Taranaki VCC - August 2019 by Vintage Car Club of New Zealand

August-September 2019

Taranaki Branch Committee Chair Chair VERONICA OLIVER E: fordt@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 752 2149 Past Chair COLIN JOHNSTON E: cajohnstoncollections@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 754 6216

Secretary RAEWYNN KRUSE E: taranaki@vcc.org.nz Ph: 06 753 9743 | M: 027 243 8565

Club Captain (Acting) Secretary John Muter E: megandjohnny@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 751 5554

Treasurer ROB THOMSON E: railmodels1@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 758 4881

Librarian BILL DURLING E: elinorandbill@hotmail.com Ph: 06 758 4244

Topical Torque Editor Secretary JIM LOGAN E: logandj49@gmail.com Ph: 06 751 0316 | M: 027 604 4821 Committee

LES BOGNUDA JOHN MUTER STEVEN OLIVER MARK MASTERS

Email: bognuda63@xtra.co.nz Email: megandjohnny@xtra.co.nz Email: fordt@xtra.co.nz Email: rmmasters@xtra.co.nz

Ph: 06 755 2810 Ph: 06 751 5554 Ph: 06 752 2149 Ph: 06 7657544

Topical Torque Editor Historian/Custodian

Name Tags Badges

ROSE COX E: roselcox7@gmail.com Ph: 06 752 2525 Mob: 027 353 9968

GEOFF BLACKBOURN E: dblackbourn@orcon.net.nz 06 752 7671

Groundsman LES BOGNUDA

Beaded Wheels COLIN JOHNSTON

Ph: 06 754 6216

Parts Committee NEIL ROOK JOHN MUTER PAT STIELLER CES BUDD

Ph: 06 758 6737 Ph: 06 751 5554 Ph: 06 754 6096 Ph: 06 758 7685

Ph: 06 755 2810

Vehicle VIN’s / VIC’s MIKE WILLIAMS Ph: 06 765 4419 Mid Week Coordinators BRYAN MORRIS Ph: 06 272 8027

From the Chairperson What a great day to head up the mountain with 48 people that made there way up with the sun shining. Colin has taken some great photos so hopefully we will see some of these. John Muter has organised to have a Driving Instructor attend Club night this month so this should be another interesting guest speaker. More details elsewhere in the mag. As we enter into the winter and the cool nights we have experienced that the room at the clubrooms can be a bit chilly. We are looking at options to try and remedy this to make it more pleasant and warmer during these chilly nights. We are still looking for a Club Captain to fill this position on the committee. We need someone that can bring some new ideas and guest speakers to the club. If you are unable to take on this position but have some ideas, I would be only to happy to talk to you so these ideas can be put into action. Some upcoming events will be the Mid week run from Stratford , then on Sunday July 28th the Breakfast run starting from Merrilands car park. We are looking at having another Posh picnic sometime in the new year but we will advise more on this later. I would like to thank Jim Logan for his time in getting the curtains in the main meeting room replaced as these were well overdue for being replaced We will not be having a Daffodil rally this year but will be doing something for the Cancer Society later in the year. We have had 3 radiators donated to the club and these will be cleaned up and displayed in the Clubrooms. Take care and Safe motoring!

Veronica Oliver

Chairperson

On the Cover: 2

Members Cars at the Stratford Mountain House

Club Captain’s Report The weather was perfect for our end of registration run for lunch at the Stratford Mountain House for 48 of our members. Many camera’s were busy taking photos of the wide range of cars and magnificent scenery of native bush and the mountain with a lot of these images being shown on Facebook. I hope the weather will be as kind for next year’s run. Don’t forget the Mid week and Breakfast runs later in July.

