North Shore Vintage Car Club
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The monthly journal of the North Shore Vintage Car Club June 2022
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Editorial
Progress June 2022
Hi everyone, welcome to the June 2022 edition of Progress magazine. Activities seem to be picking up at the club although some regulars have been unable to return because of concerns over family members that may be immune-compromised. We do miss you, but fully understand your situation. A week or two after we got back from the UK, I pulled back the covers on the Bedford mudguards and was shocked to see a huge dent in the guard. Clearly an accident, but it was such a clout that someone must have realised what had happened. Unfortunately nobody has come forward and apologised …. disappointing to say the least. As part of our strategic review over the last 18 months we identified that improvements were needed in a couple of areas, namely: • Member Services: Do we do enough for members? Should we re-vamp Wednesday nights? Do we support new joiners effectively? • Community Relationships: Could we be more visible in the community? How can we attract new members? How can we attract younger (pre-retirement) members? Can we contribute and enhance the lifestyle of North Shore Residents? For a number of complex reasons I have been appointed (lumbered?) with pushing this programme forward……….. I need some help and ideas please. As usual a huge thanks to all our contributors. Stuart Battersby battersby56nz@gmail.com or 022 471 2759 In this edition: Chairman’s Report: Monthly message from Tony Sparkes. Period Special: A rare meeting of Ford Model 10 and Austin 7. How a Crosley: Became the first winner of the Sebring Race. Club Run to Couldrey House: Richard Bampton reports. News from the spares shed: David Lane tells us what to look out for. As original as it comes: The Stubbs; Essex Red and green: Photos from the national forum. Focus on the marque: Mercer, Committee Notes What’s On: Nearly a full programme!! Spring Tour: Cape Reinga here we come Club Wolseley 6/80 history: Mike Garner reveals a rarity. Supercharged Austin Seven: Pocket rocket Contacts Cover Girl this month is a 1911 Mercer Raceabout. Thanks to Bruce Skinner for suggesting we “Focus on the marque” with Mercer. 2
Chairman’s Report: Tony Sparkes May 2022
Progress June 2022
Inevitably, Covid has got to some of our members. As far as I am aware, the cases have been mild and at least two members are back at the club having isolated and recovered. The AGM is very close and we are still looking for more members to put their hands up and help on the Committee. It is not onerous and many hands make light work. I would like to mention again that next year is our 50th anniversary and it would be good to have a few people willing to put some celebration plans together. A working group is looking at decorating and upgrading the villa, including new carpets in readiness for next year. In the Spring we would like to get a few members, as we did on the windows last year, on the job to finish painting the outside of the clubrooms. Owen Sturgess has nearly finished all of the high work, so it will be easy to get the low stuff done if we get a team together. Some of the roof above the verandah needs replacing. Does anyone have any spare corrugated iron lying around?
We have been invited to join Auckland branch next month in a short run from their clubrooms to Meguiar’s Coffee and Cars at Mt Smart, followed by soup and a cuppa back at their club. That will be our June run. Our run in August will be the Daffodil Day fund raising run to Matakana. Does anyone have an idea for July? Maybe a shed visit?
Finally and on a very serious matter. On Friday 3rd June I went to the club and found that the door to restoration shed and the new 5 bay shed open, pinned back and alarms not set. The lights were on in the restoration shed and would have been a beacon to anyone passing. Luckily, I could not see any damage to anything. This is not acceptable. If you are last out of the sheds, please do not just walk away assuming someone else is going to deal with it. Please check who is going to lock up. We are all responsible for this as it is all of our work in these sheds. See you at the AGM, 15th June 7.30pm. If you wish to wear a mask, please do. Stay safe and look after yourselves. Tony Sparkes Chairman Email: 29tony66@gmail.com 3
Not one for the purists: But clearly a great improvement on a standard Austin.
Progress June 2022
Spotted for sale recently. At first this seems a little strange but actually the old Ford 10hp engine as used in the Ford Prefect (E93a and E493a) was used extensively in the 50s and 60s to power entry level racers such as this. Tuning options ran from simply replacing the 10hp head with one from an 8hp engine (thus increasing the compression). Next on the list came fitting a new inlet manifold and twin SU Carburettors. A small company, Aquaplane, popularised this enhancement by producing a high compression alloy head, twin SU manifolds and a range of aluminium weight saving components. The next step was to replace the head completely with an overhead inlet valve conversion produced by companies such as Elva, Alta or Willment. The final option was to fit a supercharger.
