VCC CENTRAL OTAGO PNS OCT 2022

Editorial

I floated the idea of coming up with a new name for this esteemed journal, such as ‘The Antenna’, ‘The Sump’, ‘Wheels in Time’, or ‘Driving Old Gold’, but a quick straw poll suggested that there was no appetite for change.

Turning my attention to our august national body (even though this is September) and its name, which has been done to death, and will never, ever change… nevertheless I amused myself for a few minutes coming up with a couple of options, starting with the instantly-recognisable ‘CARS’, that is; Classic Auto Recreation (or Restorers/Rambling/Rally/Rarities/Rust?) Society

Some other candidates might be ‘Historic and Ancient Vehicle Owners Club’, abbreviated to HAVOC, or ‘Classic and Historic Auto Owners Society’ (CHAOS). At least the acronyms have a ring to them!

It is membership renewal time again, and you will have received invoices by email or post.

PLEASE ADVISE ANY ADDRESS / EMAIL / VEHICLE / MEMBERSHIP TYPE changes to the National Office. This is your responsibility. Their email address is admin@vcc.org.nz or phone 03 366 4461

Gerry Spencer editorCOVCC@gmail.com

Copy deadline for next edition by the 15th of each month

Circulation: 230

© 2022 The opinions and information presented here are those of theauthors and are not necessarily those of the club or its officers. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information or opinions expressed. E&OE.

Phone: E-Mail:

Partner:

Patron: JohnLoudon 4487192- Sheila

Chairman: NoelHassed 4423908noel.hassed@gmail.com Bernice

Vice Chairman: JohnMartin 4450598martin_jw@xtra.co.nz Wendy

Secretary: GrahamTaylor 4431416gtml@xtra.co.nz Cheryl

Committee

Treasurer: MelWilson 0212330280saddle.hill@xtra.co.nz John

Club Captain: BertTurnbull 0274342339bert.turnbull1940 @gmail.com Jenny

Editor: GerrySpencer 0273696880editorCOVCC@gmail.com Ayalino

Committee: ChrisMiller 021977946rosdowns@farmside.co.nz Gaynor GaynorMiller ditto ditto Chris JohnWilson 0275335626stagdriver98@gmail.com Mel RoseGrindley 021454371rose.grindley@gmail.com Garry

Property Caretaker: EwenDuthie 0278388324 4451973 duthie.e@xtra.co.nz Arlene

Clubrooms: ChrisMiller id. id. id. JohnWilson id. id. id. Don&Lynne Yeaman 4432730yeaperson@xtra.co.nz

Parts Convener: JohnMartin 4450598martin_jw@xtra.co.nz Wendy AlfO'Sullivan 0211107707glenda.alf@gmail.com Glenda SteveReynolds 0221670872stevesfordv8@gmail.com Bev DonYeaman id. id. id.

Idle Torque: DonYeaman id. id. id.

Librarian: AlfO'Sullivan id. id. id.

Area Reps: Wakatipu- BillCrooks 021915188bill@arrowauto.co.nz Jill Alexandra- BarryWalker 4486508 Sharron Cromwell- JohnMartin 4450598martin_jw@xtra.co.nz Wendy Wanaka- GrahamTaylor 4431416gtml@xtra.co.nz Cheryl

HSE: SteveReynolds id. id. id.

Rally Conveners: Blossom Festival: EwenDuthie,AllanPorter,BryanAnderson

National Daffodil Day Co-Ordinator: GrahamTaylor,WendyMartin

Golden Times: AlanSutton,GregDoran,BillCrooks

Moped Rally: JohnMartin

CLUBEVENTSCALENDAR

Please take care to read and copy to your diary!

Wed12Oct7/8pm ClubNight. Speaker; HaydenPaddon, WRC rally driver, who needs no introduction really. Please support!

