Issuu

March - April 2021

Taranaki Branch Committee Chair COLIN JOHNSTON E: cajohnstoncollections@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 754 6216 Past Chair

Secretary

VERONICA OLIVER E: fordt@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 752 2149

Club Captain

Treasurer

Vacant

ROB THOMSON E: rail modelsl@xtra.co.nz Ph: 06 758 4881

Librarian

Topical Torque Editor

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

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

LES BOGNUDA JOHN MUTER MARK MASTERS MIKE HODGKINSON

Email: bognuda63@xtra.co.nz Email: megandjohnny@xtra.co.nz Email: rmmasters@xtra.co.nz Email: mike.hodgkinson@xtra.co.nz

Ph: 06 755 2810 Ph: 06 751 5554 Ph: 06 765 7544 Ph: 06 753 2721

Historian/Custodian

Name Tags Badges

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

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

Groundsman

Beaded Wheels

LES BOGNUDA

Ph: 06 755 2810

Vehicle VIN’s / VIC’s MIKE WILLIAMS

Ph: 06 754 6216

Parts Committee Ph: 06 765 4419

Mid-Week Coordinator BRYAN MORRIS

COLIN JOHNSTON

Ph: 06 272 8027

NEIL ROOK JOHN MUTER PAT STIELLER CES BUDD

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

From the Chairperson Chairman’s Chatter Hello Folks.

It was a great turnout for the Annual Waitara Mini Vin Tour held in February with twenty-seven entries. The rally route was around the eastern area and had easy written instructions but with, as it turned out a bit of reminder to always think about Cross Road and Crossroads as it tripped a few up. However, everyone turned up for a social gathering at the end of the run. Huge Congratulations to the winners Geoff and Marlene Blackbourn in their 1939 Plymouth. Well Done with the loss of no points. Our Annual Maunga Moana Rally is now very close, and I hope that many members have entered this popular rally. Organiser John Muter has been busy with final arrangements and we are all set for the 26 and 27th March. There is a lot of activity throughout the country from branches trying to catch up with their rallies that have been disrupted with the Covid lock downs. So, there is going to be clashes with dates for all events, but we will try to be aware of close branch activity and be proactive with what we organise for our members. Committee member Mike Hodgkinson has been doing a tremendous job of bringing our Constitution up to date and has sought clarification from the National Secretary in Christchurch on a couple of interpretations which have been answered and were complimentary on Mike’s work on this update. The updated Constitution should be ready to present for approval at our AGM in May. With all this beaut warm weather around our province let’s get out and about in our Vehicles and let’s get ready for our Maunga Moana rally and the big Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring coming to our Taranaki. So, Keep the passion......... Drive safely ......... Keep to the left........See you at the Maunga Moana Rally.

Cheers!

Chairman Colin

Thank You Everyone Many thanks to all 27 entrants that attended this years “The Waitara Mini Vin Tour” which was held for the 48th time at Waitara. Thank you all so much for the beaut spread of delicious food that was supplied by entrants. Thank You to Rob Thomson, Ashley and Larraine Smith, and members of my Family who have all helped out over many years of running this event. Huge Congratulations to the winners Geoff and Marlene Blackbourn who have attended many of these events and are the first-time winners. It’s just now two years to go to the big celebration of number 50. Let’s hope we are able to celebrate in style with everyone. Thank You again everyone.

Colin Johnston Organiser

On the Cover: At the start of Colin’s Mini Vin and the First and

Second placegetters Geoff & Marlene Blackbourn and Willie Wood. 3

48th “The Waitara Mini Vin Tour” 2021 Official Results... Sunday 28th February 2021.

ENTRANTS NAME

VEHICLE

Geoff & Marlene Blackbourn

1939 Plymouth

WINNER

Willie Wood

1957 Morris Minor

2ND PLACING

Leigh Buchanan & Jess Channings

1960 Morris Minor

3RD PLACING

REST OF ENTRANTS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER Ken Maul 1930 Reo Max Rutherford 2016 Toyota Ron and Margaret Ingram 1929 Dodge Victory six Bob Butchart 1925 Nash Sharyn & Danny Hurley 1972 Rover Sue and Danny Pattinson Toyota RAV Brian and Alie Bolland 1922 Willys Knight Jim Logan 1930 Ford Model A Cess Budd & Neil Rook 2008 Toyota Robert Guddop & Kaye De Barr 1961 Morris Minor Peter Ingram 1930 Model A Kevin Fabish 1929 Essex Mike Williams 1974 Triumph Toledo Patrick Stieller 1957 De Soto Toni Farquhar 1954 Buick Century Doug and Laurie Dawson 1957 Austin Healey George and Sharron Jupp 2013 Suzuki Vitara Steve and Veronica Oliver 1912 Ford Model T Ian Bleakley 2008 Toyota Corolla Bill Goble 1972 Rover B Wallis 1963 Jaguar Bryan Morris 1938 Vauxhall Graeme Asquith & Elinor Durling 1972 Mercedes 350SL Michael Kruse 1961 Wolseley

POINTS

15 10 35 45 35 70 15 20 75 10 10 45 15 65 80 75 10 10 50 20 25 40 45 10

Newsletter - March 2021

Thanks for pre-registering on the festival website - we have had a bumpy start but now our Festival organising team are full steam ahead and ready to welcome everyone to New Plymouth, Taranaki in January 2022.

