VCC COVCC PNS Mag Feb 2025 by Vintage Car Club of New Zealand

Vintage Car Club of NZ Inc. – Central Otago Branch

FEATURECAR

This month’s feature car is the well-known Lycoming, which was owned by Ralph Smith of Bannockburn, a former club member. I said it was well-known, and I have known about the car for 40 years, but I didn’t know the history until I read the following article by Allan Dick. Possibly this will be old news to some members, but I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

Allan is probably NZ’s most prolific automotive writer, starting Autonews and Classic Driver. He kindly gave me permission to publish his article here. Thanks Allan.

SAVING THE LYCOMING.

Allan Dick tracks the history of New Zealand’s most loved racing car.

For all of its life, the car has been finished in polished alloy, then later with a red band around its nose, sweeping back to become a broad stripe that runs the full length of the nose, breaking at the open cockpit and continuing down the shapely tail.

The front view is pure function a wide, open mouth to cram air into the air-cooled engine, the sides flanked by shark-like gills to let the air out, a low windscreen. The rear view is the best. The tail end is beautifully proportioned and back in the midsixties when Jim Boyd was really establishing the reputation of the car and I was starting out on a career of writing and photographing motor racing my favourite shots of the car were always three-quarter rear. There was an elegance and beauty about the car from that view.

We are of course, talking about “The Lycoming”. It is without doubt, New Zealand’s most loved racing car and a work of genius. Telling the story of the Lycoming is a story of two halves it’s creation and early racing career, it’s near loss and its recreation. And it’s also really the story of three people — Ralph Watson the creator, Jim Boyd the man who did more than anyone to establish the car’s reputation and Dunedin engineer Ralph Smith who bought the car in 1982 after it had been dismantled with the parts scattered over several locations. To most intents and purposes, the car had disappeared. Many stories have been written about Ralph Watson and the Lycoming, but the headlines of those stories bear repeating again.

Ralph Watson was a quiet, mildly eccentric, genius of an engineer. His Auckland workshop became such a hallowed place, after his death, it was dismantled, crated up and reassembled at the Warbirds and Wheels Museum near Wanaka. Born in Nelson he moved to Auckland with his parents, his father never learned to drive and Ralph

became interested in motorcycles, cars and model making. In 1947 he joined the Northern Sports Car Club, competing with a 1933 Singer Sports and then a 1934 Singer Le Mans both of which were overhauled and modified.

Assisting AJ and Ron Roycroft with the ex-works Rubber Duckie Austin Seven at Wigram in 1949 inspired him to build his first car a BSA Special single seater which he raced, sprinted and hillclimbed all over the country. By coincidence, at this time, the Stanton Brothers in Christchurch were also building and racing a BSA Special!

Bitten by the bug, Watson began planning a car that would be bigger and faster than the BSA Special which was sold.

By now, Watson’s motor racing experience was prodigious. He had been the Roycroft's full time mechanic for a while.

But what form would his new car take?

He considered rear, or mid-engine, but felt that might be too tricky to drive and discounted that idea.

Back then, the two most popular engines around which to build a racing car were either the ubiquitous side valve Ford V8, or its smaller brother, the side valve Ford 10. Watson was drawn to the Lycoming aero engine because of its light weight with modest power and plenty of torque.

In many ways though, this was the complete antitheses of modern motor racing where high power was extracted at high revs. Actually, it was Watson’s mate Harry Chatteris who initially bought two Lycoming 0-290 engines at scrap prices from James Aviation. Chatteris had the idea of fitting one into the back of the rear-engined, Waffle Iron Jackson Special he had bought, but finding a suitable transmission was too hard! So Ralph Watson bought the motors off Chatteris.

The Lycoming 0-290 was designed in 1939 and went into production in 1942, ending in 1975. It was a 4.7 litre, flat four, air cooled, wet sumped, carbureted, weighed 111kgs, normally revved to just over 2800rpm, produced 125 bhp (93kW) but with 273 ft lbs (371 Nm) of torque. By comparison, a side valve Ford V8 with 3.6 litres, weighed about 190kg, produced 85 bhp (60kW) and 100Nm of torque (110 ft lbs). So the Lycoming 0-290 was truly of the stump pulling variety. However, this outstanding torque was of no interest to aircraft people it is horsepower that gets the plane into the air.

Those figures, coupled with the price, is also what attracted Christchurch brothers Charlie and Maurice Stanton to power their new racing car the Cropduster with a Gypsy Major aircraft engine. Who was looking over whose shoulder you must ask yourself. Anyone who has heard both of these cars in action will confirm the similarity

in both noise and performance. The exhaust note, a flat, raucous bellow and forward progress almost a huge leap forward each time a cylinder fired. But it is fair to say that the aesthetics of these two cars could not be more different. The Lycoming is svelte, looking as though it could be a factory car, the Cropduster looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Certainly, Ralph Watson designed the Lycoming as a car to be raced, but he also wanted it to be driveable on the road. Not just driveable, but to be used as a daily driver! A remarkable achievement when you consider how many races and championships it won over a ten-year history — 1957 to 1967. In fact, when Watson sold the car, it had done 2,000 racing miles but 6,000 road miles as a warranted and registered car.

He designed it around a simple chassis that used, mainly, two full length tubes with extended framework, strengthened by sheet metal with cross members an early form of space frame. The engine went into this chassis upside down and back to front to normal aircraft use. Watson replaced the carburetion with his own fuel injection, and dry sumped the motor.

The rest of the car was made from proprietary parts that he thought were suitable. A modified 1941 Studebaker gearbox was used, a Ford V8 diff with rack and pinion steering from a Morris Minor. The independent front suspension used a mix of Austin A40 and Ford Zephyr parts, at the rear was a de Dion set up that Watson built himself using Morris Minor torsion bars. Creating the look and the actual body of the car was the work of Johnny Morrall a legend in the panel-beating world. For more than two decades, Morrall was responsible for several works of automotive art the Lycoming included. The car was complete and driveable by August 1956 but it required some sorting so its first major meeting was at the 1957 Grand Prix at Ardmore. Here officials were critical of the unpainted body, so Watson gave it a buff and that shiny alloy finish has been one of the car’s defining features ever since. Although it was a two seater, Watson’s initial aim was to compete in races that attracted the top cars and drivers the Main Race of the day. Later it became a dual-purpose car main races but also sports car races. The car was fast 240km/h and a standing quarter time of just over 14 seconds. Towards the end of his ownership, Watson gave drives to former fighter pilot Bob Gibbons, saying the car needed a driver of more skill than his to get the best out if it. People took notice of the car, but the person who really put it onto the centre stage was the second owner, Auckland engineering student Malcolm Gill.

Gill fitted it with easily removable mudguards, and he entered it in sports car races, then later in the day, also the Main Race. Over the 1960, 1961 and 1962 seasons, he won almost every sports car race he entered and was consistently fast in main races as well.

Famously, for the 1960 Lady Wigram Trophy Race, Gill loaned the Lycoming to Bruce McLaren whose work’s F1 Cooper had blown its engine in warm up and McLaren

thanked Gill by bringing the car home in fourth place behind Jack Brabham, David Piper and Ian Burgess and ahead of Pat Hoare’s Ferrari.

Obviously, McLaren was delighted but also found the Austin A40 drum brakes a bit marginal and as a “thank you”, once he got back to the UK, he sent Gill a set of Dunlop disc brakes which made life easier for both Gill and subsequent owners.

