WAITEMATA BRANCH DIRECTORY
CHAIRMAN: ROBERT CHAPMAN 021 038 3281
CLUB CAPTAIN: STAN SMITH 0274 775 475 vintageaircraft@xtra.co.nz
robman@orcon.net.nz
SECRETARY: JACQUI GOLDINGHAM 09 44 58811 waitemata@vcc.org.nz
TREASURER: JACQUI GOLDINGHAM 09 445 8811 goldienz@orcon.net.nz
BRANCH DELEGATE: IAN GOLDINGHAM 09 445 8811 goldienz@orcon.net.nz
EDITOR: MICHAEL GREIG 027 24 55 786 094456760 michael.john.greig@gmail.c om SCRIBE Moveable Feast
PAST CHAIRMAN: BRENDAN LAMAIN 021 132 4557 brendanandterry@gmail.co m COMMITTEE: MAX JAMIESON, MIKE HOPE-CROSS, HAMISH ANDREWS.
COMING EVENTS
Looking Forward
Month Waitemata Other Events Swap Meets
DECEMBER
Christmas LunchSunday 8th , 12.00 pm, The Albany 276 Dairy Flat Hwy Albany.
JANUARY ‘25 The Roycroft –Saturday 25th Hampton Downs New Years’ Day Run Auckland –1st
Christmas LunchSunday 8th , 12.00 pm, The Albany 276 Dairy Flat Hwy Albany. FEBRUARY North Shore Airfield Gymkhana & ¼ Mile Standing
Sprint – Sunday 2nd
Art Deco Hawke’s Bay – 13-16th Ellerslie Car Show, Sunday 9th
FEBURARY Waitemata Other Events Swap Meets
Month Waitemata Other Events Swap Meets
MARCH Re- Run to Huia.
Date and details
tba
APRIL
MAY
Brit & Euro Car Show 2nd. Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga
60th Maunga Moana Rally Taranaki – 21-22nd
Nelson Swap Meet Saturday 8th
Editors Birthday 13th Just putting it in there.
Kaipara Airfield Wings & Wheels –
Sunday 18th
JUNE o
Christmas Lunch. Sunday 8 December, at the Albany, 276 Dairy Flat Hwy Albany. Meet there at 12.00 pm, Minimum 20 persons required so register your interest NOW with Stan Smith, 0274 775 475 or vintageaircraft@xtra.co.nz
The Roycroft. Saturday 25 January. Hampton Downs. Regs and entry forms included at waitemata@vcc.org.nz As a minimum we need 15 cars, so we are going to have make up the numbers to make this work! Get your entry in now. DON’T DELAY.
NS Airfield Gymkhana and ¼ mile Standing Sprint. Sunday 2 February 2025. At North Shore Airfield, Postman Road Dairy Flat. Look for the VCC signs. Start 1.00 pm. Excellent dinner and bar available after the event at the Aero Club Rooms. Numbers are needed for admin purposes so, if you haven’t done so, register your interest NOW with Stan Smith, 0274 775 475 or vintageaircraft@xtra.co.nz
Ellerslie Car Show 9 February 2025. The Branch is planning on having our usual display. Your chance to show off. Volunteer at club night to enter your vehicle or prepare to be shoulder tapped. Full detail as to time and place for arrival on the day will be advised.
Brit & Euro Show. 2 March 2025 at Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga. The Branch have 18 spaces reserved to show off our finest. Register your interest with Stan Smith, 0274 775 475 or vintageaircraft@xtra.co.nz to have your car as part of our display. Or expect to be shoulder tapped.
Kaipara Airfield Wings and Wheels. Weather dependant, off course, but the date has been set for Sunday, 18th May.2025 Ladies and gentlemen, mark your diaries.
Club Night. Now the First Tuesday of the Month, until further notice. See you at the RSA Room, King George V Memorial Hall, Library Lane, Albany, 7.30 pm .
Training seminar with the National Speed Steward.
A training seminar was hosted at the North Shore Branch Club Rooms at Albany with a large attendance from the Waitemata members involved and interested in supporting the sporting events. This was for Speed Stewards, Clerk of the Course and Scrutineers.
Those present included Jacqui and Ian Goldingham, Marcus Ling, Hamish and Kevin Andrews, Harold Booth and Team Jaguar, a few from the North Shore branch and the club Registrar, Neil Beckingham. This course was led by Ray Saunders, the National Speed Steward, whose informative, detailed and instructive presentation was well received.
Topics also covered included our involvement with other sporting organisations, access to circuit and tracks, continuing involvement of members in events and ongoing training.
One topic mentioned that will require further investigation is the training of an auxiliary group such as marshals which are an important group for many diverse events we participate in. This opens the opportunity for young members to be involved in the infrastructure of the organisation. Participants are one thing, but the event needs the organisation to hold it together and we can see that as we ‘age’, there has to be successors walking beside us.