There’s a strange reversal in trend at the moment. Originally folks liked the Ford 1172 sidevalve engines and used them in all manner of specials (Buckler, etc) and cars such as this. Nowadays the trend is the keep the bodies of the old Prefects, Anglias and Populars and stick Rover V8s or hot Zetec engines in them. The continuing attraction of small English Fords is testament to their innovative design and reliability. 4
How a Crosley Hotshot Beat Ferrari and Jaguar: In win the first ever Sebring race.
Progress June 2022
Luigi Chinetti and Alfredo Momo looked over the Ferrari they would drive. The top drivers of the day all circulated through the pits as exhaust notes from Jaguars, Astons, and MGs rapped, roared, and rumbled. The former Hendricks Army Airfield buzzed with activity as American sports car racing's most well-known names of the time gathered for the first Sebring 24. The race was billed as America's counterpart to the Le Mans 24 Hours , each The Sebring Crosley driver and car owner as confident as the rest of their abilities to win the race. However a 1949 Crosley Hotshot way down at the back of the 28-car field, a car that had only been entered in the race a day before had an advantage the far more powerful cars ahead of it didn't: Mathematics! Alec Ulmann had taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans many times before World War II and after immigrating to the United States looked for a place to replicate the famed race. Though its surface was bumpy and better suited to the B-17 bombers that flew out of the base during the war, Ulmann decided to focus his efforts on the runways and access roads of what had become Sebring's municipal airport. His initial effort, planned for December 31, 1950, didn't have the length of Le Mans (3.5 miles versus 8.4) or the duration (six hours versus 24) but it would have a Le Mans-style running start, the blessing of the SCCA, the aforementioned drivers and owners, and an “index of performance”. At many other endurance races before and since, overall winners completed the most laps in the given amount of time. Different classes of cars might take to the track at the same time and have their own separate class winners, but the method of winning still boiled down to the same criteria of distance covered. With the “index of performance”, which set a target distance to cover based on the vehicle's engine displacement and which would be the Is this the front or rear? sole deciding factor for the overall winner of the race, Ulmann intended to level the playing field and ensure that smaller cars could compete against larger cars. The small cars ... can generally exceed their set minimum average by a wider margin than the big ones. Thus, if you are driving a 66 cu. in. machine and have to average 58 mph, it is easier to up this average by 10 mph than with a 330 cu. in. car which must average 70 mph, all pit stops included.
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How a Crosley Hotshot Beat Ferrari and Jaguar: Cont.
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Nobody at the race seemed to realize the full implications of Ulmann's decision to declare the overall winner based on the “index of performance” until Tommy Cole laid eyes on a most unusual car. Cole, who had entered a Cadillac-powered Allard J2 in that inaugural Sebring race and who had raced at Le Mans earlier that year, needed tires and called around Florida Cadillac dealerships until somebody at Vic Sharpe's Cadillac dealership in Tampa answered the phone. Sharpe also held the local Crosley franchise, and his son, Vic Sharpe Jr., volunteered to drive the tires down to Sebring in a Crosley Hotshot on the dealership lot. Almost as soon as Sharpe arrived, according to Ken Breslauer's account of that first Sebring race, Cole looked over the Hotshot, questioned Sharpe about its cast-iron overhead-camshaft 724-cubic-centimeter four-cylinder, and asked to take it around the track that Ulmann had laid out. Cole convinced Sharpe to enter the Hotshot, but because he was committed to driving the Allard and because Sharpe didn't have a racing license, they convinced two other drivers - Ralph "Bobby" Deshon and Fritz (sometimes spelled Frits) Koster to pilot the Hotshot. Deshon had also come to understand the implications of the index of performance when he realized that his supercharged MG TC wouldn't be competitive against the Ferraris entered in the race, so he readily agreed if it meant a shot at a trophy. According to Crosley engine builder Barry Seel, Cole, Deshon, and Koster quickly got to work stripping the Hotshot of its bumpers and replacing its upright windshield with a plexiglass pane sourced from a junk airplane found on the airport grounds. The Hotshot entered the race at the back of the field wearing the number 19 and started out slow, much Deshon and Koster in the winner's circle at Sebring. to the amusement of observers and other competitors, but it didn't take long for everybody involved to realize that outright speed wouldn't win the race. According to Breslauer, “as the race progressed, two Allards (with Cadillac engines) and Kimberly’s Ferrari 166 were clearly the fastest and were leading on distance, but that wasn’t how the winner was to be determined. On the handicap, the Crosley was battling for the lead with a Fiat 1100MM”. Which is not to say that Deshon and Koster didn't push the Hotshot to its limit. According to Seel, they quickly learned that they could keep the high-winding four-cylinder in its peak power band by never shifting the non-synchronized transmission out of top gear and by never touching the brakes. "They found it was best to sit up straight in the corners and let the wind resistance slow them down, then crouch down in the straights to gain speed again," Seel said. Once it gained the lead in the index of performance, the Hotshot never lost it, emerging at the end of the race as the winner. 6
How a Crosley Hotshot Beat Ferrari and Jaguar: Cont.