UPCOMING EVENTS 18 July 

Graeme Hood who is a Driving instructor on contract to the A A will be giving us a refresher course on the latest driving  regulations. 25 July The Mid week Run starting from the Orlando Street carpark,  Stratford at 1.30pm and finishing at a local café for afternoon  tea. 28 July The Breakfast Run, meeting at the Merrilands Shopping Centre, Mangorei Rd at 7.30am. Please phone me at 7515554 for   a breakfast booking. Our clubrooms will be open from 2.00pm 15 August Our guest speaker for Club Night will be Brent Woodhead  from the east Taranaki Kiwi Trust. 25 August We will be having a run starting from Inglewood to view some  car collections and finishing at the Clubrooms for afternoon   tea, further details next month. Safe Motoring

John Muter

Branch Event Reports ERIC HODGES - Obituary I Joined the VCC on October 6 1961 at the first Branch Club night. The chairman of this first meeting was Batch Collins. Also at the meeting was a young chap who owned a 1927 Model T Tourer. This was the first time that I met Eric Hodges. We got on pretty well and that was the start of a friendship that would last for just on 58 years. Eric came to our farm at Eltham to see my two Model T’s and as he had a mobile car but no one to navigate I offered to go to the next rally with him as his navigator. We attended several rallies at Whanganui, Manawatu, Hawkes Bay and also our Maunga Moana’s over the next few years in Eric’s Model T until I got my Buick on the road in 1967. Eric was always a willing helper at working bee’s at our clubrooms or attending Christmas parades and School Jubilee’s in his Model T. About 1966 he obtained a 1929 Studebaker Sports Coupe which he then proceeded to restore. This restoration was completed by about 1990 and finished to his usual high standard. Eric will be remembered by many of our older members and the sympathy of all our members go out to his family. Des H Cornwall

From the Editor Thoroughly enjoyed the run up to the Mountain House, fine weather, good company and good food made for a successful outing. I hope the weather is as kind for our Breakfast Run in a couple of weeks. Thanks to Kevin Fabish for an interesting history of his Essex also to Colin Johnston for pictures in this months mag and Des Cornwall for his memories of Eric Hodges. Despite the current spell of winter weather , we will still get the occasional opportunity to get out and about in our cars, so hope to see you at the midweek run from Stratford on 25 July.

Jim

Editor

Another Essex Saved By Kevin Fabish I am an Essex coupe, green with black mudguards. I was born in the USA in 1928, then was sent to NZ to be sold. I ended up in Pahiatua with a company called HJ J ONES & Co at that time [our president Alistair Jones 'grandfather I believe] who were the Essex dealers. On the 22 December 1928 I was sold to Mr Harry Beales from Pahiatua he owned me and looked after me for 20 years. I'm not sure how many miles he put on my clock as the mileage was not recorded on the paperwork. Then on 26 March 1949 were sold to Mrs Edith Buxton of Pahiatua. Edith drove me around for the next 20 years and also looked after me my odometer then was 52955 miles. Then my next owner was Reginald Meror who was also from Pahiatua. Reginald didn't own me for long and sold me to Robert Sutherland of Palmerston North -the mileage then was 53000. So I have spent my first 42 years in Pahiatua. Robert also didn't own me for long and sold me to Gordon Hudson also from Palmerston North. Gordon took me out of the shed for a couple of short runs, soon after we shifted to new Plymouth.so I had a new home in Taranaki. There I was parked in a shed, lifted up on stands, new oil put in and water drained from my radiator. The shed was nailed up and left for the next 43 years. Finally after 43 years as a tenant of one of the houses nearby, a mate went for a look around an old shed out the back which was covered in creeper, he opened the door and here was this vintage car sitting on blocks. That mate was Kevin Fabish's nephew. He recognised that it was an Essex, the same make of car his uncle had, so took a few photo's to show me. As soon as I saw the photo's i could see that it was a 1928 Essex Coupe. After 43 years parked up it was covered in dust and rubbish all around the car. While cleaning the rubbish away I noticed a small rust hole on the side where water had been running in from rusty iron on the shed roof (a very easy fix I thought). After a quick inspection of the inside I noticed that the hood lining and seats were original and in very good condition.. A speedo check revealed 52500 miles. Having seen all this I had to find the owner. I put my detective skills to work and after a lot of phone calls and days I finally made a break through and had the name of the owner, Gordon Hudson. continued page 8 5