For the 1963 season Gill retired and sold the car to motorcycle racer Forrest Cardon who was fast and competent but who will be perhaps remembered best for, at Wigram, running over the nose of Arthur Moffat’s Lotus XV and damaging both cars.

Then the car was sold to Jim Boyd and it entered its proudest period. Boyd was a “character” in every sense of the word. Despite having a broad smile, white teeth, blonde wavy hair and a huge personality he was a bit of a loner. Or maybe that should be loaner. He had had long experience in a wide range of cars, but many he either leased, or borrowed. But the Lycoming was his and, without getting too deep into clichés, Boyd and the Lycoming were duck and water.

But it was more than circuit racing where Boyd and the Lycoming were to be seen. He raced it, hillclimbed it, sprinted it and even entered grass track meetings. Like the previous owners, he raced it both as a “single seater” and as a sports car. Like the others before him, Boyd also drove it everywhere, from meeting to meeting and he always described the Lycoming as the best car he had ever driven, A to B, on the road. In the mid-sixties many motorists could tell stories about being passed at high speed on the open road by this silver bullet that appeared from nowhere and disappeared just as quickly with a roar. His personal belongings and change of clothes were all neatly folded and tucked into a small suitcase not much bigger than a lunch box and then fitted into the small space in the tail, accessed by removing a panel.

In 1965/66 Boyd, and his mate and mechanic Brian (Bubbles) Rice decided to compete in a full national season hillclimbs, important sprints and motor races. The season began on 3 October with the Ackland Car Club hillclimb and finished with a National Race Meeting at Pukekohe on 23 April. The car was driven to every single meeting and over the season covered 6650 miles at an average of 22mpg! Boyd and the Lycoming became a legend and, in many cases, he was simply unbeatable.

In February 1965 he gave the Lycoming its proudest moment. Between Wigram and Teretonga, he stopped off to have a look around the streets that would be the venue for the Dunedin Road Race the weekend after Teretonga.

It was a long, fast circuit, across a narrow, high sided steel bridge, between warehouses, across railway lines and peppered with bumps and potholes. As usual Boyd was entered in both the sports car and the main race.

The writer was on the organising committee for that event and pointed Jim the way to the circuit. When he came back, he said — “Whew, that’s a rough track, but, you know, I think I might have the winning car here. . .”

And he was right. While others in much more modern, factory-built cars (like Andy Buchanan 1.5 Braham, Red Dawson 2.5 Cooper, John Riley 2.5 Lotus and Graeme Lawrence 1.5 Brabham) were faster, the circuit took its toll and Boyd came home first, taking the Dunedin Festival Princess for a parade lap in the Lycoming.

Boyd was very much a party man and the prizegiving that night saw him in fine form, having won the biggest race of his life.

The Lycoming took on a new look for Dunedin. This was the era when wider wheels and wider tyres were being discovered, and Boyd used the expertise of a local engineering firm headed by local racer Gerald Hoare to have the front and rear wheels of the car widened and braced to curb excessive wheelspin as well as provide improved roadholding. That may sound simple today, but it kept the car competitive for another couple of seasons and transformed the appearance of the car, giving it a more aggressive stance.

The 1966/67 season was Boyd’s last with the car and provided his greatest challenge. By now he was so in tune with the car it was virtually an extension of his own body. And it needed to be because Andy Buchanan had the fabulous 250LM Ferrari that year and while he emerged the victor that season in sports car races, some of the battles with Boyd were memorable and tense.

Such was the image and reputation of the Lycoming in New Zealand that after the racing was over and people were packing up to leave the 1966 Teretonga race meeting, reigning World Champion, Jim Clark asked to have a drive of the car.

Clark was no dilettante and earlier in the day he had stood among the crowd, the ordinary people, to watch Boyd slug it out with Andy Buchanan in the Ferrari. Clark enjoyed the experience so much he put in lap after lap until Boyd waved him into the pits.

Boyd sold the Lycoming, possibly swapping it for a Jaguar XK120 sports car, and it ended up on a farm north of Dunedin in the hands of Don Peddie.

There were personality similarities between Boyd and Peddie, both being quite ebullient characters, but Don was never serious about racing he just liked cars. He also bought the ex-Dave Silcock, Steve Millen 3.8 Mark II Jaguar and then the ex-Red Dawson Camaro.

Peddie demonstrated the Lycoming at the Nelson Beach races and had Charlie Bensemann drive it a couple of times and then, it “disappeared”.

Don dismantled it with some parts sent to Tuatapere for engineer Keith Thomson to replicate — Thomson wanted to build a replica of the car. It never happened.

While the Lycoming hadn’t been seen for years, it remained a legend. In 1979, I had a phone call. It was Neville Crichton racer and businessman on his way up. He wanted to know if I knew where the Lycoming was, I told him the story, but I think he was put off by the potential scale of the job of finding the parts and then rebuilding he car.

But Ralph Smith wasn’t. About 1982 he contacted Don Peddie, bought the car and then set about finding all the parts and putting together the jigsaw. Sitting in the lounge of his comfortable home at Bannockburn, within earshot of Highlands Motorsports Park, 81-year-old Ralph Smith told me the story of his 40-year ownership of the car.

He had been friends with prominent Dunedin car dealer and racer Lindsay Neilson who had encouraged him into classic racing in the mid-seventies.

“Lindsay persuaded me to give it a go and I bought the single seater called the Citroen Spider which had been built by Doug Haigh.

“Some time after Lindsay was killed in a collision with a train in 1980, his widow Olive phoned me to say she had been contacted by Don Peddie wanting to know where he stood as regards the sale of the Lycoming.

“Don had had the car for many, many years and he had finally decided to sell it. Don was now living in Amberley, in North Canterbury, but Keith Thomson had gathered up all of the parts of the car and taken them to Tuatapere.

Initially Keith had had some parts in Tuatapere, some were still on Don’s old farm at Dunback and some parts were in Oamaru. Shortly before his death, Don had contacted Lindsay Neilson offering him the car and Lindsay had agreed to buy it. Olive was too busy dealing with losing her husband to worry about the Lycoming, so she asked Ralph Smith if he would handle the matter.

“I contacted Don, went to where he was living in Amberley, had a look at the parts which had been delivered by Keith Thompson and we agreed on a price. Don knew what wanted for the car, but we still negotiated a bit, settled on a deal and I brought all the stuff two trailer loads to my workshop at home.

“I really thought I had bought a basket case, it was in terrible shape, but I laid it all out and it took about two years to get it going. All of the parts were there and I don’t think I had to make anything.”

He contacted both Ralph Watson and Jim Boyd who gave both advice and encouragement.

Ray Larsen was given the job of rebuilding the aluminium body. Ralph opted for wheels that were about midway in width between those fitted to the car originally, and those widened by Jim Boyd in 1965. Ralph had a background in running his family’s engineering company which was obviously beneficial in recreating the Lycoming — but obviously, the car didn’t come with a workshop manual or a parts list!

The car’s first appearance, virtually since 1968, was the Dunedin Road Race meeting in 1984 where Jim Boyd had a guest drive. “At first the car wouldn’t run cleanly and it wasn’t until Ralph Watson had a look at it and diagnosed faults in the fuel injection system that we got it running right,” says Ralph Smith.