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According to Seel, Sharpe then drove the Hotshot back home after the race, only to find it registering about five pounds of oil pressure by the time he got home. He put it up on the lift at the dealership and found the bearings remained in good shape, but the oil pump had nearly disintegrated from the constant running at more than 7,000 rpm. After grabbing a replacement off the shelf and installing it, Sharpe had the Hotshot ready for its return to the track the next day for post-race photos. In the years following the race, Ulmann decided to rebrand the Sam Collier Memorial Grand Prix of Endurance into the 12 Hours of Sebring that debuted in March 1952, and that became the Sebring International Raceway's calling card. As for the Hotshot, Sharpe sold it to somebody in the Air Force, who was then transferred to California and who sold it to a junkyard after shearing off the bolts in the ring gear. The junkyard owner fixed it up then, sometime in the late Sixties or early Seventies, began roaming the country with the Hotshot in tow behind a Ford Econoline camper. He made stop at the annual AACA swap meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania, during his tour, which is where Seel first encountered the car. Seel, in his late teens, had already become an expert in rebuilding Crosley engines, and was so enthralled by the Hotshot - still complete with a binder of clippings about the Sebring race - that he offered to buy the car on the spot. The junkyard owner declined, but took Seel's information regardless and eventually made his way back to California, where he ensconced the Hotshot in a simple garage made of pallets and tarps. After he died in the 1990s, his family decided to sell it and found Seel's contact information still with the car. Seel bought it from the family and, after reaching out to Sharpe and Deshon, confirmed a number of details that proved the car was indeed the No. 19 Sebringwinning Hotshot. "It also helped that it still had the die cast checkered flags that were given to the winner of the race on the dash," Seel said. In addition, when Seel stripped down the engine, he found the replacement oil pump that Sharpe had installed, still wearing its parts inventory tag.
After a restoration mishap, though, Seel sold the Hotshot to Tim Freshley, a fellow Crosley Auto Club member who spent more than 600 hours just straightening the body of the car and who set up a projector to display period photos on top of the car just to get the hand-painted numbers correct. Freshley finished the concours-worthy restoration then sold the Hotshot to Bill Cunningham of Lakeland, Tennessee, who has since put it on display at the Edge Motor Museum in Memphis. The Crosley gets some TLC at the Edge Museum. 7
Annual General Meeting: And other constitutional matters
Progress June 2022
Reminder The Annual General Meeting of the North Shore Branch of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand will take place at 7.30pm prompt on Wednesday 15th June 2022. All members are kindly invited to attend. This year in addition to our usual business of considering and approving the annual reports of club officers (including Chairman and Treasurer), electing your committee for the 2022/23 season and presentation of awards, we will be considering a Notice of Motion proposing a change to our branch rules and constitution. Full details of these changes will be sent to all members in the covering email/letter with this edition of Progress. To further explain, discuss and gain feedback on the proposed changes we are organising two separate briefing sessions prior to the AGM. Planned dates for these sessions are •
June 9th (Wednesday Members Night @ 7.30pm)
•
June 10th (Thursday morning Smoko @ 10.30am)
All members are cordially invited to the above proceedings.