Sun23Oct8:45am

SundayRun- travel to Roxburgh, coffee stop, then on to Beaumont, cross bridge run left on to Craig Flat Rd (originally Roxburgh Rail line – note the presence of cyclists on this trail), stopping as required, at least at the lonely graves, travel on to Faigan’s Cafe for lunch, then onto old Teviot woolshed, then make way home. Meet clubrooms, leave at 8.45, meet with Alex people outside Museum 9.15. We will need numbers for lunch by the previous Wednesday 19th. Bert T

Wed2Nov7:30pm Committeemeeting, Clubroom

Wed9Nov7/8pm ClubNighttba

Sun13Nov SundayRuntba

Sat-Sun19-20Nov

Our branch will again host the CombinedRally with Gore, South Otago and Southland, so keep the date free for an interesting weekend. John Martin

Wed14Dec5pm ChristmasDinner, Clubroom

VCCBranchesthatwouldlikeanyoftheireventsnotedinourmagazine, pleasecontactuswiththedetailsateditorCOVCC@gmail.com

FormoreinformationontheseandothereventsinBeadedWheels, checkbranchnewsletterswhichmaybefoundat http://vcc.org.nz/news-from-our-branches/

Sat1Oct10am-2:30pm

FranzJosefGlacierCountryCarShow (at Top 10 Holiday Park), register via FB or email to glaciercountrycarshow@gmail.com

Sat-Sun1-2Oct

'Dunvegan2022'

VCCOtagoAnnualMotorcycleRally

Sat-Sun1-2Oct08:30am- HorsepowerRally (tractors and other stuff mainly, maybe some cars?), Levels Raceway, Timaru, www.sctetm.co.nz

Fri-Sun7-9Oct

Fri-Sun14-16Oct

CanterburySwapMeet, McLeans Island

VCC2DayTimeTrial,Nelson

Rod Corbett rod.corbett88@gmail.com 027 4338772 https://targa.nz/targa-newsletters/

Fri-Sun4-6Nov

50th TaieriTour, Otago Branch, Travis Michelle travanmarg@gmail.com David Mills mrdavidmills@gmail.com

Fri-Sun9-11Dec

3 day tour (Tim-Oam-Omarama-Tim), South Canterbury Branch, contact nola.day@xtra.co.nz Grant Stewart 027 378 6149 Alistair Day 027 203 5007

NationalMotorcycleRally, Invercargill, Southland Branch. Precedes the Burt Munro Challenge. Sun12Feb2023 NationalModelTRally. 100 year anniversary reenactment of F R Dennison’s trip of 1913. 6 day tour starting and finishing in Oamaru, 9th - 15th Feb. COVCC will be the start point for the morning on Valentine’s Day 2023. Sat-Sun8-9Apr2023 Wheels@Wanaka

Fri-Sun3-6Feb2023

Chair’sReport

Registrations for the Blossom Festival Rally have once again been poor, particularly from our own branch. We would probably have had to subsidise it but for the generosity of the caterers. The organisers can only set entry fees based on costs for an estimated number of entrants, if the event is not supported then there is a shortfall. It does seem that this type of event is no longer meeting the needs of our members and this may well be the last time we put the resources into holding it.

On more positive note we are sometimes questioned about the direction the branch is heading, leading me to wonder if we are actually meeting the needs of members.

With that in mind I sat down with the latest membership list and using my limited mathematical ability came up with the following: new members (including joint members) by calendar year: 2017: 9, ’18: 3, ’19: 17, ’20: 12, ’21: 9 & ’22: 23 (to date)(note this does not include those who joined in these years but have since moved on.) Our total membership is 248 with half of those joining in the last ten years, and a quarter in the last four. So it does look like we continue to attract new members and most continue their membership.

‘Wheels at Wanaka’ is coming up in April 2023; branch members have displayed their cars at the last two events and helped out with parking the car displays. This resulted in a generous donation, of $1,500 to our branch last time. Murray Pryde has agreed to be the liaison person for our club again so if you want to be part of our display or help out please contact Murray.

Finally thanks to the Martins, Lee and John, (not related) for entertaining us over the last two club nights. In August Lee gave an interesting insight to his work on some of the high end classics from the Robert Duncan collection as he broadened his scope from custom cars to include straight restoration work. At this month’s club night John shared a few of the “tricks of the trade” involved in making car bits out of wood. Although I suspect the biggest “trick” is John’s skill!

Thanks also to Alf for arranging the sale of the Pool Table. Noel Hassed

MinutesofCOVCCCommitteeMeeting

Clubrooms

Tuesday6 September 2022

Meeting began 7.33 pm

Present Noel Hassed

Graham Taylor

Rose Grindley

MelWilson

Apologies

Bert Turnbull

John Martin

JohnWilson

GerrySpencer

Gaynor Miller, Chris Miller – The Committee hopes that Chris gets well asap and we are thinking of him.