With the car now back to probably it’s “Jim Boyd form” — right down to having Boyd’s number 22 — Ralph Smith decided to take the car to a classic race meeting at Laguna Seca in the USA — it’s first ever appearance outside New Zealand.

“This was an invitation only meeting and I arranged an invite through well-known classic racer Peter Giddings.

”Helping him look after the car on this trip were his close friend Bill McCabe and the car’s builder, Ralph Watson.

“I found that the car was known to many of the classic racers and when the gearbox blew we had lots and lots of offers to get it rebuilt. But there wasn’t really the time.”

How competitive was the car? It was all a long time ago but Ralph can remember that he could beat “Old Yeller” the Max Balchowsky built car that started the careers of Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby and one of the ex-Lance Reventlow Scarabs. After Laguna Seca there was a couple of meetings at Eastern Creek and Winton in Australia where, again, the number of people who were aware of the car and its history surprised Ralph.

Since then, Ralph competed in New Zealand events, although after 40 years the novelty has gone and today he’s more focused on preserving the car, than racing it.

Ralph has enjoyed racing it “It’s a very easy car to drive, being quite neutral.” He revs it to around 4,000 rpm, which is a lot more than in aircraft use. “

At a circuit like Levels, you use first gear as a starting or launch gear, only. You avoid too much wheelspin and then into second gear and that us where the real punch is. Then it’s just second and third all the way.”

In fact, second gear was so accelerative that in the 1959 NZ Grand Prix at Ardmore, Scottish BRM driver Ron Flockhart found the Lycoming could out-accelerate his stateof-the-art F1 car. “I’ve really been intent on keeping the car as original as possible. I’ve had to make parts for the dry sump system, and I got embarrassed at the noisy

starter motor and modified that so it now has a small lever with which I manually engage the starter dog with the ring gear.

“I have also had to fit a roll bar, which spoils the look a bit, but, apart from those little things, the car is about as original as I can have made it even most of the body is still original.”

And after almost 70 years of racetrack action that’s a remarkable thing. When he had Johnny Morrall build the body, Ralph Watson was aware of aluminium fatigue and had Morrall use a heavier gauge, heat-treated alloy. It was a wise decision.

For the future? Well, even though he’s not planning on a racing programme, the car’s not for sale.

“It’s owned by a family trust and I’ve got a son who is interested I racing, so, we’ll see . . . .”

Today the Lycoming sits, pristine, polished, ready to go under a cover in a large shed and workshop, shared by the Citroen Spider and the Colin Smith built Rhubarb II sports racing car which has recently undergone a rebuild by Barry Veitch in Invercargill.

At the other end of the scale, is an immaculate, and very tall, 1914 Ford Model T “roadster”.

But the Lycoming, the Citroen Spider and Rhubarb II are not Ralph Smith’s only involvement with historic cars. He also bought the badly damaged Lola T70 sports racing car with which Jim Boyd finished his motor racing career.

The car was involved in a heavy accident at Levels in the ownership of Grant Bloore and it was bought and sold by a number of people before Ralph bought it off Rob Boult.

Ralph restored the car, even painting it in the Team Cambridge colours of Boyd but when he got an offer from the UK, he took it.

“Basically, there was nowhere to race it. Organisers didn’t really know what to do with a big CanAm type car, so they put me in with the F5000 cars and that just wasn’t right.”

The car still races in the UK in the Team Cambridge colours.

Ralph was also involved in a project to build half a dozen replicas of the HWM F2 car, again, as raced by Jim Boyd just before he bought the Lycoming.

There’s no doubt that Ralph Watson was a man of genius. His story and that of the cars, boats and engines he designed and built is told is a large format, ring-bound book, written and presented by his close friend, Trevor Sheffield. It is a fantastic read.

This has been a story on just one of Watson’s projects — arguably the best known — but it barely scratches the surface of a remarkable man. He must have been pleased that the Lycoming was saved from the farmyard at Dunback to become one of our most treasured racing cars. Footnote.

Sadly, Ralph Smith died not long after I wrote this story. AD

Editorial

The opinions expressed here are the editor’s only and are not endorsed by the club

Well, as previously indicated, I am standing down as Editor at the AGM. Principal reason is that I now have two operations scheduled for this year, hopefully they will happen sooner rather than later.

I haven’t attended many events lately, partly because of mobility issues and partly because I personally don’t like attending in a modern (although the club has been clear to point out that a modern is OK) but I think this is like cross dressing which has never been me.

I purchased a new Hot Rod NZ subscription for $14.99 on Zinio for 12 months a few weeks ago. It is not my favourite magazine as the present owner is over focussed on prewar Ford V8s. Nevertheless, at that value, the proposition is still attractive.

Interestingly the cost for a hard copy delivered by snail mail is $133 plus $33 postage. I think the VCC should look at this and do a fair degree of naval gazing. The wastage around the Beaded Wheels publication and distribution is appalling and it is our money.

Now let’s make this clear. I am not anti-Beaded Wheels or Hot Rod NZ. Both are quality publications. It is the printing and distribution costs I am anti. The VCC is wasting our money with its ostrich approach to this problem. They need to make the hard call.

I signed up to an electronic copy of Beaded Wheels. But, surprisingly, I still get a hard copy, which is a tragic waste and my wife hates it because it litters the kitchen bench.

Ninety-two percent of the COVCC gets their club newsletter electronically. Ten percent of those that are snail-mailed were returned to me last month as “gone no address”.You don’t need to be computer literate. Both of my grandkids could use an I-Pad at 2, before they could talk. It’s time we cut the cord. When did you last pay by cheque?

Regards

Garry

CLUBEVENTSCALENDAR

Please take care to read and copy to your diary!

Pretty full calendar. Note: subject to change but any changes to next month’s event will be e-mailed out.

Date Event Organiser Detail

MARCH 2025

Wednesday 12th March Club Night: Clubrooms open 7.00 pm, meeting starts 8.00 pm.

John Gray

RESCHEDULED TALK

Owing to an accident in the Cromwell Gorge last month, the proposed talk was postponed, so presented now this month.

Martin and Kaye Curtis, with an illustrated talk on their many tours to Bhutan in the Himalayan area of Asia.

Friday 14th -

Sunday 16th March

Saturday 22nd –

COVCC Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Rally

Monday 24th March (EVENT POSTPONED)

COVCC Otago Anniversary Weekend Run

Thursday 27th March

Thursday Muster

Ken Roberts, Neville Ridd, John Martin, John Gray

John Gray/Committee

COVCC Motorcycle rally. Assistance of local members with the event, would be appreciated.

(EVENT POSTPONED) A three-day run to Invercargill, via the Catlins. Visit Invercargill museums, coastal towns, return home Monday via garden of significance.

APRIL 2025

Wednesday 9th April Club Night: Clubrooms open 7.00 pm, meeting starts 8.00 pm.

Sunday 13th April No Weekend Run this month owing to Easter.

John Gray

Visit to George Wallis’s property near Wanaka to look at his car and International vehicle collection and hear a talk about George’s experiences with early logging in Haast, establishing Haast Transport in 1965 and supplying trucks to the MOW for the building of the Haast Pass road. George was inducted into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2013. Another not to be missed experience. Further details later.

John Gray TBC

Saturday 19th –

Sunday 20th April

Thursday 24th April

Wheels at Wanaka Easter Weekend

Murray Pryde

Car and Machinery Show. Attend and display your vehicle or volunteer.