Survey Results

The survey emailed to all VCC members last December provided vital information to our organising committee who were heartened to see so many VCC members committing to attending the Festival in January 2022. Festival Director Greg Terrill commented on the amount of Vintage and Post-Vintage vehicles that members are bringing, he is keen to encourage a few more Veteran owners and motorcyclists to join the party, could this be you?

Rally Programme

This has now been released and is available on the festival website. Each of the motoring days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) will start from either Devon Street East or Devon Street West and have the option of a short or a long run. On Thursday 20 January we have joined forces with local business association, Inglewood First, and are planning a street party extravaganza - more on this in our next email.

Registration

We are planning on making our registration form live in early April - for those who prefer to fill in a printed version this will be available for download from the festival website. We will be emailing the link to the registration form to everyone who has pre-registered as soon as it is live.

Accommodation

Time is marching on and we encourage all members who are planning on attending to get their accommodation booked - our two accommodation partners are Auto Lodge or Plymouth International Hotel, remember to tell them you are entering the Vero International Festival of motoring.

Coming Events MARCH SUN

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Closing date for April Topical Torque, 4 April. Please forward articles to the Editor, Jim Logan 76C South Road NP 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.

Coming Events MARCH

Local Events: 4 Committee meets at 7.30 pm 14 Klassics at Kaponga - Lions Club Charity Car Show 18 Club night 26-27 MAUNGA MOANA RALLY 2021 Other Branch Events: 6 Manawatu Ruahine Ramble 12-14 Taupo Annual Rally 14 Auckland Annual Vintage Muster 15-18 Wairarapa After National M’cycle Rally Tour 21 Waikato Ladies Rally

APRIL

Local Events: 1 Committee meets at 7.30pm 15 Club night 22 Midweek run Other Branch Events: 10 Waikato Mooloo Meander 10 Whanganui Rex Porter Memorial Rally 11 Whangarei Swap meet 15-18 Rotorua Not a Spring Tour 17 Far North Brian Parker Rally 17 Whanganui Motorcycle Trial 18 Northland Swap meet 24 North Shore Northern Raid Rally April Midweek Run, we will meet at the Cape Egmont Boating Club, end of Bayly Rd,

Pungarehu at 1.00pm for a guided tour of the Lighthouse there. Following we will visit a workshop don’t forget to bring something for afternoon tea.”

For Sale Austin 7 Ruby chassis sandblasted and painted, $100, ph 06 7522149 (mem) 7

Jay Leno’s Tips for Collecting Classic Cars Every antique-automobile enthusiast dreams about finding a long-lost car in some garage or barn. A forgotten treasure just waiting for someone -- you -- to rediscover. At least that is the dream. But it does not happen very often. I believe if you just go out looking for old cars, not for any particular model, you are more likely to find a car you want. I think all the Duesenbergs have been discovered; all the Cobras are present and accounted for, and the locations of all the C-Type Jags and the D-Type Jags are pretty much known. But there still are a lot of other exciting cars out there. If you enjoy doing the legwork -- the detective work -- you just might find something neat. It’s no different from going antiquing with your wife on a Saturday afternoon. It’s just that you’re hunting for cool cars instead of creaky old furniture and another collectible Elvis plate. You never know where you’ll stumble on an old vehicle. Take my 1941 American LaFrance fire truck. State-of-the-art for its day, it was bought new by Warner Bros. as their studio-lot truck. In the early ‘50s, Warner Bros. donated it to the City of Burbank, which kept it around for decades. One day the Burbank fire chief called me and said, “Hey, we’ve got this old fire truck. Do you want it?” Naturally, I said, “Yeah, sure.” It only had 11,000 miles on it! It had never even been plated. So I became the first registered owner and got a fairly rare V12 collector fire truck -- as a gift -- because it wasn’t worth anything to the owners. The trick is, you can’t be a snob. You’ve got to be open to the weird stuff that has an interesting story. And people love sending me letters about weird stuff. Lots of times people think these cars are really valuable. But usually the letter goes something like: “I have a very rare Emilio Pucci edition 1976 Ford Granada -- one of the few with the full wire-wheel hubcaps and white landau roof.” But every now and then, there’s something that’s a little bit more interesting. A few years back I received a letter from a woman in her 90s; she’d gotten married in a 1951 Hornet. In fact, it was the only car she and her husband had ever owned. After he died in 1996, the Hornet was parked in her garage. I went to look at it. Physically, it was fine. Mechanically, it was worn out. It had gone more than 260,000 miles. But it was all there. Every receipt was in the glove compartment. So I bought the Hornet. But really, I was buying the story more than I bought the actual car. Don’t be disappointed if what you find isn’t some rare collector piece. Let’s say you come across a ‘56 Chevy or a ‘55 Ford two-door with a three-on-the-tree and a 292-cu.-in. V8. These cars are fun to drive. They give you an experience that can’t be duplicated with today’s cars. For stuff like this you can pay anywhere from $1200 to about $5000. With a little bit of elbow grease, you have a collector car that’s a great weekend cruiser. And you never know, there may even be a little history behind it. Any car can be a collector car, if you collect it. People always say, “Buy the best car you can afford.” That’s nice ... if you’re rich. You don’t have to buy a spotless, multiple-concourswinning example to have some fun in this hobby. Just buy a driver. Or buy a wreck. A friend of mine has a Bugatti. It’s completely rotted out. You couldn’t possibly restore it. But he

