The
Po Box 2168, Kopeopeo, Whakatane 3159
Email: easternbayofplenty@vcc.org.nz
Driving
April 2023
Running Board
Harry and Gay Sutcliffe’s Wolseley 1300 at the Putaruru Wood Museum
Club Night: Last Thursday of the Month (except December) at Whakatane Athletic Clubrooms, Short Street, Whakatane 7.00 pm Social get-together
Branch Meeting starts at 7.30 pm
Followed by Supper
Chairman’s Report:
On a National Level:
Although we weren’t able to send a Delegate to the March Executive Meeting in Christchurch, there are a few items of interest I have been able to source.
Neil Beckenham is the new Registrar and he was very helpful to me in arranging a VIC and an Authenticity Statement and a Lighting Endorsement for a 1938 Ford V8 Tourer recently imported from the USA by a non-member. This car was manufactured with no indicators, so for compliance the owner had to have a Vintage Car Club Authenticity Statement. Although the process took a while, we now have another Post Vintage Car on the road.
The VCC National Day still supporting the Cancer Society will be held on Sunday 20th August the same week as the Cancer Society advertising
It seems that some Members of the Executive/Management Committee will not be standing for re-election this coming AGM, it will be sad to see so much experience going from our Executive, but I am sure there are good people out there who will take up the challenge and fill these roles.
The bid for the 2027 International Rally has been received from 3 Branches, Nelson, Hawke’s Bay and Waikato, I don’t know when a decision will be made but it would be great if it was close to home.
I guess in time we will get a full report from Head Office.
Now on a local level:
Our Branch’s AGM is coming up in a couple of month’s time (Nomination Forms are on page 17 in this issue of the Running Board). So think about taking a role on the Committee, we have not had a Club Captain for a few years, I know we get by with some Members taking up various positions within the Club Captain’s role, but it would be nice to have a Club Captain elected this year.
I will be stepping down at this AGM from my positions of Chairman and VIC Co-ordinator. I have been in these positions for a number of years, so we need new blood and new ideas.
What did we do this last month:
Saturday 11th of March our Club Run was to Pukehina Surf & Sand Car Show Day, a great day out with hundreds of cars on show with quite a few motorbikes and other displays. 7 of our Branch cars attended along with a couple of moderns.
On Wednesday 15th Harry and Gay took us to Tokoroa for lunch at a Cafe, a nice big cafe with plenty of choices at a fair price and friendly staff. After lunch we headed for Putaruru to the Timber Museum, an interesting place with plenty to see, not only timber related, they are building a miniature train room, a taxidermy display with a big range of birds and animals and lots of photo’s and history of the area. We spent quite a bit of time there, but we could have spent more but of course the time was marching on. Continued next page .2.
At Rotorua on the way to Tokoroa one of the cars failed to proceed with a problem that couldn’t be solved, so the car was left at Rotorua and on our return fortunately the car was still there and the problem was solved pretty quickly with a gallon on petrol from BP, those pesky unreliable petrol gauges! 15 Members with 8 cars (including the broken down one) taking part. A good day out, thanks Harry and Gay.
On Saturday 25th Gail and I went to the Beach Hop at Whangamata, we left at 6 in the morning and got home just after 10pm, a bit tired and me with a bit of sunburn, but both happy after a great day out. So many vehicles of all sorts and so many people. Read Bruce’s story on the 50,000 dollar prize on page 12 & 13. Drive Safe . . . . Les
A warm welcome to new Members:
Andrew and Patricia Peers-Adams with a BMW Motorbike Graeme Lee with a 1968 Wolseley
Members at the March Club Run to the Pukehina Car Show Saturday 11th
Simon & Annie Cherrington ’39 Ford V8
Bruce & Lorraine Seddon Singer Roadster
Bevan, Elliot & Charlie Lange Chrysler Valiant
Peter & Rosalie Donovan Daimler
Noel & Lois Davies Ford Falcon
Steve & Joy Growden Triumph 2500
Les & Gail Costar Ford Capri
Trevor Marshall Modern
John Lamont Modern
Noel & Lois Davies’ Ford Falcon a hotrod Bruce & Lorraine Seddon’s Singer Simon & Annie Cherrington’s ’39 Ford V8 Deluxe .3.
Bevan, Elliot and Charlie Lange’s Chrysler Valiant
Steve & Joy Growden’s Triumph a Triumph GT6 Les & Gail Costar’s Ford Capri
Mid-week run to Tokoroa and the Putaruru Timber Museum Wednesday 15th March
Harry & Gay Sutcliffe Wolseley 1300 Trevor Marshall Mitsubishi
Steve & Joy Growden Ford Cortina Les & Gail Costar MGB Roadster
Alan & Lorraine Stock Datsun 280ZX Barry & Tessa Keene MGB Roadster
John Lamont & Mary Modern with Trevor in the back seat from Rotorua
Re-group stop at Rotorua - Trevor’s Mitsubishi
I wonder where the rubber-band has gone! Some of the cars at the Timber Museum Stock’s Datsun 280ZX Costar’s MGB Roadster Growden’s Ford Cortina .5.
