SIDE CURTAINS
SIDE CURTAINS The magazine of the
ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
FEBRUARY 2021
WE ARE ON FACEBOOK ! www.rvvcc.org.nz
DECEMBER HIGH-TEA RUN
SIDE CURTAINS - February 2021 The magazine of the ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
Clubrooms: Neil Hunt Park, Tarawera Rd, Rotorua Postal: PO Box 2014, Rotorua Email: rotorua@vcc.org.nz Website: www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz Vero Insurance: Phone 0800 658 411 and quote your VCC membership number Club Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of month (except January), 7.15pm for 7.30pm start OFFICERS
Chairperson - David Tomlinson Secretary - Dennis Whimp 021 731 678 Treasurer - Terry Fitzpatrick Club Captain Terry Wadsworth Asst. Club Captain Fleur Tomlinson Committee Bob Mackay Ronald Mayes Kevin Scott Lois Thompson Neville Harper
CONTENTS Chairman’s Report
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From The Secretary
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Pride Before A Fall
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December Car In The Room 10 Coming Events
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Mid Weekers - Bob Mackay Side Curtains Editor - David Tomlinson rvvcc.editor@gmail.com Beaded Wheels - Ronald Mayes Librarian - Dennis Kenny Asst Librarian - Ronald Mayes Asst Librarian - Roger Couchman Cards/Flowers - Doreen Green
Cover Photos Front - 1926 Delage, Lakefront Carshow Back - Lakefront Car Show 2021
CLUB CAR PHOTOS
If you want your club car photo on the clubroom wall then get in touch with Doug Green, and he will organise a time and place for a photo shoot. It would be good if we could have all member’s car photos on display. Side Curtains February 2021
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Chairman’s Report
- December 2020 by David Tomlinson
December’s club night saw me bring in my 1977 Mercedes-Benz roadster at short notice as the car in the room, and we finished our year’s activities off on the following Sunday with the High Tea run which meandered around the western side of Rotorua and finished with a fairly substantial repast at Terry Wadsworth’s home. Thank you to Lois, Dorothy, Terry and Shelley, and all the other helpers that made this a wonderful day out. We can thankfully now say “goodbye” to 2020, probably one of the worst years in modern history, maybe since the end of WW2 in 1945. Although here in New Zealand we have not had to suffer to the extremes felt in other countries, our lives were disrupted, many lost jobs or part of their income, and even our branch had to cancel some key events as well as club nights and monthly runs. We did our best to put the Swap Meet on at a later date, but the “second outbreak” in Auckland meant it was too difficult to proceed with certainty. The Sulphur City Rally did not happen either in 2020. We are now in a new year, and our branch’s activities started off well with the Lakefront Car Show. Despite a very good weather forecast right up until the day, we started off in misty drizzle which did not clear until mid-morning. I understand that parts of the Waikato and Bay Of Plenty had quite heavy rain all morning, which impacted the number of cars on display. It was very noticeable that open top cars were far and few between. We did get over 400 cars on the lawn, so while slightly down on last year, it was still more than any other previous year. 2
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Cars in display included a 1926 Delage from Tauranga, a host of Hummers, Rolls-Royces and a Corvette from Hamilton with colourful paintwork (to say the least...), some steampunk style motorbikes, and good turn outs from many car clubs. Clubs displaying many cars included the Rotorua and Tauranga Mini clubs, Ford Zephyr & Zodiac club, Jaguar Drivers Club, and a few smaller groups from clubs who regularly attend. It was good to see many branch members’ cars on display, including the Dorrington’s pink Morrie. This year I managed to get 7 cars to the domain, I was able to park 3 cars overnight next to the neighbouring circus who were very good neighbours, and had help from a neighbour getting the other 4 there early. Thank you to Terry, Shelley and Dennis, who along with my neighbour saw me get all cars back in the garage in two runs all in less than 40 minutes. We had many visitors looking at the cars, and even had a brief appearance on the lawn from one of the Duck amphibians. We raised $1500 for St Johns Rotorua, and they took additional donations and sold a number of items while there, so I hope they will be able to use the proceeds well. They had six vehicles on display, including the older Dodge and Bedford ambulances they bring along each year. The most pleasing aspect was the number of inquiries about joining the branch on the day, certainly more than I recall in recent years. Hopefully a few of those inquiring will attend our first club night for 2021 and we will make them feel welcome. Our first club night will be Wednesday, 10th of February, and our first car in the room for the year will be Jim Maud’s 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500SL roadster. Our March club night will feature Neville and Carol Harper’s newly complied Studebaker Golden Hawk. If any member would like to display a car or Side Curtains February 2021