Ever popular Smoko discussions 8
Club Run and BBQ to Couldrey House: Richard Bampton reports and photographs
14 Club eligible cars and one P20 (11 cars entered the competitive section) left the Mason Road clubhouse after collecting the run instructions from organiser John Castle, put on their spectacles to read the incredibly small print, and set off. One car (the driver will be nameless, following the policy of this reporter, but the car was an MG) missed the Fairfield Avenue turn, nevertheless it did arrive at the final destination, and the well-spread-out convoy enjoyed scenic roads, including some gravel, through Dairy Flat, Waitoki, Weranui and Waiwera, answering a set of questions. The silent checks (they had been described to us, but turned out to be only half the size we were expecting) on Upper Waiwera Road were a different matter. Bill Duffy had been given the instruction “Don’t make them too easy.” However he obviously interpreted the directive as “Make it as difficult to see them as possible, and put some at the bottom of a ditch.” The result was that few drivers saw more than one or two, but nobody was too worried about that. The instructions were followed, including a detour to Waiwera and then on to our destination – Couldrey House, originally built in 1897, in Wenderholm Regional Park, where the huge Ford Galaxy belonging to Neil Beckenham was waiting. How did he get it in through the gates? Only, it is rumoured, by driving through balanced on two wheels. Two visiting cars were directed into the garden to join the total of 17 club vehicles. Our vehicles were on display to the public who were visiting Couldrey House, and few cars attracted more attention than Jim Masson’s ELECTRIC Fiat 850 Coupe. 9
Progress June 2022
Cars at the start
1923 Essex: Pete and Barbara Stubbs
No problems on the gravel Rob Brown’s Model A
Neil Beckenham’s Galaxy and a Packard
Club Run and BBQ to Couldrey House: Cont.
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Jim had kindly opened the front engine compartment for all to view the tiny electric motor that powers this remarkable vehicle. Well, some people believed him………………. The excellent organiser was already there, the barbeque was alight, the snorkers (we had been told that they would be ‘good quality sausages’ and they were!) were sizzling and everyone enjoyed their lunch, the cars and the opportunity to circulate and chat with friends. The house and gardens were full of people admiring the cars and visiting the house – we are indebted to the Trustees of Couldrey House for allowing us to use the garden. At the end one car (no names, but it was a Jaguar) tried to leave by the wrong gate, however no points were deducted for this minor error.
The Fiat EV… Remarkable!!
1st Place: Julie Croft and Graeme Darby, MG TF, Buick Straight Eight and Morris Minor Straight Four Waitemata Branch. 2nd Equal: Jon Cooke, MGF, Auckland and Sandra and Brian Strickland, Buick Straight 8, North Shore. 3rd Equal: Trish and Rob Brown, Ford Model A, North Shore and Lynn and Jim Hefkey, Almark TG, North Shore and Max Pople, Jaguar XJC, North Shore. The weather had been kind to us with hardly any drizzle, and we were impressed (surprised?) that the Ford Model A boys had done such a remarkable job. Thank you, John Castle and Bill Duffy for organising this enjoyable run and picnic for us.
At Couldrey
Chef and Organiser John Castle on ‘Snorkers’
John Castle’s Model A. Bonnet open to view 10
News from the Spares Shed: David Lane and team share more goodies.
Progress June 2022
We have had a good trickle of parts coming in since our last update. Work is continuing to update our stock and culling out any rubbish. Following our last newsletter, we have had several good sales from out-of-town members. We would appreciate any assistance in identifying any of our parts throughout the shed,
Standard Coventry, possibly mid 1920’s $150.00
Excellent assortment of steering wheels from $5.00
BMC Gearbox complete $150.00
especially year, make, or model. We are still looking for a packer to assist us in reorganising our Japanese parts out in the second container. Any help would be appreciated. Please present your CV to Arnold. Please remember that if you have that very special auto part at home now taking up space, we can come to some arrangement on assisting you to sell it as an on-behalf. Happy hunting. David and the Team Spares Crew.