Thursday Muster

Saturday26th April Arrowtown Golden Times Rally.

MAY 2025

Wednesday

14th May

Club Night: Clubrooms open 7.00 pm, meeting starts 8.00 pm.

Sunday 18th May VCC Quiz Afternoon

John Gray

Michael Wyatt and Greg Doran

John Gray

Run to Oturehua to visit the historic gold mine and poppit head structure, with picnic lunch.

See flyer later in mag.

Thursday 29th May

Thursday Muster

John Gray

Janine Woods, from The Southern Lakes Trails Trust, will present us with an illustrated update on progress with the new cycle track between Bannockburn and the Gibbston Valley, as the project goes past the half-way mark.

The Quiz Night which was postponed last winter due to a clash with an All-Blacks game, has been rescheduled and will be held instead of a Sunday Run.

Meet at the Clubrooms at 2.00pm. Following the Quiz, the Branch will put on a Barbeque tea, and will supply, meat, salads etc. Bring your own drinks.

Maniatoto Visit, thermette morning tea, Lunch at the Waipiata Tavern, followed by visits to the Hamiltons Goldfield and historic cemetery. Patearoa, Maniatoto Plain, and rare endangered native Olearia (scented tree daisy) enclosure.

JUNE 2025

Wednesday 11th June

Club Night: Clubrooms

Sunday 15th June Annual General Meeting

Thursday 26th June

JULY 2025

Wednesday 9th July

Thursday Muster

Club Night: Clubrooms

John Gray

John Martin discussing how he builds and new wood frame for a vehicle body, or undertakes wood repairs. John will also touch on wood bending, making hood bows and possibly veneering work.

Graham Taylor

AGM, to be preceded by a potluck lunch at 11.30 am.

John Gray TBC

Sunday 13th July Weekend Run

Thursday 31st July

AUGUST 2025

Thursday Muster

Wednesday 13th August Club Night: Clubrooms

John Gray No Weekend Run this Month, due to winter.

John Gray Curling at Alexandra

John Gray TBC

Sunday 17th August Weekend Run No Weekend Run this Month, due to Winter

Sunday 24th August Daffodil Day Cancer Society fund-raiser TBC

Show and Shine. Gates open 11.00 am. Display 12.00 – 2.00 pm. Barbeque and raffles. All proceeds to Cancer Society. Please bring your vehicle for display and support this event and this great cause.

Thursday 28th August Thursday Muster TBC

Saturday 15th March 2025

A Central Otago Vintage Car Club Event

This is the first Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Rally to be organized by the Central Otago Vintage Car Club. If there are sufficient entries and support for the event it is hoped that it will become an annual event. Therefore, all motorcyclists with an eligible motorcycle are encouraged to enter. Eligible motorcycles are those manufactured before 1995.

Name of Entrant

VCC Membership Number

( Circle ) Total

Central Otago Gold Motorcycle Program

Friday 14th

The COVCC club rooms in Litany Street, Cromwell will be opened at 4.30pm. All entrants and supporting personal are welcome along to a “Meet and Greet” and finalize any entry details and receive their Rally Pack. A light meal will be provided at 6.30pm Please indicate numbers on entry form.

Saturday 15th

To make the rally suitable for all classes of motorcycle, there are three route options. The three route options start at different locations and finish at that route option starting point. All route options have the same lunch stop at the Oturehua Hall.

Short Route 100km approx.

The Short Route starts a 9.00am at the Chatto Creek Tavern car park and finishes at the same location.

Note: Vehicles that are going to be left at this start point should be left at the DoC Rail Trail car park about a kilometre to the east of the Chatto Creek Tavern on the left side of SH85.

Rally Packs will be available at the start point to those entrants who have not already picked them up at the club rooms on Friday night.

The only Fuel available on this route is at Omakau on the way to the lunch stop, although the return route does not go through Omakau, it goes within a couple of kilometres of the town.

The short route is particularly suitable for Veteran and Vintage motorcycles and also small displacement motorcycles. There are two large hills on the route that may be difficult for veteran motorcycles, particularly those with fixed drive. In an endeavour to encourage Veteran motorcycles to the rally, a car trailer will be available to transport such motorcycles up these hills, if it’s required.

Medium Route 150kms approx.

The Medium Route starts at 9.00am at the Clyde Dam lookout near the north end of Sunderland Street and finishes at the same location.

Rally Packs will be available at the start point to those entrants who have not already picked them up at the club rooms on Friday night.

The only Fuel available on this route is at Alexandra and Omakau on the way to the lunch stop and although the return route does not go through Omakau, it goes within a couple of kilometres of the town.

Long Route 300kms approx.

The long Route starts a 9.00am at the Central Otago Vintage Car Club rooms in Litany Street, Cromwell and finishes at the same location.

Rally Packs will be available at the start point to those entrants who have not already picked them up at the club rooms on Friday night. The only Fuel available on this route is at Alexandra, Omakau and Ranfurly on the way to the lunch stop and although the return route does not go through Omakau, it goes within a couple of kilometres of the town.

Lunch

Lunch for rally entrants will be provided by the Oturehua Community Group at the Oturehua Hall. Additional lunches will be provided to the support personal if they have been pre-ordered and pre-paid at time of rally entry.

Dinner and Prize Giving

The rally dinner and prize giving will take place at the Central Otago Vintage Car Clubrooms in Litany Street, Cromwell on Saturday evening. The clubrooms will be open at 4.30pm and a meal will be provided to those who have pre-paid at the time of their Rally entry.

Sunday 16th

Meet for tea or coffee at 9.30am at the COVCC club rooms. If you have time before you head home and are interested in visiting a magnificent Speedway Bike Museum. the collection is close to Cromwell.

Other Matters

A back up trailer will follow the rally route.

The rally is run under the umbrella of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand Inc. and is open to financial members of that club and invited potential members as guests. Entrants must abide by the traffic regulations and the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand Inc. and also the marshal’s directions

The organisers reserve the right to disqualify an entrant who is likely to bring discredit to the event.

All entrants must complete an entry form. Remember, it’s not a race and have fun

Trailers, caravans and motorhomes are welcome to stay in the COVCC yard over the weekend.

OTHEREVENTSandNATIONALS

VCC Branches that would like any of their events noted in our magazine, please contact us with the details at editorCOVCC@gmail.com

For more information on these and other events in Beaded Wheels, check branch newsletters which may be found at http://vcc.org.nz/newsfrom-our-branches/

Date Event

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd of March

The 2025 Southern Backroad Adventure

Easter 2025 Wheels at Wanaka.

Organizer Detail

The Otago Branch of the Vintage Car Club of NZ

See info following.

Celebrating 100 years of Caterpillar.

Golden Times Vintage Car Rally

2025 Saturday 26th April 2025 Arrowtown

The Central Otago Vintage Car Club extends a cordial invitation to join us as a part of the famous Arrowtown Autumn Festival.

Since inception in 1986, our rally has focused on a strong social emphasis, a relaxed atmosphere and sharing the world-famous scenery as we motor around the district.

The rally committee is keen to bring back the “flavours” of past events with as many early Veteran and Vintage cars as possible but recognising that all club-eligible vehicles are most welcome.

This year the whole event will be held within the district including lunch, show and shine as well as prize giving at the beautiful Butlers Green.