Apologiesreceived:Noel Seconded-Mel

Minutes: The Minutes of the 5 July meeting were taken as read,

Matters Arising

1. Blossom Festival Rally Ewen has everything in hand. Entries close 16 September.

2. Combined Rally 19 & 20 November.

This will be over the Hawksburn to Clyde for lunch. John to send out notices to other clubs.

3. Pool table

The pool table has been sold to the Dunstan High School Hostel - $500.00

4. Planning

Noel to complete this. He will take the material from the planningmeetings to a club night for discussion.

5. Gateway to yard

The kerb was painted white to make the access clearer in the dark. Lockbox has been installed to left of gateway with a combination lock.

6. Mailing Puff’nStuff

Weprint approximately 16 copies at approximately $50.00 permonth. Gerryadvised that it would cost much the same to print at home (toner is expensive) as to get this done commercially. Final decision – continue with commercial printing. All new members to receive electronic copies.

7. Name of newsletter

If we change the name from “Puff’n’Stuff”, it needs to be a real change. Noel to ask club members what their views are on a name change.

8. National Model-T visit

There will not be a BBQ. The Model-Ts will depart from the Clubrooms on the morning of Tuesday 14 February 2023. Graham to confirm this date.

9. Bank Signatories

Changes completed.

10. Online process for newmembers

Graham to send Rule #1 to Noel so that he can clarify the wording of the newprocess.

Chairman’s Report

25th National Executive Meeting & AGM

 The vote on the logo highlighted the role of the Management Committee.The National Constitution will need to change with the new Charities Act and the role of the Management Committee will be looked at then.

 2023 Easter Rally - we were too late putting in a bid to host this, but Noel was approached anyway.

There would be an issue around accommodation because of the “Wheels inWanaka”.We won’t pursue hosting this event.

 Membership - on-line application process for new membersappears to be working well. Our membership is increasing.

 Incorporated society changes – Nationally, there will need to be some changes - for example; elected and appointed members and dispute resolution. This may mean our club will need to make changes in orderto be consistent.Wewill wait and see – and take a lead from the national body.

 Next Vero Rally – Looking for a venue in 5-6 years. It will require accommodation and a variety of roads. This needs to be located in a bigger town than Cromwell.

 NewClub brochures and pull-up display received. Teardrop (if you cry against gravity) flags to come soon.

 Auckland Clubrooms have a parts bin of surplus parts. They go in the bin “free to a good home” for 3 months and are then scrapped if still there.

 South Island Club Captain role - lookingfor someone to take this over. Anyone interested?

Club Matters

 Newmembership retention – Ideas were discussed as to whether we could do more to make new members welcome. Ie “meet and greet”, a buddy system, a welcome pack, competitive events for younger members.

Conclusion: give new members a “wings” sticker and take an interest in people when they come along.

 Indemnity - covered inNoel’s report.Wedon’t tend to run risky events. It is covered in the club rules. Need to ensure that non-memberssign an indemnity form for events.



25-year badge - decision has been deferred.These are just length of membership awards and are from the National body. As a branch, should we have a recognition award? General agreement to this idea. Action – at November Committee meeting, we will discuss if anyone merits an award for the past year.

General Business

1. Computer issues – Graham will address the email issues with National Office.

2. Attending national events involves considerable cost. The Committee recognises that this could be an issue for some as the money for travel and accommodation needs to be paid and then claimed back.Weneed to be aware of this and able to offer a cash advance to delegates. Agreed.

3. Men’s Shed – email circulated re accommodation. Men’s Shed accommodation is now sorted.

4. Angus – 50 year badge – Award is beingframed. Graham will let Committee knowwhen this is ready. Then Graham, Noel, John M and Alf will visit Angus at home to present the award.

Treasurer’s Report

The current accounts were presented. Insurance $2,678 paid. Daffodil Day Rally result of $2150.20 to be transferred to Charity.

Motion to accept – Mel Seconded - Graham Motion to pay accounts –Mel Seconded – Bert

Club Captain Report

No Sunday run in September. October 23rd run will be to Beaumont and up the old railway line to Faigan’s for lunch. Then a visit to Teviot Woolshed. November run - likely to be to Clay Cliffs with lunch at the cafe at the airstrip. Speaker lined up for October – Hayden Paddon

General Business continued

5. Monte Targo Daffodil Day Rally went really well. Next year – suggest that Alpine Street Machines members run a BBQ lunch at the Clubrooms. Graham to suggest this to them.