Les, Alan and Trevor by the “Chev with two fronts”
Timber Sash Gangsaw
Another Sash Gangsaw Machine
The Traction Engine
The Bulldozer .7.
Pukehina Surf & Sand Car Show Day 2023
By Bruce SeddonThis car show was tagged as our March Club Run, so from a gathering point in Matata a number of club cars drove past Pikowai where the Seddons joined the line-up and drove along Old Coach Road to Pukehina School . The Singer Roadster as the oldest and slowest was encouraged to set the pace and was able to lead our group in through the school gate before the school bell rang for late arrivals.
Costar’s Ford Capri, Growden’s Triumph 2500TC, and Donovan’s Daimler Sovereign were directed left to the post 1970’s section while Seddon’s Singer Roadster, Davies’ Ford Falcon and Lange’s Valiant were sent right to the pre 1970 section. This was an interesting division to group the vehicles for viewing. The show’s location had been switched from the original beach location to the school because of damp ground at the beach site. This was probably fortunate as the show attracted more entrants than anticipated and show parking ended up being fairly tight. Club members gathered under the trees and the gazebo where we sheltered from the sunshine and ate lunch after viewing a great variety of cars on show.
A good number of stalls with “stuff” for sale and food and drink vendors were strategically placed to compliment the car show, which was also joined by 20 or 30 motorbikes , so it was not just for cars.
A drag car fired up to rattle the ear drums and Shorty of Eastern Bay Towing arrived with his custom tow truck just in case the Seddons need help getting back home. Marked on this hot rod truck’s dash are the gear selector positions – R for Reverse, N- for Neutral, and SKID – for going forward I assume.
Sunny day, plenty of cars to see, good friends to talk to, a good cause to support – another great club day out.
All Ford Day 2023
By Bruce Seddon
We drove the Ford Thunderbird over to Wharepai Domain in Tauranga for the All Ford Day car show on the first Sunday in March. There were 320 – 350 cars on display and this year there was a wide range of Ford models ( + an early 60’s Saab). There was a four seater (3 door) Model T in all its brass glory, plus a few T-bucket hot rods. There were several very well presented Model A’s, and then a couple of crazy runabouts or speedsters which would be cool to harass the normal with.
As usual there was a strong line-up of Mustangs, but it felt like there was a greater mixture of other Ford models than in previous years. Zephyrs Mark 1,2,3 and 4 were present, all the Cortina models were present, Escorts both sedans and vans, Falcons and Fairmonts. I can’t recall seeing a Consul 315, but there were Mark 1 and Mark 2 Consuls. It was good to see the basic Ford models that we grew up with in the 1950’s – 70’s.
Then of course there were all the American Fords which have been imported in the last 20 – 30 years. Particularly impressive were some of the 1950’s and 60’s convertibles some of which have more hydraulics and electrical relays than a top of line digger to raise and lower their roofs. A Ford Sunliner and an immaculate Thunderbird were the most impressive displays of the art of powered roof movement.
It was a pretty laid back day with plenty of spot prizes for entrants and the Waipuna Hospice will have benefited from the entry and gate fees.
Bruce & Lorraine 1930 Ford Model A Racer – I told Lorraine this would be her next car! .10.Any photo’s or articles from Members for the Running Board are much appreciated. How about writing a small story or sending photos of a Club Run or event you have attended Thanks to Bruce Seddon for his articles and photo’s of the Pukehina Car Show, the All Ford Day and Beach Hop
1965 Ford Thunderbird Convertible
1932 Ford V8 Bruce
Beach Hop 2023
By Bruce SeddonBeach Hop at Whangamata just keeps on dragging in massive crowds year after year even through the disruptions in scheduling caused by COVID-19 in the last 4 years. This year, massive road damage following the weather events experienced as part of this year’s “summer” threatened more disruption. In the last few weeks Beach Hop organisers consulted with local authorities, NZTA, police and the weather gods and got the go-ahead to proceed.
We don’t buy Beach Hop event tickets, we simply attend to watch and listen each year. The caravan was loaded and dragged to Whangamata with the road between Waihi and Whangamata being fairly quiet when we travelled through in the middle of the day. The caravan was abandoned in a friendly driveway and we walked into town to acclimatize to street crowds and the rumbling of V8’s cruising the drag (Port Road). That evening was time for a catch-up with John & Sylvia Sisson (Chev pickup) and Kerry & Mary Williamson (Valiant Dart convertible) who both had full event tickets so had spent the day on the road around to Thames and Tairua. Once it was dark it was back into town to smell petrol being burnt and engines being kept hot.