I believe that many of the branches with ‘younger cars’ , up to the 30-year cut off, are too fragile and cossetted to be able to be used in non-competitive events. It would be nice to see more on the pre-60 grids, such as American cars , as we are told of the mighty power outputs , but alas are let down by poor handling and suspension. Before the Lotus Cortina, the grids were filled with potent Rootes Group with Griffiths Speed Equipment, BMC motors at full chat. Where are the men of steel!
Michael Greig,
From The Acting Chair
The ‘P’ word – you will be hearing it a lot over coming months. Participation.
And it starts now.
We need numbers for our forthcoming Christmas Lunch, Sunday 8 December. Pick up your phone or get behind your keyboard and contact Gilly Smith now to let her know you will be attending.
We need numbers for ‘The Roycroft’ coming up on 25 January. This is a use it or lose it event. Don’t lose it. Entry forms are now available.
It’s not about just making up the numbers though. It’s all about shared interest and experiences, tyre kicking and tall stories. Tune up, turn up and join in.
The Talbot gave me a stirring ride to and from Wellington recently. Just me, the car, the open road and decent weather. Blissful.
Accentuating the varied joys of vintage motoring, a week later the Riley blew its head gasket whilst barrelling down the southern motorway heading for a Riley Club event and came home from Papakura on the back of a tow wagon. Inspection has since revealed a clear cause for the failure, and it’s easily fixed. More quality time in the garage coming up.
Oh, did I mention we need a secretary? Think about it.
Kevin Beesley
These Editorial Notes are coming from the top of the South Island in Blenheim as I am being reconstructed physically as the family has decided that it was time for me to undergo this procedure. With luck I will have, when I return, to get a better power to weight ratio for the cars and bikes.
While attending the training seminar for Speed Stewards, I was informed that I have reached that highly honoured position of achieving Fifty Years of Membership of the Vintage Car Club of NZ. I feel humbled that have had this experience, gently mentored into the esoteric world of Vintage Motoring, being given the chance to travel in vehicles from the early world of mechanical transport, talk to those involved in the period and who drove the proper vintage cars when they were young. Given access to libraries of sacred texts of the great marques, their designers and builders, told tales of heroic journeys in vintage vehicles and advised that the term Vintage is a word that is fixed in a timeframe, era, and describes the quality of vehicles in association with fine wines- delicacy ,presence, colour, passion.
I was a very young and impressionable when I noticed on the road not far from home a interesting motorcycle, a mid-30’s BSA Sloper. I stopped and introduced myself to Fred Clifford who was visiting the legend, W. J. Hearne. I had at the time I had purchased for later restoration a MAC Velocette which has remained a year younger than me.
It was W.J. who gently directed me into arcane world of the Vintage Cars, its Heros, Legends and taught me to drive the Ex-Dexter Riley Speed Model and helped me assemble the Riley 9 WD which I have had since 1980, so I could push it home.
The Branch I joined was the newly established North Shore Branch, viewed by some as a provisional wing of the vintage car club, which followed the concepts of the Banks Peninsular Branch.
I was with a group of drivers who preferred the backroads, sporting machines and driven with verve, hill climbs, sprints and fun. A majority of the members had young families, saloons, tourers, sporting and standard cars, some American, English, French, Italian, all driven and enjoyed with no clubrooms to chain them down.
The characters that inhabited this branch sparkled and shone brightly in the motoring world. These included Frank DeLatour, Harold Kidd, W J Hearne,
Barry Gay, Dave Keruse, John Gairdner, Dick Stanley, Wallace McNair, Paul Jones, Brian Johnstone and many others to whom life was for living and driving cars in a sporting manner with passion.
I remember the early hill climbs at Kaukapkapa, Pinchgut Road, lunch at the start at Laurie Poolmans. I entered two bikes, the MSS Velo and the James Captain ( hopeless bike, it couldn’t pull a sailor off your sister).
I was at the first Chelsea Hill Climb at the sugar works and at the last one as well. That was a magnificent event and venue, one of the few inner city hill climbs. It ran for 40 years.
I have enjoyed the world of Vintage motoring, its Band of Brothers of the dusty road, I have been touched by the generosity of travelling with and driving other magnificent cars and motorbikes. Much like my other ‘obsession’, Argentine Tango, full of passion, stories, great heroes, the wins, the losses and a life to be lived to the full. Pictures to follow over many issues.
This article comes from kind permission of Al Robinson, another early member of the North Shore Branch, and was in a recent Beaded Wheels but in a truncated form. Further episodes will be featured.