6. Petanque people want to use our yard again – allfine.

7. Need to identify a neweditor for Puff ’n Stuff. Gerry will ask in Puff ’nStuff if anyone is interested in taking on this role.

Next meeting: Wednesday2nd November 2022

Meeting concluded at9.25 pm

ClubNight–JohnMartin(14thSep)

JOHN EXPLAINED HOW HE FILLS in his day, and from what he presented, he must have a bigger clock than 24 hours. Most of this centres on taking perfectly straight and dry bits of wood and then proceeding to wet or steam them, and bending them to a form. The products are steering wheels, hoods, tubs, and numerous fully wooden coach bodies which he showed us.

There are a variety of species used (ash, kauri, oak, elm, walnut etc.), some easier to work with, some more decorative than others. The parts are jointed and glued, and finished off with a selection of coatings. Not every stick of wood bends like it should, so the naughty ones become an offering that scent the Martin chimney at night! Oh, and he’s looking for a suitable apprentice!

Master-Bender John Martin & The Wheel of Fortune

BlossomFestivalRally(24thSep)

My brother John, and I took the Morris Minor on quite a cruise visiting some, but not all the points marked on the maps, I was diverted to a breakdown (electronic ignition failure, why am I not surprised!) and missed the briefing but also went with Bert our Club Captain, to check out Butchers Dam for a possible picnic venue. After this we had to skirt around Alexandra to the lookout on Little Valley road, a spectacular vista of the Alexandra–Clyde basin. Then off over the Crawford Hills to the upper Ida valley, (where we missed going to our compulsory passage the Poolburn reservoir) however lunch at the now closed Moa Flat Hotel which was a thriving backpacker café last time we were there on a ‘Sunday Run’.

On down the Ida Valley, one of the few places in the world where streams run to the middle of the valley rather than to a lake or sea. Our farthest point being St Bathans where we met up with the Yeamans who won their respective rally route as it turned out! Then back via Ophir to Chatto Creek for a coffee and the back to the finish at Cromwell.

The day was perfect; roads including gravel were in very good condition. Remembering that this time of year in that part of the world can be subject to sudden spring storms strong wind, rain, hail and sometimes snow before clearing up and bursting into bright warm sunshine. The country east of Alexandra is spectacular, open, bold with magnificent plains, hills with stark rocky outcrops. Also little traffic, historic sites and buildings, most of the buildings in use are reminiscent of pre WW2. Large scale agriculture, with modern irrigators, making the best of some of the best stock country in the world. The rally format was different this year, and entrants could participate in the Blossom Festival and do a shorter run which is favoured by visitors.

With the start in Clyde’s historic main street making the most of the street scenery, with cafes for breakfast or coffee, I feel this will again become a popular event.

Graham Taylor

Stu counting his pages before they fly away

Dodge in Clyde - John Taylor

Overall

1st equal - Murray Frew and Lesley Miller 1967 Chev Impala

- Gill & Ruth Edmunds 1972 Austin Mini pickup

3rd place - Stu Adamson 1972 Triumph Tiger Motorbike

Sectional winners were:

Vintage Alastair & Nola Day 1926 Dodge 4 Tourer

PV Ross & Gail Parker 1936 Morris 8 sport

PWV Don & Lynne Yeaman 1955 Triumph TR2

P60 Murray Frew & Lesley Miller 1967 Chev Impala

P80 Greg & Karelan Doran 1984 Mercedes 280SE

Motorcycle Stu Adamson 1972 Triumph Tiger Motorbike

Commercial Gill & Ruth Edmunds 1972 Austin Mini pickup

Farthest travelled John & Mary Lester, Temuka 1948 Morris 8 Ross & Gail Parker, Temuka 1936 Morris sport

Mitre 10 Alexandra

Hills Automotive Alexandra

Alan Porter

Dunstan Motors Challenge

Tyreland Alexandra

HistoricPhotosofCars–Wanaka

More from The Upper Clutha Historical Records Society Inc.; photos that have vehicles so we can help identify the make and model wherever possible.

