The Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Po Box 2168, Kopeopeo, Whakatane 3159
Email: easternbayofplenty@vcc.org.nz
Driving
March 2023
Running Board
Club Night: Last Thursday of the Month (except December) at Whakatane Athletic Clubrooms, Short Street, Whakatane 7.00 pm Social get-together
Branch Meeting starts at 7.30 pm Followed by Supper
Chairman’s Report:
Thanks to all of those Members who contacted Gail and I expressing their sorrow at the passing of our German Shepherd Ralf, our place certainly feels empty without him, he was a big part of our lives for 12 years.
Thanks to Phil and Margaret for organising the East Coast Rally, they did a great job of instructing the participants around different areas of the Eastern Bay with some very clever questions necessary to find a winner. Well done Phil and Margaret and your team of helpers and of course thanks to our Club Members for your participation, it is our Branch’s biggest event each year and your entry is needed to keep the Rally viable.
Thanks also to Members of other Branches that supported our East Coast Rally.
It seems to be getting more difficult to organise Rally’s these days with shrinking entry numbers because of various reasons, dare I say it we are all getting older and the cost of accommodation and fuel is not getting any cheaper.
However we are grateful to Members of other Branches that supported us and the old faithful entrants that return each year.
Thanks to our sponsors Repco, Nicholson Autos, Whakatane Printers, Commerce Street Autos. Please support them as they support us.
Other things we have done this month.
4 cars travelled to Gisborne to enter their Three Rivers Rally, it was a good Rally with some great roads, but missing sign posts meant some participants (including Gail and I) got horribly bamboozled and needed a bit of help by (in our case) tail-end Charlie, but others found their own way. Gisborne Members won all of the prizes, with Steve and Joy winning ‘best outsider’. But in the end we all won petrol vouchers from their Challenge Sponsor and also petrol vouchers donated by Graeme Revell.
On Sunday morning we headed home just as the rain was starting and we all know what happened to Gisborne then. Thanks Gisborne for a great Rally and weekend and we hope you are able to recover from the flooding and disruption soon.
On Saturday 18th Ten of our Branch cars entered ‘Opotiki Show & Shine’ to help raise funds for the Opotiki Coast Guard. Two of our members cars won a class, Phil and Lesley’s Holden won ‘best original car’ and Barry and Marianne’s Ford V8 Coupe won (well we are not sure what class, will let you know next month when their trophy arrives).
On Sunday 26th Three cars from our Branch drove to the Rotorua ‘live tractor day’ and displayed our cars along with many other cars, trucks and tractors and other farm machinery, it was good to catch up on some old friends and acquaintances.
If you want to read a good story about our East Coast Rally there is a good write-up by Raewyn and Graeme Fenn in the BOP ‘Klaxon’ Magazine. Go to www.vcc.org.nz on the home page scroll to ‘news from our branches’ scroll to BOP Branch ‘Klaxon’. That’s all from me this month. Drive Safe . . . . Les. .2.
East Coast Rally Sunday 5th February
More Rally Photos
Rally Prize-giving (placing details see page 3)
Members who attended other February Events
Gisborne Three Rivers Rally 10th – 12th
Steve & Joy Growden Ford Cortina Harry & Gay Sutcliffe Wolseley 1300 Mark & Karen Spackman Renault Fuego Les & Gail Costar Ford Capri
3 cars travelled over on Friday pit stop at Matawai This interesting bike at the start of the Rally .8.
Opotiki Show & Shine - Saturday 18th
Phil & Lesley Watts Holden HJ Noel & Lois Davies Ford Falcon
Steve & Joy Growden Ford Cortina Les & Gail Costar Ford Capri
Barry & Marianne Spry Ford Coupe Richard Pipe Continental
Peter & Rosalie Donovan Daimler John Twaddle Morris Minor
John & Sylvia Sisson Chev Truck
John Lamont Mark & Karen Spackman Doug Wheeler
Rodney Clague with Gisborne Branch’s Morris Commercial Truck Rally lunch - Karen with her bagel Peter & Rosalie Donovan’s Damler & John Twaddle’s M1000 - Richard Pipe’s 1933 Continental Flyer .9.Harry
Steve
Prize winners at the Opotiki Show and Shine
A few more of the vehicles
More photos of the Tractor day in next month’s magazine
Phil & Lesley Watts with their Holden HJ Barry & Marianne Spry with their Ford Coupe Tractor Working Day - Oturoa Road Mamaku - Sunday 26th & Gay Sutcliffe Wolseley 6/99 Les & Gail Costar Ford Capri & Joy Growden Triumph 2500 John MacKintosh South Waikato VCC Cars and EBOP VCC CarsSimon and Annie Cherrington travelled in their campervan to the Wanganui Vintage weekend in January
Simon took these photo’s of this very interesting vehicle parked in the street made up from different makes and models
March
Saturday 11th
Club Calendar of Events commencing March 2023
Pukehina Surf & Sand Car Show Day
10.00 am – 2.00 pm Mid-way Park Pukehina Beach
This will be our March Club Run leaving Matata at 9.00am
Wednesday 15th
Wed 22nd - Sun 26th
Thursday 30th
April
Sunday 2nd
Wednesday 12/19 TBC
Saturday 15th
Sunday ?
Thursday 27th
May Sunday ?
Mid-week Run leaving Shingle Pit 9.30am
Beach Hop – Whangamata
Club Night – Athletic Clubrooms, Whakatane 7.00 pm
Classic Car Breakfast Red Barn from 8.00am
Mid-week Run
Farming like Grandad
Would anyone like to arrange a Club Run
Club Night – Athletic Clubrooms, Whakatane 7.00 pm
Thursday 25th Club Run
Club Night – AGM Athletic Clubrooms
No Vintage/Classic vehicle.......... No worries- please come along to events in your ‘modern’
Please support our East Coast Rally Sponsors
REPCO Nicholson Autos
Commerce Street Autos Whakatane Printers
Any photo’s or articles from Members for the Running Board are much appreciated How about writing a small story or sending photos of a Club Run or event you have attended
Thanks to this month’s contributors
Simon Cherrington for photo’s from the Wanganui Vintage Weekend in January
Bruce Seddon and James McCarthy for some of our East Coast Rally Photos