All types of wonderful to be found in our spares shed. Forget Trade-Me, come and see what we have. 11
As original as it comes: Wonderful 1922 Essex owned by members Pete and Barbara Stubbs.
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What catches your eye when you first spy a car that you haven’t seen before? The colour? The stance? The badge? The driver? Or perhaps something like this? What’s this you say? Has someone painted an aerial shot of the Amazon Delta on their car? No, but that’s a reasonable guess. In fact this is the ‘patina’ on the door of the Stubbs’ Essex. Having spotted this I just had to walk across to look more closely. This 1922 Essex was boxed and reshipped to New Zealand for assembly in 1923. Pete tells us the Essex was nicknamed The Fast Four for obvious reasons. It could out perform just about any other vehicle of the time. Apparently the ‘Four’ had the same top speed as the ‘Six’. Under the hood is a 2.9 litre, overhead inlet, sidevalve exhaust engine that produced 55bhp at the time. In January 2014 Pete heard that Southwards Museum near Waikanae had an Essex that they had decided to sell. On first sight, Peter determined that he wanted the car AND that that finish would be left unrestored. The car had been stored at Southward since 1958 and since 1923 it had only covered just over 50,000 miles. There was plenty of mechanical work to be done to improve reliability but pleasingly only a small amount of structural work to maintain the integrity. On a final note about that paint finish it would appear that the ‘River Delta’ effect The Essex parked outside our spares shed is the result of a blue paint being applied on top of the original brown. It’s very likely that one paint was oil based and the other water-based, hence the strange reaction. Pete has a huge amount of extra documentation on the vehicle so if you see the Essex around please take time to ask him a little more about this wonderful car.
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Keeping it green: Photos from the national discussion group.
Soft-top Vauxhall Velox. Not many of these around
1925 Davis
1977 Ford F150 Austins
Rather nice Austin 1100
1947 Chevrolet 1/2 ton truck
You will notice that the common theme here is that all the vehicles are green. The group have been focussing on vehicles of different colours each week and I haven’t done an official count, but it does look as if we have more photos of green vehicles than we have had of other colours. (Reds, Blacks, Blues so far) 13
“I see red, I see red”: Photos from “RED” week in
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the National Discussion Forum.
I will leave you to name all these beauties
In fact, you may know the owner of this.
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Focus on the marque: Mercer. A rare beast indeed. Early History: There was considerable talent and backing for the Mercer Automobile Company; Ferdinand Roebling, son of John A. Roebling, was the president, and his nephew Washington A. Roebling II was the general manager. The Roeblings had extensive success with wire rope manufacturing and suspension bridge design; engineering was not a recent concept for them. The secretary-treasurer was John L. Kuser, who, with his brothers Frederick and Anthony, had amassed a fortune from banking, bottling and brewing. Washington A. Roebling II was friends with William Walter, who had been making a small number of highquality automobiles in New York City. The Kusers owned a vacant brewery in Hamilton, New Jersey, and brought Walter and his car factory there in 1906. However, Walter found himself deeply in debt by 1909, so the Roeblings and Kusers bought him out in a foreclosure sale. They changed the company name to Mercer, named after Mercer County, New Jersey. Talented designers and race drivers contributed to the new effort, and the focus became proving their product in competition.
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Driver Eddie Pullen (centre) in the Mercer Tool Room. Remarkable 1910 photograph
1911 Mercer 35R Raceabout
Type 35R Raceabout: The result was one of the most admired sports cars of the decade; the 1910 Type-35R Raceabout, a stripped-down, two-seat speedster, designed to be "safely and consistently" driven at over 70 mph (110 km/h). It was (allegedly) capable of over 90 mph (140 km/h). The Raceabout's inline 4-cylinder, 4,800cc T-head engine developed 55 horsepower at 1,650 rpm. It won five of the six 1911 races it was 1914 Mercer Model ‘O’ entered in, losing only the first Indianapolis 500. Many, many racing victories followed. The Raceabout became one of the premier automobile thoroughbreds of the era. It was highly coveted for its quality construction and exceptional handling. In the 1914 road races in Elgin, Illinois, two Raceabouts collided and wrecked. Spencer Wishart, a champion racer who always wore shirt and tie under his overalls, was killed along with the car's mechanic, John Jenter. This prompted the company to cancel its racing program. The Raceabout's designer left the company that year, and subsequent designs did not live up to the glory and appeal the Type-35R had earned. 15
Focus on the marque: Mercer: Cont.