Morning From -- 8.30am

We have full use of Arrowtown’s Main Street from 8.30am, plenty of time to park up and admire the pristine vehicles (and the folks in Period Clothing).

Rally Packs – 9am

Rally packs are available on Buckingham Green, Buckingham Street along with a Rally Briefing at 9.45am. Two complementary vouchers are in your rally pack for tea or coffee from the SHED Café to the left of the village green.

First Vehicle – 10am

We will send the first vehicle away at about 10.00am Veteran and Vintage cars will be given preference, leaving at one-minute intervals approx. Do keep in mind modern traffic at all times and please allow them to pass if possible.

Lunch

The route instructions will take you to our selected lunch venue.

At the Café, there is limited food and hot drinks available at your own cost. Menu included below. If you prefer to pack a thermos and lunch etc, as well it is recommended to bring something to sit on.

There will be plenty of time to enjoy each other’s cars, company and sights Leave about 1.30pm for your afternoon display heading for the lovely setting at Butlers Green.

Festival Parade

As you will note from the entry form, the festival organisers would like us to arrange a selection of 20 Vintage cars only for the parade. Do register early if you would like to participate in the parade.

Please indicate on the entry form if you would like to enter the parade and instructions will be provided for you to leave the lunch venue by 1.15pm and be in Arrowtown by about 1.30pm ready to join the parade at 2.00pm.

Afternoon Venue

Not a long journey from the lunch stop but it is scenic. Join all the fun and spectacle of Arrowtown’s Festival and a special chance to show your pride and joy to the public on Butlers Green

From there you can either view the parade starting at 2.00pm or just amble through the various craft stalls displaying their goods.

Prize-giving will be held at this venue from about 3.30pm

The options below are available at the lunch stop plus a few other options as well as hot and cold drinks.

Please indicate on your entry form YES if you are intending to order your Lunch

Café Food Available

Contact John Martin 021 109 130

2025 Entry form

Entries close 16th April 2025

Entrants Name (s)

Address _

Phone number

Membership Number & Branch

Vehicle Make/Model/Year

Registration Number

Do you wish to take part in the Festival Parade Yes / No

Will you be purchasing your lunch from the café at your own cost ? Yes o r No Number s _ _ _ Refer to the menu on the information page

Entry Fee including plaque $40.00

Fees payable to our bank account

Central Otago Vintage Car Club 06 0921 0035742 01

Reference your name to payment please

All Correspondence

To John Martin P 021 109 1309

E martin_jw@xtra.co.nz M 11 Bell Ave Cromwell 9310

All entrants are to observe Road Code at all times and practice sensible road courtesy to other road users. It is the vehicle owner’s responsibility to ensure their vehicle have a current warrant of fitness and registration.

The organisers can refuse any entry not compliant

The Otago Branch of the Vintage Car Club of NZ presents... The 2025 Southern Backroad Adventure. Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd of March

This overnight rally for pre-1932 vehicles showcases Otago's amazing backroad scenery. Leaving Mosgiel's Black Sheep Restaurant at 1O.00am, we will make our way to Ranfurly, where we will dine at the Ranfurly Hotel and stay the night at a place of your choosing. Please book your own accommodation. On Sunday, we will return to Mosgiel and have a dinner at the Black Sheep Restaurant, where the rally concludes. For those wanting to avoid gravel, a direct route to Ranfurly can be taken. For an entry form, contact easttaieri@yahoo.com or for more info, phone Nevin Gough 0211150312 afternoons or evenings.

2025 Southern Backroad Adventure Entry Form

22 nd & 23 rd March 2025

Please fill out & email to easttaieri@yahoo.com

Name:

Address:

Email:

Cellphone: VCC Membership No •

Vehicle:

Year:

Route: Gravel Seal (please circle one)

I have a fire extinguisher on board (please sign) (we will be passing through farmland on private roads)

Number attending meals

Ranfurly Hotel (Sat)............. Black Sheep (Sun).............

Please pay for all meals directly to the restaurants.

The Black Sheep Restaurant is opening specially for us on Saturday morning. Please show your appreciation by purchasing a coffee or tea.

ENTRY FEE $40

This can be paid into the VCC Otago Branch Inc. bank account # 03-0903-0390951-00 using your name and 'backroad l as the references.

Note: This is a non-competitive tour. Prizes may be awarded for great motoring feats, misdemeanours and cases of hard luck.

Any questions, please contact Nevin Gough on 021 1150312 or email easttaieri@yahoo.com. We look forward to seeing you!

Chairman’sReport

I do hope members had an enjoyable Xmas and New Year and that you were all spoilt on Xmas morning with items that you requested. It is now but a distant memory.

I was lucky enough to get a Negative Covid test on Xmas morning so was then able to enjoy Xmas dinner and festivities with my family

A big thank you to the helpers who were on site to shift the Scrap Metal from the yard onto the 45-ton truck and trailer unit that has now cleared the way for new vintage steel to take its place in the future. A tidy sum of $4600.00 was gained from selling the piled-up parts. We can now set to and spread out the more saleable parts so as buyers can see them.

Also well done to those members who helped with the combined Swap Meet in January. There was a good number of buyers through the gate but down on last year as well as a good number of sellers in the yard.

Our parts shed did a roaring trade throughout the morning and had made the first $500.00 sale before 7.00am and it only got better from then on. We had lots of comments on how well set-out the parts sheds are, and that was pleasing to hear. All thanks must go to the Wednesday Morning Muster Blokes for this sterling work.

Keep an eye on John Gray’s program of coming events as he has a great selection of activities to entertain you.

Finally, the Arrowtown Golden Times Rally entry form is out so dust off your pride and joy and enter. The Central Otago Gold Motorcycle rally we are hosting on the 14th –15th March is fast approaching and to date we have 25 entries. We will require some helpers for rally in the way of marshals, back up support vehicles, catering. If you can help, please let myself or John Gray know.

This Easter is the final Wheels into Wanaka so do come and enjoy the festivities. If you bring you pride and joy and are prepared to assist with parking, etc. you will have free entry on either the Saturday or Sunday. Please contact Murray Pryde on 027 443 5030 if you can help.

Last year we received a very good donation from the organisers of the event for helping, so it would be great if we could help out for one last time. I hope to see you there.

See you at the next meeting, Regards, John Martin

ClubCaptainsReport

As I write this, (8.00pm, Tuesday 25th February) we should have been at the club rooms listening to Hayden Paddon talking about his illustrious rally driving career. Unfortunately, as previously reported, Hayden was required (at late notice) by his major sponsor, to be at an additional function at the New Zealand Golf Open, which was previously unexpected. He has however, assured me that he will speak to us at a convenient later occasion.

This brings me to time for a whinge and a moan. Let me explain; and stick with this to the end; It’ll give you some insight into how I spend some of my time over any given month. I am (at present) happy to organise three events a month for members, these being the “Club Night” speaker, the Sunday Outing, and The Thursday Muster. As you may assume, it is quite a big task to properly organise these three events every month, as well as forward planning for three events for each of the next two months ahead. If your maths is up to par, that’s a minimum of planning for nine events that I have on the go at any time.

We endeavour to bring you, our members, as wide as possible range of events, to suit as many people as we can. Some of these events require an RSVP as to your attendance, either to confirm numbers to the venue (as is often required these days); to enable us to provide catering; or to prepare enough tables and chairs for the numbers attending.