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Closing date for SEPTEMBER Topical Torque IS 10 AUGUST. Please forward articles to the Editor, Jim Logan 76C South Road N P 4310-or email to logandj49@gmail.com This magazine is also available by e-mail as a PDF file. If you would prefer to receive a copy this way please contact the Editor. Pictures are usually in colour. Views and opinions expressed in Topical Torque are those of contributors and not necessarily those of the Taranaki Branch of the V C C of N Z, the Branch Executive or the Editor. Clubrooms: 1040 Mountain Road - SH 3A Inglewood. 6

Coming Events AUGUST Local Events 1 Committee meets at 7.30pm, Clubrooms 15 Club Night from 7.30pm

Other Branch Events 16—17 West Coast National A G M 25 National Daffodil Rally for Cancer

SEPTEMBER Local Events 5 Committee meets at 7.30pm, Clubrooms 19 Club Night from 7.30pm

Other Branch Events 14 Manawatu Vintage Rally 24-29 Auckland North Cape to Bluff Tour

continued from page 5 I rang and talked to the owner who told me he had bought the car when he was living in Palmerston North in 1975. While he was taking the car for a drive it ran a bearing at Waiototara, but instead of towing it back to P North he sent it to the garage there to be fixed where they reconditioned the motor, putting in bearing shells. A lot of money was spent on it. After that the car was never driven and shortly after was taken to New Plymouth and put in the shed.. Next question, will you sell. There were a few um's and ar's, then silence for a while - as long as it wasn't going to be made into a hot rod, yes was the answer. So I invited him to come and view my Essex collection. Once he saw my cars he knew I was no hotrodder so we agreed on a price and he gave me the keys, ownership papers and some old photo's of the car when he first got it. So I have the full history of the car from the first day it was sold back on the 22nd December 1928. The following Saturday it was back to the shed to pick up the car. I had to pump the tyres up and lower it to the ground, push it from the shed and onto the trailer. All the brakes worked okay so with it tied down we were heading home. After getting home I tried to turn the motor over but it had two stuck valves so off came the head, some good old CRC and a couple of taps on valves later she was away. Next was the sump and off it came. Everything was spotless there, new oil in the sump, etc, clean as a whistle. So I put it all back together and gave the car a good polish, even the paintwork came up shiny. While the car is not quite on the road yeti hope that day is not too far away.

Kevin

We have received a request from an Australian enthusiast for the loan of a vehicle to enter in the 2021 Vero Rally. If anyone could help in this regard please contact Raewyn for more information.

ZERO FUTURE FOR CLASSIC MOTORING? Climate Change Minister James Shaw dreams that within half a lifetime 95 per cent of our vehicle fleet will be electric powered. If his vision is to be achieved Kiwi vehicle enthusiasts would become as rare as the Kakapo. So with our species so seriously threatened the FOMC joined the more than 14,000 organisations and individuals who responded to the Minister’s call for advice on how New Zealand might reduce its carbon emissions. While acknowledging many of our members may welcome the benefits of a lowemissions economy we also don’t want any strategies implemented to have a needlessly negative impact on a large and valuable constituent of the existing economy. New Zealand’s heritage transport fleet comprises a multibillion dollar asset. The total value of the accumulated heritage collections of just the FOMC’s membership can be conservatively estimated at somewhere in excess of $5 billion. And there are hundreds of other recreational motoring clubs not yet members of the FOMC, as well as thousands of individual enthusiasts and collectors. Unlike New Zealand’s historic buildings, films, art, technology etc. much of our largely irreplaceable transport heritage is being stored and preserved almost entirely by private owners at no cost to the State or impost on the community. If all those cherished vehicles effectively became obsolete, unusable and perhaps largely valueless as a result of any legislated curtailment of our current access to fossil fuels or viable alternatives the FOMC would want provision made in the proposed legislation to compensate the owners for the losses suffered. A comprehensive survey by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs found the contribution heritage motoring makes to their economy exceeds $10 billion annually and had grown almost 28 per cent in the previous five years. It provides jobs for 35,000 people and generates more than NZ$1 billion in overseas revenue. While similar data is not available here many successful firms rely on the repair or restoration of New Zealand’s fleet of heritage vehicles to provide jobs for thousands of skilled and valued workers. And beyond the bounds of the restoration industry there are also a vast number of other commercial operators such as magazine publishers, holiday resort owners and restaurateurs who depend on the steady flow of business from motoring enthusiasts to maintain their viability. How all those hundreds of firms and thousands of workers directly dependent on the heritage motoring industry will be compensated for the loss of their previously active role in the economy would need to be addressed in any proposed legislation. continued page 10 9

