere sympathy and condolences go out to Mark and his family. RIP, Lynette. We also extend our sympathy and condolences to Glenn and Stephanie Peach after hearing that Glenn’s brother in Auckland passed away.
Cover Picture
Is it that time of the year already? Where does the time go?
Not much on the go at present, as I am busy with organising the swap meet. Keep the old mags and books coming in, and especially if you see anything regarding the Levin motor racing years let us know. I have just received a shelf ticket machine for producing new labels. I should be able to start this soon. POLICE OFFICER ASKED.......…”Why didn’t you stop when I shouted to you?” MOTORIST............................……..”I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t realize it was a policeman yelling at me. I thought it was someone I'd run over.”
Robin and Diane Strachan
Swap Meet 2024 A super-large thank you to all of you who put your names forward to help on swap meet day, 16th March next year. Your organizing team is JOHN WHITE---------- 022-1601189 ROBIN STRACHAN----021-468763 REX WILLIAMS---------022-5114084 As you know, it takes a lot of people to make a swap meet of this size successful, and with this in mind we have, over the years, turned it into one of the best meets in the lower North Island. To keep achieving this standard will take a lot of hard work, dedication and showmanship. So far 49 willing helpers have volunteered. We still need more, so if you were not at the club meeting and would like to help please give me or one of the other two organizers a call. We need four more people for gate duty, one man for kitchen duty, two for the site selling area and one traffic control gate person (not collecting cash). The more people we have to share the jobs, the less time each will need to spend at any one place.
If you would like to know anything more about the meet give one of us a call. THE NAME OF THE GAME IS TO HAVE FUN WHILE WORKING--IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT We are going to have a swap meet catch-up on the 26th Jan 2024 at 11am in the club rooms. The three wise men will be there. Anyone else who would like to help out, or can add something to the operation, please come along. Robin Strachan
For the “Festival of Lights” display at the Memorial Hall in Levin, our two Lindas decorated a tree. While there is a competition for this, the event also raises money for charity and gives participants an opportunity to promote their activities. Our tree was sponsored by Harvey Bowler Funeral Services.
Answer later in this issue of Spark
MEREDITH ELECTRICAL LIMITED For all your electrical requirements including: New Homes, Dairy farms, Maintenance, Repairs and all general electrical work.
Give Richard a ring on 027 4415464
TARARUA TRUNDLE
Ready to depart
All paying attention to Verdon at the drivers’ briefing
Line-up at the end of the rally
And the winners are . . .
Vintage class: Alan Porter
Post Vintage class: Bruce Lawrie
Highest placed Ford: Alan Porter
*
Post War class: Ken Foot *
Overall winner (left) Post 60 class (right): Philip Pearce *
* Were not at prizegiving to receive their trophies.
How well did you do?
Paper or Email? Thank you to members who replied regarding how they would like to receive Spark. Many of us are happy to have the magazine sent by email as a pdf file. Of course, some members don’t have access to email, and many simply prefer a paper copy, so we will always have the paper version made available by post or hand delivery. If you have not yet responded, please let the editor know in which format you wish to get your Spark, so that he can prepare a mailing list for delivery of the February edition. Phone or text to 027 6357336, (no voicemail please; I manage to lose them) or email to brucejamieson48@hotmail.com. Or you can let me know at a club night or club event. Bruce Jamieson
Garage Raid on 8th November We all piled into George McLean’s garage to check out the Jeep and the Ford Model Y. George loves the Jeep, and showed us all about tuning it up with his oscilloscope and other electronic gubbins (they did it in the war with an adjustable spanner and a cigarette paper).
But he is less impressed with some of Mr Ford’s designs, and gave us a rundown on setting up the mechanically operated brakes on the Model Y, and also about the difficulty keeping grease from leaking into the brake drums.
What we didn’t know is that George has been a keen radio man all his life, and has an amazing collection of things (which most of us could only guess were radios). As well as all the civilian stuff, there are many military items.