We ask for numbers, so that we can provide seating and catering for all those attending. It is therefore disappointing when at the last minute we have to endeavour to accommodate additional numbers who arrive, as inevitably, those who have missed out on the booked seating are people who have taken the effort to actually reply their attendance. Therefore, please assist us by simply replying your intention to attend, by the due date.

What I was working towards with this chastise, was the lack of replies for the proposed “Hayden Paddon” talk event, by the due date. Hayden is a brilliant speaker, and the committee were therefore expecting a great turnout of members. The disappointing aspect was that by the requested time for registrations, I had only received just over 30 confirmations. The Committee thought this would be our ‘premier speaker night’ for the year and we were also providing supper.

Both John Wilson and I had put a lot of work into getting Hayden to speak to us, and both of us would have been somewhat embarrassed by a low turnout for such a brilliant speaker. Thank you to all those members who had replied by the due date. Your faith in what we are trying to provide in the way of events is appreciated.

The Committee were, however, expecting over 50 members to attend such a great speaker, but my conclusion is maybe we are totally out of touch with what our members are interested in, or actually want.

At present, I spend approximately one week of my time each month dedicated to club duties, such as organising and running events; and writing articles for Puff N Stuff. While I (presently) enjoy this, I also have a life outside of what Wendy reminds me, is “just a hobby”

I understand our membership is widely dispersed throughout the district, and maybe I have an unrealistic expectation of the number or types of events the members want to participate in, or your desire to participate in these events at all. If so, please let me know, and I will endeavour to temper my enthusiasm, and alter or reduce the program to suit what the members want; or alternatively; give the position over to someone else to have a go.

Therefore, in summary, there will be events where I ask for numbers by a deadline date. If I do so there is a very valid reason, so please assist by replying with names/numbers by the date requested. A lack of replies in the future will be a clear message to me that you, the members, are not interested in the events I am organising (which I actually don’t have a problem with) as it will give me a heap more time to spend on the restoration of my cars, do the garden and go fishing, which is the real reason I shifted to Cromwell in the first place.

On another matter, at the last Committee meeting, we discussed the start time for ‘Club Night’ over the winter period. It was decided that for the months of June, July and August, the Clubrooms would open at 7.00pm as usual, but the actual meeting, with speakers, would commence at 7.30pm, instead of 8.00pm. This makes the travel home time for out-of-Cromwell members a little earlier over that colder midwinter period

I also introduced another idea at the recent committee meeting to incentivise members to attend monthly branch “Driving Events”, preferably in “VCC Eligible Vehicles”, but not compulsory. To trial this idea, every member’s vehicle that comes on our monthly ‘Sunday’ or ‘Thursday’ runs, gets a ticket entry into a draw per event, for a $50 petrol voucher. Each vehicle that is present is entitled to one ticket into each draw, which will be made at the lunch stop We will trial this for the next few months

I also recently received this email from one of our members - Lynette Duncan. Thank you, Lynette for bringing this survey to our attention, and I also encourage you all to make a submission to NZTA, via the web reference connection below. This is an issue that the NZ Federation of Motoring Clubs has been working on for years and is well worth responding to.

Hi John

NZTA are running a survey of feedback of the changes of WOFs for cars over 40 years and motorhomes from six months to twelve months. It would be great if you could send this link out to everyone so they can complete the survey.

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/about-us/public-consultation-hub/current-consultations/landtransport-rule-vehicle-standards-compliance-amendment-2025consultation?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrXnNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWQo89l92r17TxzGJ18tW yS4oInfdP386sSqeSUgegpLLppLtMDk-N0IJg_aem_NDO-XUkVIslEsKO_pjGr_g

LYNETTE DUNCAN

MARCH EVENTS

WEDNESDAY 12th MARCH: CLUB NIGHT Organiser – John Gray

MARTIN AND KAYE CURTIS - BHUTAN

Owing to the accident in the Cromwell Gorge before last month’s talk by Martin and Kaye Curtis, the Gorge was closed, leading to postponing this event. Martin and Kaye have graciously agreed to presenting their illustrated talk on the many trips they have guided to Bhutan, in the Himalayan area of Asia, at this month’s meeting. Their presentation includes ‘Show and Tell’ items to illustrate their travels there. The clubrooms and spare parts will be open from 7.00pm and the Club Night will start at 8.00pm.

FRIDAY 14th – SUNDAY 16th MARCH, CENTRAL OTAGO GOLD

MOTORCYCLE

RALLY

This is a new event for our Branch. Entry forms, detailing the event and functions, are in Puff N Stuff and the event is open for any ‘Club Eligible’ motorcycle over 30 years old. The rally committee will require the assistance of a few members in catering for the Friday and Saturday night meals, as well as assisting with duties such as marshalling, issuing instructions and field tests on Saturday. If you are able to assist, please contact John Martin regarding the Rally event, or John Gray regarding the Friday or Saturday evening catering.

EVENT POSTPONED – SATURDAY 22ND – MONDAY 24TH MARCH, PROPOSED

OTAGO ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND TRIP TO INVERCARGILL

The proposed Anniversary Weekend trip to Invercargill has been postponed, as previously notified. At present, the Committee have discussed rescheduling this trip to early September 2025, and to invite members of the VCC Otago Branch to participate, along with our club members. Further details to follow.

THURSDAY 28TH MARCH – THURSDAY MUSTER, VISIT TO GEORGE WALLIS’S PROPERTY, WANAKA Organiser: John Gray

Visit to George Wallis’ property near Wanaka to look at his car and International vehicle collection and hear a talk about George’s experiences with early logging in Haast, establishing Haast Transport in 1965 and supplying trucks to the MOW for the building of the Haast Pass road. George was inducted into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2013. Another not to be missed experience.

For those members coming from Cromwell or areas south, meet at the Cromwell Clubrooms at 9.30am, to leave for Wanaka Airport at 9.45am. It has been decided that it is best for everyone to meet up just inside the entrance to Wanaka Airport, around 10.20am. We will then proceed via Mt Barker Road to George’s yard, on his property, to view his collection and hear his story, of his amazing life.

We have been invited to have our picnic lunch at Georges place. Please bring your lunch, drinks and picnic seats.

SparePartsClear-out

14th January 2025

REPORT: JOHN GRAY

The Wednesday morning ‘Boys in the Shed” group, had been considering a clean-up of the rear parts storing yard due to several new donations of parts; and a diminishing ability to store parts in a manner that enabled easy and safe viewing. Following discussions, it was decided that many of the bulkier exhibits and heavier chassis etc, in the back of the yard, had been stored there for many years with little or no interest shown by members or visitors.

The consensus decision was that we needed to have a major clean-out, and an overview by the ‘Parts Gurus” resulted in the application of an ‘Orange’ spray to the parts worthy of retention, as this category was in the minority. Two specific working bee days, with the club and another tractor, saw several very large piles of scrap iron deposited in the main carpark in early January, ready for collection.

Loading up the scrap metal

In addition, the collection of old radiators was stripped of their steel parts, as the bare copper items fetched us twice the per kg price, and these were binned up separately, along with a considerable collection of scrap brass and aluminium.

On the 14th January, a very large truck and trailer unit arrived up from Everitt’s Scrap Metal in Dunedin and spent the next three hours loading up both units with the accumulated scrap, the total being nearly 19 tons. The payment gave a decent boost to club funds, to be put towards clubrooms improvements.