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motorbike in the room during the rest of 2021, please let Neville Harper know. We are keen to see many vehicles over the course of the year. Our first run for 2021 is the BBQ Run, which has been set back a week from our normal day due to clashes with the Motorama in Morrinsville and the Ellerslie Concours event. Fleur and I will be taking a car up to Ellerslie to display with the R-R & Bentley Club. Displays at the Concours have always been limited to clubs, but this year they are bring in a new “class” for competition, called 50/50/50. Any individual can bring a car along, they don’t have to belong to a club, but the owner and the car must be under 50 years old, and the car must be worth less than $50K. Judging for this new event will focus more on the presentation and condition of the vehicle, rather than originality. It will be interesting to see how many cars take part. In March the huge Brit-Euro show will be on the first weekend at Howick, Auckland, and over 1200 cars are registered already. Fleur and I are taking Alex up to this, and will be displaying two cars. This is also principally a club event, we will be displaying with two different clubs on the day, but there is an “individuals” area too. I believe one or two VCC branches are displaying. This really is one of the best shows in New Zealand, but is limited to British and European cars, although there is some tolerance for Leyland P76s, and every year a very old Datsun Fairlady from the early 1960s seems to be allowed to sneak in. There are big displays from Supercar marques like Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, Porsche and others. Fleur and I will be travelling on the following weekend too so March’s Chairman’s Run will also be set back a week later than usual. April has the Night Run, and Marcus and Nathalie will be putting on our May club run, so there is plenty to do in 2021. 4
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FROM THE SECRETARY by Dennis Whimp What a great day the Car Show was. We had a number of enquiries about joining the branch. They were all keen and I handed out membership forms along with copies of our December Side Curtains. A number of cars changed hands including some of our member’s ones. It is amazing how many times when you make complimentary comments about a vehicle and then ask the owner if their cars are for sale, they reply yes and the price asked is not exorbitant. For those car owners who want a VCCNZ Vehicle Identity Card (VIC) /Authenticity Statement, the form was updated in Nov 2020. As well as the Photos of the vehicle, it is now required to provide photos for all identifying serial numberschassis/frame, engine, body and VIN. This has caused problems in the past as for 1930s Ford Model A and B cars, the chassis number is sometimes stamped on the top left hand rail before the body went on. To check it, you had to remove the body and valance. But Ford stated that the car number was the engine number, and only some chassis were stamped with the engine number. It was something to do with the high number of vehicle thefts in the USA at the time. We have received from St John Ambulance Rotorua a certificate of appreciation for the donations from the January 2020 car show (last year’s show). Apparently the late Side Curtains February 2021
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acknowledgement was a casualty of the Covid lockdown. The Rotorua Tractor and Machinery Club are having their public working day at the corner of SH5 and Oturoa Road, Mamaku on Sunday February the 28th starting at 10 am. It is also a swap meet for all your tractor bits. Each year we provide 3 or 4 helpers to assist with parking. They have again requested assistance. In the past we have been there at 9am to around 11.30am. If you can help, please ring or text me on 021 731 678. Annette Munro has donated to the club a number of scrap books from the early days of the 1970s plus various books. I will put them out for club night. We also have been given from a non-member an Autoserve Service Book that was rescued from a skip. It covers most of the makes of cars that were available in NZ during the period 1954 to 1958.