“Hello Dwight. Monty here. How is the weather in Normandy today?” The same afternoon several club members went to the horse racing at Otaki, where we were provided an area in which to display our cars. I don’t know how many lost their shirts, but Don McAlpine sent a photo of some of the cars looking splendid under the trees.
KAPITI MID-WEEK RUN TO VILLA CANDOTTI ITALIANATE GARDENS
WEDNESDAY 29 NOVEMBER
Forty-six people from Wellington, Horowhenua and Manawatu VCC branches visited Villa Candotti gardens in Colyton, Manawatu. This outing was largely organised by Stan Garmonsway, formally of Wellington branch and now a member of Manawatu branch. It was a wonderful day out in a superbly colourful garden, and a real debt of thanks needs to go to Stan for organising this visit. The owners of Villa Candotti, Peter and Jeanette Cranstoun, created a spectacular garden in the Italian style to honour Peter’s Italian heritage. Previously the land (1.6 hectares, or 4 acres) had been sheep paddocks. The large grounds have many varieties of trees and flowering shrubs. All the flowers were in abundance in November – roses, wisteria, camelias, rhododendrons, geraniums, etc. You can even play chess in the grounds on a life size board and chess pieces. The day started with rain as we drove to Villa Candotti but it was fine at the gardens. Peter and Jeanette provided a quality morning tea which was the first highlight of our visit. After that great start Peter took the group on a tour and explained how he and Jeanette had transformed sheep paddocks into the fabulous gardens. Everyone admired all the work that has gone in to making Villa Candotti a wonderful place for all sorts of social occasions. Then it was a picnic lunch in the grounds, and in the sun. Members continued to wander the gardens following lunch and seemed reluctant for their time at Villa Candotti to end. This location was one of the highlights of my many visits with the Wednesday group. Those who didn’t take the opportunity to visit Villa Candotti missed a real treat.
Kevin Buck
November 2023 The month began with two small swap meets, the first in Upper Hutt on the same day as the working bee being rained out. The second, in Featherston, was held in beautiful conditions, with a barn find, a near-complete (only missing its engine) 1936 Plymouth Sedan being the pick of the bunch.
In late January (21st) we have the return of the “Wheels With Attitude” Show and Swap Meet at the Dannevirke A & P Showgrounds from 10am. I’m not sure if our Club Captains are planning a run up there, as this has been talked about in the past. The month itself was a quiet one for Spares, with only the Working Bee and a small job off-site in Levin, in which we picked up some brand new old stock fanbelts, along with a Vauxhall PC Cresta tail light and Triumph 2000/2500 tail light lens. As this is the last Spares Report for 2023, I would like to take the time to wish every member a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you all in 2024. Safe Motoring Everyone over the Holidays.
Callum
Horowhenua Branch of VCC invites you to enter the
TED GREEN
MEMORIAL MOTORCYCLE RALLY Sunday 25th February 2024 Starting from the Horowhenua VCC clubrooms 14 Tiro Tiro Rd Levin Format 9.00 am 9.45 am 10.00 am
Meet at clubrooms 14 Tiro Tiro Rd Levin , for get together Briefing First bike away
Entrant Name______________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________ Email ____________________________________________________________ Telephone _______________________ Motorcycle Make / Model / Year _______________________________________ Registration Number _________________________________ Class ( Circle ) Veteran , Vintage, Post Vintage, Post War, P60, P80 Rally Entry @ $10.00 per person Number Attending _____ = $ ________ Payment Details: Please make payment via Internet Banking Horowhenua Branch VCC Club Bank Account No. 03 0667 0269227 00 Ref : Ted Green , Rego , Name Postal Address : Ted Green Rally P O Box 458 Levin 5540 or Email to : 2cv2stroke@ gmail.com Entries close Wednesday 21st February 2024
Answer to “What Am I?” The picture shows the Ford Model T, which, in 1909, won the first race from New York to Seattle, stuck in typical road conditions in Kansas.