continued from page 9 To achieve net zero carbon emissions converting New Zealand’s vehicle fleet to 95 per cent electric is the proposed goal in the discussion documents. But various research studies have shown lithium ion batteries are also a major source of CO2. Just the manufacturing of the 100kWh battery for a Tesla creates 17.5 tonnes of CO2 or more than would be produced by an average New Zealand petrol-fuelled vehicle being driven for nearly 100,000kms or approximately eight years. If the useful life of lithium ion batteries continues to be only two to three years, requiring private vehicle owners to replace their Suzuki Swifts or Toyota Corollas or cherished classics with Nissan Leafs or Teslas could effectively more than double the actual CO2 emissions generated by many of those vehicle users. Electric vehicle manufacturing technology still requires significant further development before affordable batteries of adequate capacity for longer distances are widely available. Until then, in many instances, any legislated form of enforced conversion to electric vehicles could have the unintended effect of significantly increasing worldwide CO2 emissions. Despite the determination of our Climate Change Minister the apparent impracticality of replacing the nearly four million internal combustion vehicles in the New Zealand fleet with electric-powered alternatives by 2050 would seem to be insurmountable. With around 12,000 electric vehicles on the road to date and new or used fossil-fuelled imports being introduced at around 300,000 a year it would take a much greater economic upheaval than has even been outlined in the discussion documents to achieve anywhere near the net zero carbon target by 2050.

By Roy Hughes, FOMC Submissions Secretary (WHEEL TORQUE – FEBRUARY—MARCH 2019)

End of Registration Run Stratford Mountain House, June 2019 Photos C Johnston 11

For Sale / Swap Chair 1923 Darracq DC Tourer

Chair

Owned for 40+ years, currently Rego’d and WOF’d, runs well. Ph John 751 5554

Original paint and upholstery. Low milage and runs well. This would be a great rally car Ph John 06 7515554

1993 Nissan Sentra 5 Speed Manual Model, 83,000 kms One owner in as new condi on. $2700, ph Neil 06 7586737 (member)

The Parts Shed Two 4.00x8" 4 Stud Rims and Tyres $20 Three Mini rims and tyres, 2 in reasonable condition $30

Chair

1936 Aus n 6

Parts for Sale

A large collection of new parts - ring sets, pistons, gasket sets, water pumps, brake shoes etc. Will sell as a bulk lot or for individual makes & models. John 751 5554

Chair

The Parts Shed

Lincoln Commodore battery operated Transmitter and Handpiece - a collectors item. $30 ono Cardboard Bin Boxes 10 cents each.

1962 Morris 4 Door Engine reconditioned, paint and upholstery need attention. $1300 phone Greg Oliver 07 544 1003

Wanted to Buy 1938 ASX Vauxhall Sedan Key/Light Switch which has built in regulator two headlight top bottoms - either with Vauxhall or Lucas. Ph David 03 541 8019

The Taranaki Vintage Car Club does not take any responsibility for claims made in rela on to condi on or performance of items appearing in these classiﬁed pages.