Earlier in February 1914, Eddie Pullen, who worked at the factory from 1910, won the American Grand Prize held at Santa Monica, California, by racing for 403 miles in a Raceabout. Later that same year, Eddie also won The Corona Road Race held in Corona, California. For winning the 300-mile big car event, Pullen won $4,000 and an additional $2,000 for setting a new world road race record. His average speed of 86.5 mph (139.21 km/h) broke the record of 78.72 mph (126.69 km/h) set by Teddy Tetzlaff at Santa Monica in 1912.
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Rare 1920 Mercer Raceabout
A similar model 1913 Mercer Raceabout, known as a Model 35J, is on permanent display at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Demise: In October, 1919, after the last involved Roebling brother died (Washington A. Roebling II perished in the 1912 Titanic disaster), the company was obtained by a Wall Street firm that placed ex-Packard vice-president Emlem Hare in charge, organizing Mercer under the Hare's Motors corporate banner. Hare looked to expand, increasing Mercer's models and production, and also purchasing the Locomobile & CraneSimplex marques. Within a few years, the cost of these acquisitions and the economic recession took a financial toll on Hare's Motors. Locomobile was liquidated and purchased by Durant Motors in 1922, and Mercer produced its last vehicles in 1925, after some 5,000 had been built. An independent effort to revive the marque in 1931 resulted in only 3 vehicles being constructed and displayed.
One of the last. 1925 Mercer Series 6 Raceabout.
1931 Mercer Merrimac. On of 3 produced in an attempted revival. 16
Spring Tour: Yes! It’s back by popular demand. Paul Collins recalls last year’s postponed tour to the Winterless North
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SPRING TOUR to Kerikeri and Kaitaia 16TH TO 19TH SEPTEMBER
Planned Program: Friday 16th: Meet at NSVCC clubrooms at 8.30 am, Travel North, via Whangarei, Lunch with Northland VCC, then on to Kerikeri for the night. Saturday 17th: Morning visits, then travel on to Taipa for another visit. Continue to Kaitaia and Motels (2 nights). Evening dinner with Far North Branch members. Sunday 18th: Travel to Cape Reinga and visit lighthouse. Picnic Lunch, then return to Kaitaia for evening meal. Monday 19th: Return home, via the west coast, Rawene and Dargaville. (Some may wish to stay in Dargaville overnight as there is a lot to see there nowadays)
For entry form contact Paul Collins at Collins.electronics@xtra.co.nz Or phone 0272922204 for more details
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Spring Tour: Here are some shots from earlier Spring Tours. Make sure you don’t miss the next one!
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Upcoming Events: Please let us know if there are
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any additional events that we should be promoting here. Please drop us a note if you know of an event that might be of interest to our members. Remember that North Shore Branch events are in RED, whilst other branch and private events are in our usual blue font.
June June 9: Wednesday Members’ Night: Notice of Motion discussion. June 10: Thursday morning ‘Smoko’: Notice of Motion discussion. June 15: Branch Annual General Meeting: Wednesday Night 7.30pm June 15: Auckland Branch: Midweek Tourers: Start from The Warehouse carpark, Westgate 10am for a 10:30am departure. June 19: Triple Club Run: Meet at Auckland Branch (39 Fairfax Ave Penrose) ready to leave at 8.30am on a run to Meguiar’s Coffee and Cars at Mt Smart Stadium. Afterwards return to Auckland Clubrooms for soup and rolls. Joint run with Auckland and Waitemata branches.
July July 17: Club Run t.b.a July 20: Auckland Branch: Midweek Tourers: Start from the BP Service Centre, Southern Motorway, Drury, 10am for a 10:30am departure.