Christmas Lunch On Sunday 10th of December more than sixty club members came to the clubrooms to enjoy a terrific lunch, provided by Raewyn’s Kitchen. The meal was superb, as usual, and afterwards we celebrated the presentation by our Patron, Tom Hayes of several longservice awards. We normally get to vote for “Restoration of the Year” at this event, but you must have all been a bit lazy in 2023 as we had no entries. (Or have all your cars already been finished?)
Lyn Isles with her 25 year badge.
Bill Isles gets stabbed while receiving his 35 year badge.
RIGHT: Don Macdonald with his 35 year badge.
BELOW: Mike Khull also has his 35 year badge.
Fred Carrick was also to be presented with his 35 year badge, but fell ill a couple of days earlier and could not attend the lunch.
Big thanks to Daphne Williams who got busy organising the delivery of the badges from VCC office.
Smiles from the charming women from Raewyn’s Kitchen who served our lunch.
VCC Banners These fabric windscreen banners in blue with gold lettering are again available. These can be used when displaying your car at shows or rallies. New stocks now at $15 each. Order from Robin Strachan. Library Merchandise
HVCC Dashboard Stickers Iron on fabric badges HVCC blue and white caps Name Badges (fill out form)
$4 $3 $10 $12.50
FOR SALE New club member Bill Blackwell has some stuff for sale. I’m sure you will all know what it is: C42 Lucas generator - suit Rover 2000, etc. 12v + armature. C39 Lucas generator suit Ford E93. 6 volts. Lucas m/c control boxes 6v all set. 2 x 6v m/c generators - 1940s. Park control box suit British m/c or tractor - 6v 37144 - new. Echlin control box 12v V?W - new. 6RA relays - Int > Cont rated. 2 x Hella driving lamps 1345 - new. Lucas distributer - Hillman Hunter alloy head. Pair of worklamps 230v - with stand. Lucas 17 ACR alternator rotors. 2 x Lucas hazard switches.
Bill Blackwell . . . phone 06 3640048
PARKING
Question 1: How did they get in? Question 2: How will they get out?
Monte Carlo Rally 2024
If club members are travelling to the Annual Whanganui Rally on the long weekend, 20 -22 January 2024 please consider entering the Annual Monte Carlo Rally. Date: Friday 19 January 2024 Time: 9 am at one of the Destination on the sheet which will be provided to you closer the time. Lunch: 12 noon Manawatu VCC Rooms, 684 Kelvin Grove, Palmerston North. Finish: 4 pm, 151 London Motel, 151 London Street, Whanganui. Entries Close: Saturday 13 January 2024. Should you have any questions please contact Verdon Heath Phone 06 3683824 Entry Form Name: Mobile Phone: Email Address: Vehicle Make: Model: Year: Reg No: Class:
Email to: 2cv2stroke@gmail.com
BIG CARS - SMALL PEOPLE
There were not very many Renault 4s brought into New Zealand. They were not large cars, but here we can see that the French also liked to exaggerate the size in their advertising. DON’T FORGET Sunday 25 February, 2024 Ted Green Memorial Motorcycle Rally. Our only annual motorcycle rally for our two-wheeled enthusiasts. Some different roads this time for you to enjoy.Updated entry form in this issue.
Again, we will require several helping hands on the day, please contact Verdon.
CALENDAR of COMING EVENTS January 1 Picnic - Wanganui & Manawatu January 13 Spring Clean / Working Bee - Horowhenua January 14 Coffee and Cars - Southward Museum January 19-21 Rally Weekend - Wanganui January 20-21 A,P & I Show - Horowhenua January 21 “Wheels With Attitude” at Dannevirke January 27 Motorcycle Rally - Wellington February 3-4 Vintage Machinery Show at Cottles’ Farm February 11 British and European Car show at Trentham February 14 Garage Raid - Horowhenua February 18 Shannon Car Show February 25 Ted Green Motorcycle Rally - Horowhenua March 9 Gymkhana - Wairarapa March 13 Garage Raid - Horowhenua March 16 Swap Meet - Horowhenua Any enquiries to: Bruce Lawrie Phone 027 4762489
TAIL LIGHTS
ISSN
the print bureau 06 367 9330