“Dripfeed”
NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC)
VOLUME 45, No 11 DECEMBER 2022. Michael Williams 10 Selwyn Parade Lyttelton Editor: Ph 328 8043, email mimiandmichael@yahoo.co.nz
Club Officers: Secretary: Ron Hasell 942 1105
Chairman: Craig Keenan 322 1006
Branch Address: 27 Showgate Ave, ChCh 8042 E-mail: bankspeninsula@vcc.org.nz
Noggin & Natter: 2nd Thursday of the Month
• Noggin 7.30 pm at the Papanui RSA. Upham Room enter either from 55 Bellvue Ave or the first entrance on the left on Harewood Road (Papanui / Main North Road)
• Thursday 8th of December
• We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor:
I had a very pleasant jaunt to a Waipara vineyard recently, whisked along in the “sublime serenity” of a 1948 Daimler DB 18 Drophead, owned by Andrew Roxburgh. Andrew’s father bought the car in the 1960s when it was in a dilapidated state, and when Andrew decided to come out to the colonies to spread a bit culture and sophistication, his father gave it to him as a parting gift/burden. Being a resourceful sort of chap, Andrew bought another motor before he left, the same motor used in the Daimler Dingo Scout Cars during WW 2, and as the photos show it looks a lot better than it used to.
Dear old Winston (Churchill not Peters) had one during the war, but we still managed to win. Andrew is justifiably very proud of this rare beast, and it undulated along at a very comfortable 100kph en route to Waipara, where we met Julian Ball and his small but perfectly formed car collection. Julian and Andrew both grew up in the same Sussex village, Much Binding in the Marsh, both went to the same Public School, St Aubreys by the Swamp, and then somewhat later both decided to totter out to New Zealand, where they both settled in North Canterbury, and married local gels. Heart warming stuff.
Julian’s father had also bought a car back in the 1960s, a 1925 Vauxhall 30/98, and was kind enough to give it to Julian as a parting gift. Unlike Andrew’s Daimler it’s unrestored and is in wonderfully original condition. Other cars to grace the garage are a superb recreation of a 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C Touring Spyder, and a recently purchased Jaguar XK150, ex Bill Cochrane and John Bain, in lovely original condition.”Is the Alfa easy to drive?”, I foolishly asked. “Of course not”, thundered Julian,
“that’s the whole point!!”. Judging by the insect splattered grille and dust covered body, the Alfa is clearly a car that gets driven hard.
Andrew’s collection is more at the quantity not quality end of the scale, with a Rover 90 that might go one day, a 1930s Dodge and a 1920s Chrysler that are both wonderfully original, and the crowning glory, a 1938 Citroen L 12. It was a lovely way to spend an relaxing afternoon, sipping wine from The House of Ball, as Julian’s winery is called, and listening to two old friends gently teasing each other in a very British way.
Before...
...and after,,,
Talking of jaunts in the country, Mimi and I were returning from Oamaru recently and decided to avoid the Timaru Santa parade, by going round the back way. As we meandered down a country road, totally lost, I was overjoyed to see a Citroen Big 15 coming towards us. I executed a dazzling U turn and gave chase. The Big15 was doing a healthy 100kph, which was surprising, but eventually stopped in a driveway. The owner, Graeme Richardt, has owned it for about 30 years, and has seldom driven it. It’s totally original, apart from the paint job, and even had some Reidrubber inner tubes in their original packet in the boot. A lovely old car with only three owners that Graeme is going to sell, as he never uses it.
Graeme is an interesting character. He started as a sixteen year old at Sprague Motors in Timaru in 1962,served his time there, and stayed until 1974 when he bought a Caltex service station in Timaru. He remembers working on Ernie Sprague’s 3.8 Mk 2 Jag, fitting D Type cams, two big carburettors and taking out a foglight and putting in ducting for extra cooling. All this was done to try to keep up with Ray Archibald. “And now every Mk 2 in the country was raced by Ernie”, said Graeme. He’s not sure what happened to Ernie’s Mk 2. Sprague Motors were agents for Rambler, Skoda, Citroen, Jaguar and Peugeot over the years, and when Graeme set up on his own, the Citroen owners went with him, which is how he came to get the Big 15 from a customer. Graeme did quite a bit of racing too, but was too modest to talk about it. He did tell me that Leo Leonard, in his early years, raced a Citroen ID 19. at the Waimate Street race.
“I’ve got something else in the shed” he said, and proceeded to unveil a 1951 Morgan flat rad model, that’s been sitting in the woodshed for the last thirty or forty years. It’s got the Vanguard motor with twin carbs, and certainly needs a lot of work, but really is a genuine barn find car, with quite a lot of early paperwork. Graeme wants to sell it. He can be contacted at 03 6889598, and is at Beaconsfield Road, RD 2 Timaru.
1954 Citroen Big 15 in original condition
Barn find bliss
Clive Dodds, an early branch member died recently. Clive and his brothers had a variety of cars over many years, and the Sunbeam that Clive owned has recently been bought by Brad Govan. The branch extends its sympathy to Clive’s family.
Welcome to new member Maureen Cowie from Blenheim with the Shadetree Special. Maureen’s husband Bill is a keen boy racer with his single seater so some family rivalry should be worth watching.
Gavin and Sharon Bain are hosting their annual Christmas party at “Waitahuna” in Governors Bay on Friday the 16th of December, and all are cordially invited. The Sumner Silver Band will be playing Christmas music, and Peter Croft will be wearing long pants. Festivities start at 6.30pm. Don’t try and park in the grounds, as there’s a good chance you’ll get stuck, or worse still, make marks on the lawn, which will incur the wrath of Sharon, something to be avoided.
Le Bons Bay