If you know the answers let me know please! And enjoy the photos anyway. Ed. editorCOVCC@gmail.com

Selected answers from last month:

The pickup going by the high crown mudguards is late 1920s early 30s. It is not a Chev or a Ford (unless it has odd bits on it), so…

I am now reasonably sure the two Wanaka service cars with the “curly” bumpers are Cadillac’s, probably late teens early 1920s . Regarding White Star Tourist Services, it seems to have been set up in the early 1920s after talks between the Newman Brothers (operating mainly in the South Island) and Hawkes Bay Motor Company. It was the response of a group of operators to a similar group operating under the Aard banner. Noel

Car belonged to Dr George A Morris

c.1956 Stella Anderson driving

Some of our members were seen at the Autospectacular in Dunedin on 10th Sep. There was a fascinating variety of vehicles.

Bookreview-OntheRoad

The Car in New Zealand

By Graham Hawkes

160 pages, published 1990

2nd hand (e.g. Smith’s Bookshop $24.50, TradeMe $16)

Traditionally near the peak of car-owning nations, New Zealand has made the car an institution, ensnaring almost every aspect of our lives. It has literally shaped our environment and affected our architecture and our fashions. On the Road chronicles the cars and the eras in which they were driven, showing the magic appeal of the best of them and also reveals how much motoring has become an inseparable part of our popular culture.

From the earliest cars, then the early Fords, Buicks and Pontiacs of the 1920s, the Vauxhalls and still more Fords of the 1930s and 40s. To the 1950s and the Vauxhall Wyvern and the Velox, the Morris Minor, a string of Holdens and what some consider to be the apogee of motoring in this country - the Mk I and Mk II Zephyrs (that seem to be a particular favourite of his, also “The Mark II Zodiac convertible became known as Britain’s most handsome car”, as well as Morris Minors, Minis). This book chronicles these cars and the eras in which they were driven, concluding with the era of Japanese products, and a wave of expensive European cars.

In it I found out that “The Morris never appealed to macho car enthusiasts for whom power output, cubic inches and top speed are all important.”

The book is liberally sprinkled with photos of streetscapes, illustrations, old advertisements (it appears that the author has a particular bent for petrol pumps and company branding), garages, showrooms etc. The author has gone to quite detail about the numbers of cars sold, the price of them and other goods,

It reminds us that in the year 1933 a general sales tax on cars was introduced and also increased duty on petrol. This was followed by, in 1937, the Labour Government mandating Warrant of Fitness.

It is still an informative read, and quite observant, for instance, in discussing a late-model Japanese car noted that, “it is impressively quiet. What noise there is inside the cabin seems to come from the big tyres on the road surface that seems somehow crude compared to the sophisticated engineering of the car.” Too true!

Turnpike,trunkandboot

Have you ever wondered where these terms came from?

I thought that “turnpike” was some ghastly American invention, but it dates back to 1420 in England, and originally referred to a spiked barrier designed to restrict access to a road. It comes from the Middle English “turnen” (to turn) plus “pike” (a sharp spike). It was used “as a defence against sudden attack, especially of men on horseback.” In the late 17th century, “turnpike” began being used to refer to a barrier on a toll road. By the mid-18th century, the word was used to refer to the road itself.

The word "boot", goes back to 18th century horse-drawn carriages where the coachman sat on a chest, which was used to store, among other things, his boots. This storage space came to be termed as the "boot locker", which soon became the "boot" (this may or may not be correct by the way, as it is lost in the mists of time). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the boots had been moved to the ends of coaches and had turned into storage areas. One was under the coachman’s seat at the front, the other under that of the guard at the back. The first known reference to a car boot, so called, was in the magazine Autocar in 1908.

In America, of course, it is called the "trunk". An old-fashioned steamer or travelling trunk was mounted at the back of their early vehicles to store their on-road belongings. During the automobile boom in the 1920s, this trend was picked up by car manufacturers like Duisenberg, Cord, Buick and Lincoln incorporated the trunk as part of the car's design. In 1930 the US magazine Automobile Topics noted integral trunks as newsworthy: “Rear-end trunks were larger and more prevalent. In one line of cars they were designed into the rear of the body itself.”

Boot is an excellent example of linguistic conservatism; other examples are dashboard and carriage.

Whatever it is called, I don’t want to be trapped inside one!

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Found in The Southlandian of 1928 (the organ of Southland Boys High School); the writer complaining about the dangers (to pedestrians) of the swelling number of cars on the road:

"Another ingenious project is to dry up by some means all the petrol wells and so make the locomotion of vehicles by that fluid impossible. Unfortunately motorists would probably readily find other means of propelling their lethal apparatus. Quite an accurate, if unintentional, prophecy!

Graham Ltd