Topping up the load with additional items of steel

MICHAELWYATT’SITALIANVEHICLE COLLECTION/QUEENSTOWN

SUNDAY RUN REPORT

SUNDAY 16th FEBRUARY 2025

EVENT REPORT: JOHN GRAY

A typical Central Otago summer day greeted us for our trip to Queenstown to view Michael Wyatt’s exquisite collection of Italian vehicles, in his very neatly presented and well organised garages. While I have viewed Michael’s collection several times over the years, it is always a delight to visit again and to inspect progress on his restorations since my previous visit. Michael is presently working on his two Fiat Topolinos, which are now quite close to completion. One car is a Model 500A, 1938, 570cc side valve, while the other is a Model 500C of 1952, and has an overhead valve engine.

Maserati and two Alpha Giulietta’s

Michael is also presently working on the restoration of a 1965 Lancia Fulvia, V4 engined, four door saloon. The panel beating is almost complete on this car and he is progressing on painting the interior of the body and engine bay. The mechanicals are about to be attached.

In front of Michaels garage, three of his fully restored Italian vehicles were displayed. To the left, was his 1968 Maserati Ghibli Coupe, with V8 engine of 4.9 litres. Parked adjacent, was the 1958 Alpha Romeo Giulietta Sprit Coupe, with his exquisite 1962 Alpha Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale next to that. I understand the latter car to be very rare. Michael also owns a 1960s Alpha Giulietta Spider, and a modern Alpa

Saloon, which were in Dunedin, as he has no more room for those cars in Queenstown, at present.

In the main garage, behind the two Topolino’s was Michaels 1953 Norton International single cylinder motorcycle, which he has owned and ridden since he purchased it in 1968.

Michael Wyatt explains aspects of his Italian car collection

Michael, who is very knowledgeable regarding his Italian vehicles, explained all the vehicles and their histories to the 30-odd members who attended the visit, many of whom asked several questions. This is a great collection of Italian cars illustrating the evolution of the models involved.

Following the garage visit, several of the members proceeded up to the Coronet Peak Ski field carpark for either a picnic lunch or food at the café. I had another engagement back in Cromwell, so did not attend this part of the day, but I understand that Mary Martin’s Model A overheated on the journey up the hill, and the car was left on the side of the road to cool down and collected on the way back down.

The well refined lines of the 1968 Maserati Ghibli Coupe

Classic 1953 Norton 500cc International, which Michael has owned and ridden since 1968

The restoration of the 1938 Fiat Topolino, Model 500A, is almost complete Thank you, Michael, for your invitation to view your extensive collection.

Footnote by John Martin

We set off for Queenstown Bunnings early to get a little bit of Bloke shopping done before heading off to view Michael’s collection of impressive European vehicles that were on display

From there, 9 vehicles headed to the Coronet Ski Field, minus the snow, making it very pleasant up there. We took in the spectacular views and the many push-bike riders of all ages tackling the many downhill tracks before going in for a lunch that turned out to be a little disappointing.

It was a good test for our vehicles as it’s a long climb up in low gear and my Alvis came close to boiling, whereas the Model A boiled around a third of the way up. They left it on the side of the to cool down and carried on up in a modern

Some of our party decided to hop on the chair lift and continue up to the top for an even more panoramic view of the area. Wendy and I were on a mission to get home so we didn’t go on up. Very enjoyable day out.

Happy motoring

John M

EVENT REPORT: JOHN GRAY

ThursdayMuster

27th FEBRUARY 2025

VISIT TO ‘HOOK’ – ALBERT TOWN

Four vehicles left Cromwell heading towards ‘Hook’ a ‘put and take’ salmon fishing pond and restaurant complex, near Albert Town, just out of Wanaka. We were met there by another six member vehicles from the Wanaka area. The proprietors had reserved three good tables for us, at the front of the restaurant area, under the shade cover, but looking out over the fishing ponds.

The gathered members checking out the potential catch

Classics in the carpark

The ponds are stocked with a great number of hatchery reared salmon, varying in size from around 0.8kg up to, I understand, around 10kg, or more. You must keep whatever you catch, and pay per kg of whole fish. One can clearly see the fish swimming around in the ponds, and some of these fish are clearly very large, but didn’t get to that size by being stupid.

We were there a couple of years ago and saw one totally enormous fish in a pond that was not open for fishing today, and I asked the fishing guy if it had been caught. He said “yes”, late last year, and that it was an infiltrator trout from a Cardrona River

flood, and that it weighed 19kg. That’s over 40lbs, in old money, and almost mortgage territory at $35 per kg.

Three of us, Jim Pottinger, Mark Halkyard and myself, decided that the idea of salmon for dinner sounded like a plan, so we hired rods and were provided with all the gear and proceeded to fish. The day was quite hot and the sun very bright, and although there were plenty of fish swimming past, no luck was had after a half hour of trying.

A pleasant lunch under the shade

The call that the hot pizzas had arrived had us retreating for the lunch area. Following lunch, we made the first draw for the $50 petrol voucher, with one entry for each member vehicle present at each of the two monthly ‘driving events’. The first draw was won by Alan Baker of Wanaka. Congratulations Alan, and we hope to see you out at more events.

Food devoured, and Jim needing to be away to another appointment, Mark was still keen to catch his dinner, so he and I headed back to the pond for another try. A few pointers from a staff member on tossing feed pellets out to the bubble and bait, had the waters churning around our bait, with this time, what appeared to be more hungry salmon. Mark hooked a nice 1.4kg fish and I hooked one of 0.9kg, which was plenty for a meal for Wendy and me.

The staff processed the fish and we went home with a couple of nice vacuum-packed fillets.

Members commented on the quality of food, and the lack of background noise at this most pleasant restaurant setting, so we might have to put this location on the list for a future visit.

NewMembers

Welcome

Paul Wright: 1950 Bedford

Mark Halkyard with his 1.4kg Salmon catch

BRANCHOFFICERS2024-2025

Role Person Phone Email Partner

Patron: John Loudon 448 7192

Chairman: John Martin

Sheila

445 0598 021 109 1309 martin_jw@xtra.co.nz Wendy

Vice Chairperson: Neil Webster 021999 049 neil.webster@xtra.co.nz

Immediate Past Chairman Vacant

Secretary: Graham Taylor 443 1416 gtml@xtra.co.nz Cheryl

Treasurer: Mel Wilson 021 233 0280 saddle.hill@xtra.co.nz

Club Captain: John Gray 0274345621 jbgray@xtra.co.nz

John

Wendy

Editor: Garry Grindley 021 279 5064 editorCOVCC@gmail.com Rose

Committee: Rose Grindley 021 454 371 rose.grindley@gmail.com Garry

John Wilson 027 533 5626 stagdriver98@gmail.com Mel

Tony Van Gool 021631316 dorstrom@gmail.com Raewyn

Gary Fredrickson 021532960, ss mgfred@xtra.co.nz Maree Property Ewen Duthie 027 838 8324

445 1973 duthie.e@xtra.co.nz Arlene

Alf O’Sullivan 021 110 7707 glenda.alf@gmail.com

Parts Convenor Bryan Anderson 0212049390. bryandjen@live.com

Parts Helper Alf O’Sullivan 021 110 7707 glenda.alf@gmail.com

Glenda

Don Yeaman 443 2730 yeaperson@xtra.co.nz Lynne Idle Torque BW; John Gray 0274345621 jbgray@xtra.co.nz

Librarian: Alf O'Sullivan 021 110 7077 glenda.alf@gmail.com

Area Reps:

Wendy

Glenda

Wakatipu - Bill Crooks 021 915 188 bill@arrowauto.co.nz Jill

Alexandra - Barry Walker 448 6508 TBC Sharron

Cromwell - John Martin 445 0598 martin_jw@xtra.co.nz Wendy

Wanaka - Graham Taylor 443 1416 gtml@xtra.co.nz

HSE: Gerry Spencer

Rally Conveners: Blossom Festival: Ewen Duthie 027 838 8324

Cheryl

445 1973 duthie.e@xtra.co.nz Arlene

Bryan Anderson 0212049390. bryandjen@live.com

National Daffodil Day Coordinator: Beau Trevathan 4452864

Golden Times: Alan Sutton 027 434 6018 Alan.Sutton@bayleys.co.nz

Face book page

TBC

Ann

COVCCMeetingMinutes

Clubrooms

Tuesday 11 February 2025

Meeting began 7.00 pm.