A YOUNG LAD and AN OLD TALBOT
Episode 1
When I was the ripe age of 18, I decided that I needed a Talbot! By the time I was 19 I had one and a year later I owned the Talbot that I really wanted, a 1930 AM90. How on earth did I swing that? It's not as if they are a common make of car. We’ll come to that soon, but the point of interest here is that having found a 90 and then persuaded the owner to sell it to me, this car over the years we were together made such an impression on my psyche that 47 years later I still hanker after another Talbot 90. (Carla my partner says the story should end here!)
So, the question is how did it happen?
Well, I guess I’d have to lay some of the blame on my first car, my little 1929 Austin 7 Fabric Saloon. I’d bought it when I was 15 and it was responsible for putting me in contact with other vintage petrol heads. This led to meeting John Hearne, an old car enthusiast. John lent me "Georges Roesch and the Invincible Talbot” (otherwise known as “Blight’s Bible”) to read, so I guess he needs to be blamed for that . Then there’s Anthony Blight himself, the author of the said volume. I think he has to accept quite a bit of the blame for having written such a stirring volume, that it set fire to the imagination of this 18-year-old.
That gets who’s to blame for this obsession of mine out of the way, seems it was nothing to do with me after all! With reading the book I knew I just had to get a Talbot, life wouldn’t be complete without one. But I also realised that a 90 was probably what I needed to set my sights on, even though only forty-seven AM90's were ever built. (I’ve noticed this with friends that I lend the bible to, they all end up wanting a Talbot 90 or a Vanden Plas bodied 105, not just any Talbot.)
I told John of my desire, and he laughed. I think he knew what effect Blight’s book would have on me. Within a matter of months though he called to tell me to check out the “Cars for sale” in the Auckland morning paper The Herald. There was an advert for a 1934 Talbot 3 litre Sports saloon. I rang the seller and arranged to look at the car the following weekend. I also found I could afford to buy it at $1000, an important factor! Well, it was gorgeous, the sort of car that I’d only seen pictures of until that moment. I bought it, though I had no idea how I would go about restoring it and it was going to need restoring. That question never entered my mind. Nor the cost of the rebuild.
It sat in my parents garage for some time, while their newish Peugeot 504 sat outside. I didn’t know where to start doing anything and so I didn’t. I was very happy when one day my father commented to me that he thought it the most beautiful car that I’d ever owned! Nothing much happened to the 1935 BA Special Sports Saloon (this is what it turned out to be). It got moved from my parents garage to the North Shore VCC club room, which was in an old bus barn in Devonport, freeing up some space for my dad to get his car back inside and a year later, to help finance the rebuild of a more important car, Laurie Poolman bought it off me . (In 2012 I bought the Talbot Saloon back from Laurie after 37 years and have now rebuilt it. It had been off the road for approximately 60 years)
Other cars came and went, an Austin Ruby, the basic mechanical bones of a 501 Fiat, a Bradford shooting brake, a 1936 Chevy grocers delivery van, and then a Fiat 510s complete, and very motor-able, ex Frank Renwick. It was when I had this Fiat that I was driving back home through the nearby shopping village of Takapuna one afternoon and could see an old car coming towards me. It was black, sporty looking, low windscreen, with headlights set close together and a tall radiator. That’s got to be a Talbot! Not only a Talbot but a 90! Where on earth has that materialised from? I drove home with my mind racing and got straight on the phone to John. “I know,” he says, “it lives just down the road from us. The guy went to Rotorua to buy an MG at a car auction but it went for too much money, the Talbot was there and no-one was interested so he bought it for $3000”.
Over the next months I got to know Len as I drooled over the 90 at every opportunity. He was a guy in his fifties and as we got to know each other he confided in me that he really wanted a MG as that was what he had when he was a younger man. He told me he doubted that he would be able to afford one now because the price of them was going sky high, so he was thinking of removing the boot lid and petrol tank of the 90 and getting a slab tank made to replace it. He felt it would make the car look a lot better. As you can imagine I was horrified! I started working on him to sell the car to me so he could go and buy the MG he wanted, rather than spoiling a very original car. It took some time, we would take the Fiat and the 90 filled with family and friends on picnics and VCC events and then one day Len rang to tell me he was selling the car and was wanting $6K. So he wanted to double his money but what the heck, I’d pay him what he wanted. I put the Fiat on the market and a friend, Gordy Routledge from Levin who worked for a caravan manufacturer talked his boss into buying it. Yes, I had the money and a thousand to spare! Things used to happen with such ease. And this is how it came about that I owned a 1930 Talbot AM90 Chassis number 29972.
So, it was at the tender age of 20 that I bought the car of my dreams, the Talbot AM90 Darracq bodied Deluxe Sports Tourer. Of course, being a 20-year-old, the first thing I had to do was take it out and see if it was as good as Anthony Blight had said 90’s were. Well, it almost was! The tyres were old and cracked, the silent block bushes in the spring shackles were rubber less, the springs were rusty and dry, the engine was just a little smoky, but it was still a delight to drive. Head and shoulders above anything else that I had experienced at that time, and I’d driven quite a few different makes of vintage machine. From that first drive I recognised the shear brilliance of the mind that had conceived this car and understood why they were able to go out on the circuit at Le Mans and with their 2.2 litres come home in 3rd and 4th places behind the two 6 1/2 litre Bentleys, and on Index of Performance (handicap) finish 1st and 3rd on only the second occasion of being raced.