bought it, and now he’s in the Bugatti Club. His car is literally a burned-out hulk. It would take a gazillion dollars to restore it. But he can say he’s got a Bugatti. He rescued it. I never really understood why people buy Harlequin romance novels. You know the ones: A lady meets a man who seems to be an innocuous guy but later turns out to be a prince. They have titles like So-and-So’s First Date, or They Met at the Market. Why does anybody read this stuff? But that’s exactly the kind of romantic relationship you can have with old cars. You see one; you pine for it; you dream about what it’ll be like when it’s fixed up. So searching for cars is like the plots in those Harlequin novels. The best advice I can give is to find the oldest garage or gas station in your town. Go talk to the owner. Ask him if he has customers who haven’t been in for a long time. Do they have an interesting car? Maybe there’s a ‘69 Bonneville or some other model like that just waiting to be discovered. If you like old things, I recommend that you talk to old guys. Seek them out. They were all young guys once. And a lot of them don’t have any family left; they just want to see the love of their life, the car they were always going to restore -- but never got around to -- go to a good home. Price is always a consideration, so don’t expect these guys to give away their pride and joy. They want a fair deal, but they certainly aren’t looking to get rich either. For a lot of these guys, it’s more about the car going to the right garage -- yours. So, ask around the local old folks’ home and talk to old folks. “Hey, didja’ ever have an old car?” They might say: “Oh yeah, the old people next door to us had an old car. Now what the hell was that?” So you go to that house and maybe there’s something cool in the garage, like a ‘49 Nash Airflyte. Maybe it’s a Hudson Hornet buried under 45 years of barn dust. Maybe it’s something equally interesting. But you have to take the initiative. There are people who’d like you to have their car. You just have to find them. BY JAY LENO OCT 1, 2009

MAUNGA MOANA RALLY 2021

Rally update: The organisation of this year’s rally is going well and will be covering the scenic East Taranaki area which I hope will be enjoyed by all. The Rally start point will be the Inglewood Club in Moa St, just opposite the Railway Station. Colin Johnston has generously donated a Panasonic Mini Stereo system as a prize in the Raffle so please buy a ticket as the winning number is still out there. I will require Marshalls for this event to help at the start and also at the check points. If you can help with this essential task, please phone me on 7515554.

Thanks,

John Muter. 9

Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring

Breaking News - Entry Fees Released We have settled on the Festival entry fee and this will be as follows. Vehicle +driver or rider $450.00* Vehicle +driver or rider and one passenger $550.00* #Extra Passengers $100.00 #Under 15 no charge 1 supporter $180.00* 2 or more supporters – per person $150.00* Festival Finale (Friday Night) per adult $70.00 Festival Finale 5 – 15 years $35.00 Festival Finale Under 5 years no charge Competitive Rally (Tuesday 18th) $20.00 *The fee includes a Festival Pack, Festival Plaque and entry to all functions and entertainment, except for meals and the Grand Finale on the Friday evening. # Additional passengers will not receive a Festival pack or Festival plaque. Note: The fee for the Festival Finale includes a meal and entertainment, but not refreshments.

Mark Masters VCC Taranaki Branch, PO Box39029, Egmont Village, 4361

Editors Report Hello Folks, here we are again, one week away from our big rally, after the postponements of last year it will be a relief to have our Maunga Moana at the time and place that we had planned for. Hoping that we will have a fine weekend for this event, the good spell of weather lately has been great for the outdoors, but as we know it will not last forever. Please have a look at the International Festival programme supplied by Mark and get your planning underway if you are intending to participate. This time next year it will be all over and there will be many stories to tell, so long as a certain pandemic does not intrude again!! It was great to get out and about for the Mini Vin on the last weekend in February, wow wasn’t it hot!! The cold refreshments after the run were most welcome and the afternoon tea was amazing. Well done Geoff and Marlene, it just proves that age is no bar to success. That’s all from me for now, hope to see you at next weekends Maunga Moana, good luck and safe motoring.

Jim Logan.

In 2022, the Vero Festival of Historic Motoring will be based in Taranaki. Mt Taranaki is the central icon for the region, dominating the view from every angle. The district deliversa wide range of visitor experiences, there'll be plenty for you to see and do before, during and after the Festival. 16 – 21 January

E reservations@autolodge.co.nz

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