August August 21: Daffodil Day Event with Waitemata and Warkworth Branches September: 16 - 19 BRANCH SPRING TOUR to Kerikeri and Kaitaia: Contact Paul Collins at Collins.electronics@xtra.co.nz or phone 0272922204 for more details
Regular Diary Committee Meetings: Last Monday of every month, 6.30pm. Tuesday Mornings: Restoration shed open. Coffee and tea around 10 - ish. Wednesday Evenings: Club night. Coffee, tea and banter. Thursday Mornings: All sheds open. Why not come along and explore the parts shed? Fantastic experience, even if you don’t need any bits! Coffee, tea, cakes and savouries at 10.30am. The lockdowns over the past two years have taken their toll on our club runs and rallies. Any ideas/volunteers to help get things moving again will gain the eternal gratitude of the rest of club members. Can you help please? The club fully supports the latest government guidelines on Covid and your personal protection. Members are asked to ensure their own safety and respect the choices of others as we continue to fight Covid.
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Our Wolseley: Mike Garner, with some support
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from Ian Kell relates the story of our 1950 Six/Eighty. In late 2015 a local couple, Rohan and Ngarie Kelly, from Beach Haven contacted our club with an offer to donate the above vehicle. They had owned the vehicle since 1987 and had used the vehicle regularly until around 1995 when the clutch started slipping and the vehicle blew a head gasket. The vehicle was stored in their garage until sufficient funds and time became available. Shortly after the vehicle was stored Rohan hurt his back and was unable to complete the repairs. The vehicle languished in the garage for 20 years. Rohan stated that he kept it with the hope that when his back got better he would get it back on the road. His back never improved and that day never came. Retirement came in 2015 and the car was still in the garage. They had sold their house and were shifting to Turua just outside Thames. That is when our club was approached and we were given 2 days to collect the car and a trailer load of spare parts. A team of around 15 members went to Beach Haven and collected the vehicle and parts. There was not only Wolseley parts but numerous parts for Morris Minors as well. The car was taken back to the club and work on the car started in 2022. Ian Kell, a long standing member of our club contacted the Wolseley Six/Eighty club in the UK to see if they could provide more information on our vehicle. Mike Parry, the Historian for that club supplied the following information from the original factory records:The car was in a batch of 87 CKD’s despatched to NZ from Cowley on 2nd August 1949. CKD – essentially a crate of parts for local assembly at Dominion Motors in NZ. This was to avoid import taxes and to create work in NZ post the war. The batch was from chassis number 8509. (ours 8553). Ian also established that the obvious ‘Tell-Tale’ of a CKD Six/Eighty is they were unique in having a ‘bench’ front seat. All others had individual front seats. 20
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Our Wolseley: Cont.
There is only one other car surviving from this batch. Chassis number 8523. This is now in the wrecking yard at Horipito Motors. The original batches of cars were made as 3 production lines running in parallel. RHD (right hand drive) UK market. The first chassis number 501 RHD – Export market. The first car was chassis number 3501 (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the main). LHD – Export market. The first car was chassis number 6501. CKD kits started at chassis number 8501. Therefore our car is the 52nd car CKD ever crated up (8553-8501)
Restored British assembled Six/Eighty, spotted when I visited the Moretonhampstead Motor Museum on the edge of Dartmoor a few years ago.
Whilst the chassis number were allocated as above , the engine numbers were randomly allocated between the 3 lines and the CKD crates as they arrived from Cowley from the separate engine plant in Coventry some 40 miles away. The lower the engine number the older the car. The first engine number was 1001. Therefore, our car has the 855th production engine made (1881-1001).
Nice Lines. Could ours shine like that
When the body shells arrived at the assembly line from another area of the factory (pressed steel bodies) they were allocated a unique body number. The first production number was 501. Therefore, our car was the 1160th one pressed out. The car was first registered in New Zealand at Nelson on the 18th June 1950
Note the individual front seats on this Cowley assembled Six/Eighty. Our car has the NZ special touch of a Bench Seat.