John Peters took this photo of an International Harvester Mogul 8-16Hp tractor at the “Farming Like Grandad� show in Kawerau, January
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LAKEFRONT CAR SHOW 2021
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PRIDE BEFORE A FALL
by Ronald Mayes
In October 2020 I celebrated 200000 miles and 47 years of ownership of my 1970 Triumph 2000, seeing 32050 on the odometer for the third time. In December, just before our posh picnic run, an annoying rattle developed somewhere in the dashboard assembly. It occurred only on coarse-chip sealed roads (and there are plenty of those around Rotorua.) I thought it was coming from the left hand side, Gloria thought the right and a mechanic friend said somewhere in the centre.
I commenced trying to track it down by removing all the junk accumulated in the glovebox and parcel shelves, then one part at a time: glovebox lid, glovebox, left parcel shelf, centre vent and clock panel, instrument panel (just pulled out free of its mountings), centre console panels and radio, and right parcel shelf and trying the car out on the road, with no luck - the rattle persisted. 8
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In the end I decided to take the car to my friendly WoF garage to see if the lads there could identify the problem On the way I noticed the rear vision mirror had a slight vibration. I touched the dipping mechanism handle, which felt a little loose, and the rattle stopped! A replacement mirror from my spares shed cured the fault. Sounds can travel strange courses in cars! The hardest part was refitting all the glovebox, parcel shelves and radio, which took some time, and I still have the odd screw and washer left over. After all that I was undecided whether to give the car a damned good thrashing (as did Basil Fawlty when his 1300 would not start) or pat it on its bonnet and take it for an enjoyable drive. I chose the latter. John Peters’ photo of an International Harvester Titan 20Hp tractor at the “Farming Like Grandad” show in Kawerau, January
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December Car In The Room - 1977 Mercedes-Benz 350SL by David Tomlinson
At short notice I brought my 1977 Mercedes-Benz 350SL to December’s club night. This model replaced the “Pagoda” type roadster in 1971, and was in production until 1989. Introduced as a roadster, it was also manufactured as a hardtop coupe. This car has a 3.5L V8, during the production run they also made six cylinder models and ended in 1989 with a 5.6L V8. Mercedes-Benz models like this with the big logo in the front grille do not have the upright badge fitted to the bonnet. The soft top on these cars folds away under a fiberglass panel behind the rear seat, but does take some effort and a tool to put it up and down. I also have a hard top for the car which is a 2 person job to put on and take off. This example was sold new in the UK and came to NZ in 1985. It has a 3 speed auto, power steering and power brakes. The alloy wheels are correct for the car, but I fitted these and I still have the original steel wheels with matching green hubcaps. Fleur and Kate have used this car on a Sulphur City Rally.
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CLUB NIGHT - February 10th Neil Hunt Park - 7.30pm Car In The Room: 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500SL Followed by tea, coffee and biscuits.
BBQ Run
Sunday, February 21st - 2.00pm Be at the club rooms by 2pm, first car away at 2.30pm but slower cars may leave earlier. A BBQ dinner will be held at the conclusion of the run costing $5 per head. BYO drinks. The run will be around 125km all on sealed roads (notwithstanding any roadworks!).
Midweek Picnic Run
by Bob Mackay
Wednesday 24th February
Meet at the clubrooms at 10am for morning tea. Following morning tea we will tour some country roads before we arrive at a lake side reserve for a picnic lunch. If the weather is unsuitable for a lake side picnic there is a ‘plan B’ so still come along with your picnic lunch. The ‘Tour’ will replace the March midweek run so this is the last run until April. The ‘Tour’ starts on Sunday 14th March and finishes Friday 19th. If any one who has not booked and still wishes to join us please contact me for details. Side Curtains February 2021
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www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz The branch website aims to meet the needs of our members, to promote our branch nationally, and to potential new members. If you have any suggestions please contact David Tomlinson. Please also make sure you “Like” our Facebook page to keep up to date.
Contributions to Side Curtains This is your magazine! Please feel free to share anything you think might be of interest to the membership by sending it to the editor, preferably by email, and a picture says a thousand words, so include photos where possible. Members taking part in club runs or events hosted by other branches are encouraged to pen a short piece about their experience to include in the next issue going to print. All items to the editor by the end of the month. 12
Side Curtains February 2021
LAKEFRONT CAR SHOW 2021
LAKEFRONT CAR SHOW 2021