That evening, I picked up my good friend Alasdair Thompson and we drove off north to the small Bohemian settlement of Puhoi with its fabulous historic pub. We talked Talbots for a couple of hours over a pint or two, then climbed into the car to head back home. Little did we know that the 90 had a trick up its sleeve that no-one had mentioned to me before. We came to a steep hill and halfway up the car coughed and burped and came to a halt. I reversed it back down to the bottom and experienced a Talbot failing, the pedal pressure needed when applying the brakes in reverse. We decided there wasn’t enough fuel to get up the hill as the tank was low, so poured some in from a container we were carrying. Hand pumping it through to the carburettor, the engine fired pretty well immediately, I reversed from where we were back up onto the road berm, went to put it into 1st gear and the gear box locked solid. It had somehow stayed in reverse while allowing me to select 1st. Of course we had come away without thinking of a toolbox. It turned into a long night; I stayed with the 90. Al hitch hiked home to Takapuna, got his car and tools and returned to rescue me.
I might have bought the car of my dreams but what I realised that first night was that I wouldn’t be able to drive the car as it deserved, and I desired until it had been totally rebuilt. I had no idea of how I was going to do this as I knew my dad’s garage wasn’t big enough to dismantle the Talbot and still have space to work on it. Meanwhile I was using the car on occasions, being extra careful when changing from reverse gear into 1st.
Al Robinson
(Photos will follow in later issues of the story, don’t be alarmed without diagrams and drawings. Also available from the Editors library is a copy of the ‘Blight’s Bible’ to borrow, It also inspired me into the world of vintage and 1930’s sporting cars, probably the same book from his collection. The Editor.)
Sales Section.
While visiting the Club Parts Sheds of the Marlborough Branch VCC, I sought out bits and pieces to fill up the shed and was informed of an interesting project that was available.
There is a chance to join an exclusive group, the Swift vintage drivers. There is a club for these superb cars, and they survive in veteran form and in Australia as well.
It is a 1924 Swift 12 Hp.( 12 M) Very interesting car as they were known for reliability and made in low numbers. It is 2 litre, rear wheel brakes, four door touring body and hood. A very nice and tidy radiator of German silver in good order and Sankey wheels.
The car came from Otago and should retain a Southland burr. It was brought to Picton complete and then completely disassembled followed by the traditional storage before the owner passed away. It is complete bar the headlights, which are missing.
There is a folio of photographs before it was taken apart and the numberplate is with the parts.
This would be a great chance to obtain a 100-year-old usable and motorable Vintage car. As a quality vehicle of the period and is a practical driveable car for Branch events.
This not the car. A picture from the net of a Roadster from the same year.
Contact for enquiries: Tris Winstanley 0274440834
While looking through the sheds there are a lot of A7 parts, Ford 10 and Morris Minor parts. A lot the parts are labelled and filed so it may be worth contacting the man for you requirements. I am here for a few weeks so I could bring stuff back in the SUV.
Picked up a 3-ton car jack from the 30’s ,thick in gunge and crud. Spray of engine cleaner, but the best job was done overnight with a scoop of washing machine powder. Cleaned up to the original paint, the old methods are the best and economic.
I will be travelling to Dunedin, so can pick up items as well as when I return following Highway One back to home.
Editor at large.(Trying to lose the large part.)
➢ Gentlemen of Note in the Trade.
Roger at Action Bike Wreckers. : Still doing WOF for motorcycles on 62A Barry’s Point Road. Call for an appointment.09 489-7987
Don’t forget Mac’s Garage. Top advice, professional service and well known and respected in the Vintage Austin and Riley world. 09 443-3733, found at 4 Ashfield Road, Glenfeild.
Aegis Oil is a local firm headed by Paul Radisich, famous on the track. He gave a talk at the Auckland Clubrooms on the product. There is a Vintage and Classic range and well suited to our cars. Please support them. Members gave testimony to the use of soluble oil in the radiators at 5% rather than antifreeze.
PHOENIX
The OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER of THE WAITEMATA BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF N.Z. INC.
CLUB NIGHT
TUESDAY 3rd DECEMBER
7.30 pm at the RSA Room, King George V Memorial Hall, Library Lane, Albany.
Take Exit 410 Oteha Valley Road. Travel west along Oteha Valley Road, ahead through 2 roundabouts and straight ahead at Traffic Lights into Albany Highway then almost immediately RIGHT into Library Lane then very soon go right again into the parking area. The RSA Room is at the rear.