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Supercharged Austin Seven: Clive Sandham gives
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some background Last month we published some photos of an Austin 7 Special in Clive’s workshop. In this piece, Clive explains how and why the car came to be in his ‘shop’. Hi Stuart. The car actually belongs to Harold Kidd! Harold asked me to rebuild the drive to the supercharger as the engineering on it left a lot to be desired and had flown apart. The car came from the estate of the late Brian Fenton of The engine bay on the Austin Seven Special. Silverdale who built it over many Just look at the size of SU Float Chamber!! years along the lines of works racers of the 1930 period. Unfortunately he died before he could prove it in competition. The supercharger came from a Isuzu engine and had been mounted like a generator, belt driven, but Brian had mounted it on a very elaborate fabricated manifold that takes the air across the bell housing to the inlet ports. He also fabricated a nicely made extractor for the exhausts. I remade the pulley mounting as it was quite out of line replacing the old tin fan pulley with a machined pulley connecting to a steel coupling to the supercharger. I then remade the drive to the water-pump replacing the rather crude O-Ring belt drive with a timing belt and pulleys and replumbed it so the water was flowing in the right direction. Finally I refitted the very large 1 3/4 SU carb and started it up. The noise and grunt the little engine put out was scary so should be a 'pocket rocket' on a track.
A more conservative Austin Seven. 22
Committee Notes: 30 May 2022
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New Members:
Graham McGregor. Barry Larman. Noted that new online membership system operational. Need to update branch procedures to support this.
Constitution review:
Feedback from review sessions means minor alterations to wording and membership notification.
Club Boundary Fence:
Damage to the fence by the lower paddock. Contractor responsible. Request to be sent. Shrubs to cover rear of 5-bay shed have been purchased.
Clubrooms upgrade:
Work is progressing on an upgrade of the clubrooms prior to the 50th anniversary next year.
NSVCC Sign:
The sign in the lower paddock has no contact details . Website address to be added.
Museum Shelving:
Work has started. Adjustable shelving systems are being investigated.
MOTAT:
Some discussion on going as MOTAT look to reduce their number of display vehicles.
Next Projects:
There was some discussion on starting work on another project versus finishing one or a number of existing projects. It was noted that the number of members working on current restorations had reduced of late.
Secretary’s Computer:
A new laptop and software has been purchased (approx $600) giving improved access to emails and new Head Office online systems.
Club Runs and Events:
Couldrey House were very happy with our visit and we have been invited to return. There is a possibility of a visit to the Devonport Tunnels. June Run will be a visit to the Auckland Branch followed by a joint run to the new Coffee and Classics at Mt Smart. Paul Collins is organising a Spring Tour in September; 3 nights taking in Cape Reinga.
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About Us
Progress June 2022
Club Address: 40 Masons Rd, Albany, 0632 Phone: 09-4792779: email: northshorevcc@gmail.com Website: www.northshorevcc.com Club Nights: Every Wednesday from 7.30pm. Restoration Shed: Every Tuesday & Thursday morning 9am - 12pm. Committee Meetings: Last Monday of the month, 7.30pm . Club Runs: Normally 12.30-1pm start, 3rd Sun. of month. Always check the ‘Upcoming events’. VERO Branch Reference Number: HO0300144 (Quoting this number when renewing your insurance gives a small commission back to the club).
Club Committee Chairman: Tony Sparkes 09-473-5872 or 027-499-5588 Secretary: Maurice Whitham 09-627-0310 or 027-296-9293 Treasurer: Ross Moon 09-426-1508 or 022 426 1508 Club Delegate: Stuart Battersby 022-471-2759
GENERAL COMMITTEE Members: John Higham 09-478-7973 Barry Thompson 09-959-0206 Peter Lloyd: 09-426-7179 or 021-298-8795 Richard Lloyd: 09-420-5048 or 027-483-2898 Mike Swanton: 09 426 0011 Arnold Van Zon: 09 473 5750 or 027 2765336 OTHER CLUB OFFICERS (Non Committee) Members’ Garage Manager: Kevin Lord 09 413 9157 Welfare Officer: Brian Bisset 09 554 1740 Librarian: Kevin Benseman 022 678 5629 Beaded Wheels Correspondent: Richard Bampton 09947 3042 Magazine Editor: Stuart Battersby: 022 471 2759 or email battersby56nz@gmail.com THE INFORMATION IN THIS MAGAZINE IS SUPPLIED AS A SERVICE TO MEMBERS. ARTICLES OF INTEREST ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND THE CLUB ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF ANY ARTICLES OR STATEMENTS HEREIN. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical without permission in writing from the copyright holder 24