Present

John Martin - Chair

Garry Grindley

John Wilson

Tony Van Gool

Apologies

Gary Frederickson

Graham Taylor

Rose Grindley

Mel Wilson

John Gray – late arrival

Neil Webster – late arrival

Previous Minutes – 12 November 2024

Correct Euan to Tony Van Gool in attendance.

Moved as true and correct – John Martin / seconded by John Wilson

Matters Arising

CODC letter

Rose drafted and circulated letter in September 2024.

Action: Hold letter back to await outcome of Districtisation.

Clubroom use – request received from a dance group.

Swap Meet – amount raised is up on last year.

Exterior Lighting – Murray George will give a quote

Security Alarms – John Gray to arrange a quote.

Anniversary Weekend trip – cancelled due to lack of participants.

Neil Webster arrived

Treasurers Report

Mel moved accounts be accepted / Tony seconded.

Camp Quality

Great turnout. We had too many cars for the number of kids needing transport.

Clubrooms Floor

Quote of $8,900 to sand and re-polyurethane it.

Committee consider this is too expensive as is just a particle board floor.

John Gray arrived

Options: Could do the floor ourselves, could lay vinyl, could lay nylon carpet.

Committee felt not practical to do it ourselves. Vinyl would look “cheap”.

Action: John Martin will get a quote for nylon carpet and a vacuum cleaner.

Electrical Quote

Still no quote.

Action: John Gray to chase this up.

Security Quote

From Allied Alarms Ltd.

Alarm system - $3,079.78

Monitoring - $31.00 per month

Datacost - $15.00 per month

Smoke detectors - $218.00 each

There may be a discount on our insurance with this system installed. This just covers the clubrooms, not the parts shed.

Installation of above passed unanimously, with 2 smoke detectors, if under $5,000.00.

Correspondence

Nil

General Business

1. Wednesday Group need some tools, as follows;

• socket set – metric and imperial

• spanner set – metric and imperial

• De Walt impact driver (rattle gun)

• Impact sockets

• De Walt battery

Action: John Gray to circulate list of costs from SuperCheap Autos.

2. Double exterior doors into clubrooms

The locking mechanism is very flimsy. Suggest we replace the doors with aluminium, doubleglazed doors.

Action: John Gray to obtain a quote.

3 Anniversary Weekend Overnight Trip

This has been postponed due to low numbers. Committee consider this is still a good idea.

Action: John Gray to look into re-scheduling it in September.

4. Club nights during winter Roads are often icy and sometimes even close.

Action: We will bring the starting time of the meeting forward to 7.30 pm for June, July and August.

5. Sunday 16 Feb Queenstown run Neville Bryant bus – not happening. So, we will visit Michael Wyatt and then drive up Coronet Peak.

6. Hayden Paddon talk.

Action: We will cater supper. John G to send an email for numbers. Thank you gift – wine.

7. Clubrooms water stop valve – we will get a plumber to look at this and see if it can be brought upwards nearer to ground level.

8. Club newsletter – Editor needs contributions by the 25th of the month. Otherwise, the printed copies of the newsletter can not be circulated prior to clubnight.

9. Contacts database

Action: Garry and Graeme plan to update this prior to handover to a new editor in July.

10. John M and Neil attending National Exec meeting in March.

11. Membership fees – should we reduce these?

Committee members consider fees should remain the same. It would be better to enrich the experience of those members who participate in events. For example, providing supper for Hayden Paddon talk and a draw for a $50.00 petrol voucher on club runs. We will trial this idea.

12, Quiz afternoon – in April as the Sunday event.

13. Defibrillator and First Aid course

Action: John G to look into costs.

14: Publicity

Action: John G to look into writing a regular column in the Cromwell Bulletin.

Next meeting: Tuesday 6 May 2025 – 7.00 pm

Meeting closed 8.50 pm

Name badges

Graham is preparing an order for these. He gets them done in batches of 10 or so. If you need one, please talk to him.

Photos and some notes on events

I can’t get to every event, and I enjoy it when others help with contributions, We urgently need some help on this. John Gray has been doing a stirling job but we are a club not a one-man-band. This way, you will end up with a better mag that is well rounded, and better targeted to the wider membership interests. Thank you to those of you who contributed. The Editor.

LetterstoEditor/Secretary

None this month

Central Otago Vintage Car Club (Including Queenstown & Wanaka)

BuySellWantedorExchange

WANTED:

The Wednesday, “Boys in the Shed” Spare Parts guys, could do with 2 litre ice cream containers: or

I litre yoghurt plastic containers to store nuts, bolts and small parts. If you have any spare, drop these off at the clubrooms anytime, thank you.

WANTED: Bonnet side panels for a ‘K’ Series Bedford, to complete restoration. Ph Martin Withington. 021-1627051, martinwithington@gmail.com

FOR SALE

Hi guys.

Thought I'd send this through to a few of my VCC contacts.

An old school mate of mine in DUNEDIN is having to downsize to a new house, with a single garage, and he URGENTLY needs to dispose of his retirement project, that he never quite got back on to, only recently retiring, and now having a few health issues, too!

He's had this old girl stored in Central Dunedin for 40 odd years and she would make a good IRISHMAN’s car or if the final bits of restoration were completed she could join the March 2026 VERO FESTIVAL of HISTORIC MOTORING here in Nelson.

Sadly, the registration has not been kept up, but I think the paper trail will still exist.

1925 DODGE TOURER.

➢ Good hood, new hood bows,

➢ New tyres,

➢ Fully assembled, motor freely turns,

➢ Upholstery good...

➢ Complete assembled, near drive away car!

➢ Very little work required to have a very popular usable vintage!

I think she was finished in black [many years since I saw her]. My friend's new house is being built now, so he requires to sell the DODGE very urgently, before

he moves. He is open to offers around the $15 000 mark, but is negotiable for a quick sale.

PLEASE RING TONY STEVELY, 021 045 3533. And please spread the word amongst your motoring friends!

Thanks so much for your help, MIKE BRYAN. 027 223 4893

Stickers for COVCC members

Let others know which branch you belong to at events away from home. These are produced locally and are made from high quality vinyl. They are external stickers and go on the outside of the windscreen, or on the body work. They are easily removed with a hairdryer. Cost $3.00 each. (A small profit goes to our club.)

To order contact The Secretary gtml@xtra.co.nz