On Friday I grabbed some chairs and headed down to the roundabout at the corner of Hetherington and Martyn Roads (opposite the Chevy House) to watch the parade of cars driving out to Onemana Beach. It’s a good spot where many of the loud boys (and gals) put on a performance through the bump of the intersection to make some extra noise and lose a little traction. That was good for the whole morning while Lorraine checked out the Port Road commercial scene. We spent time in the afternoon at the Classic Caravan Show at the Whangamata School grounds. There are many well restored classic caravans on show now and they have some innovative features to bring new life to those beauties we enjoyed in our younger days when we had real summers. Remember those days at the beach? They must have opened the entries up for caravans as there were more on show than last year and the power and bathroom facilities at the grounds for the caravanners were top notch. Phil Leaming and his son-in-law arrived from Edgecumbe, so after tea it was back into town to watch and listen to more cruising. The roads were a step off grid-lock.
Saturday is Parade Day. This year Lorraine headed off into Port Road to watch the Rock ‘n’ Rollers and the car parade through town, while I headed off to the Rugby Ground to watch the car assembly and departure for the parade. Each year has a feature car – make, model, type, whatever – and this time it was T-buckets to honour the 100 year anniversary of the 1923 Model T which the original Tbuckets were based on. Beach Hop offered free entry to T-buckets and they successfully attracted 75 cars! Many have not been seen in public for years. As a comparison, the 2022 USA National T-bucket rally had 62 cars. The advantage of going to the assembly ground was to be able to look at all the cars lined up and see some of the characters attached to them.
After midday Phil and I visited the show at the wharf where many of the low-riders had gathered. I’m sure Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Lincoln never intended for their Impalas, De Villes, and Continentals to be lowered so their frames sat on the ground like these models did. Their owners fit a certain profile also – plenty of tattoos, facial and body studs, and black arraignment. Next it was back to collect the Chev and head to the far end of town for the caravans again, the pre-49 hot rods, pickup trucks shows and the Vintage Market.
Having the Chev under our bums makes getting to Williamson Park for the big prize draws easier on tiring legs especially at the end of the day for the return to home base. Once again at the prize giving we missed out - $$ prizes this time – but at least we weren’t the two people who won and lost (a) $5000 worth of vouchers by not signing the entry which is compulsory and (b) $50,000 cash by being on the way home when he needed to be at the park.
Phil and I headed back to the Chev one block down the road to head home. Waiting at the Chev were two extra passengers so we all 4 piled into the front seat and did what everyone else was doing – cruised on! For some Saturday night went on forever down on Port Road. Poor tortured engines.
Midday Sunday was time to head back to Pikowai. I was a little concerned about holding up traffic with our 8m caravan on that windy road, but I shouldn’t have wasted the worry. Whangamata to Waihi was a 30km crawl, 40 – 60 kph for 5 km either end, and rest was nearly stop-go crawl. The Chev has a large triple core radiator and never heated up. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in one of the supercharged monster engine wagons around us though.
Another car weekend enjoyed. Isn’t March great!
Cars assembling at Rugby Park for the Beach Hop Parade
AC Cobra – no paint needed! Bare alloy .13.
T-bucket heaven
Heard of 3 men in a tub? Well here are 4 men in a Chev!
1957 Ford Thunderbird - elegant contrast to the AC Cobra Bruce .14.
Club Calendar of Events commencing April 2023
April
Sunday 2nd
Wednesday 19th
Saturday 15th
Classic Car Breakfast Red Barn from 8.00am
Mid-week Run to Lake Tarawera – Cafe Lunch
Meet at the Shingle Pit, Top Kawerau Rd 9.30am
Farming like Grandad Te Teko Racecourse, Grieve Rd 10am – 4pm Meet at 9.45am on Grieve Rd to enter the grounds in a group dog free event
Sunday 30th
Club Run organised by Lesley & Steve McCann
Leaving Matata 9.30am sharp
Travelling back roads (no metal) to Tauranga to view Helen & Les Duggan’s Car Collection
stopping for morning tea at Paengaroa
Bring your Morning tea, Thermos, Picnic Lunch & Chairs
Sorry no dogs allowed
Thursday 27th
May
Saturday 6th Thursday 25th
June
Sunday 4th
Saturday 10th
Saturday 24th
Club Night – Athletic Clubrooms, Whakatane 7.00pm
Club Run combined run to Opotiki with the Sunbeam Club more details as they come to hand
Club Night – AGM Athletic Clubrooms
Starting with a Pot Luck Dinner at 6.00pm
Followed by the Branch Meeting at 7.30pm with the AGM at 8.00pm followed by dessert
Classic Car Breakfast
Waikato Branch 50/50 Rally
Our Annual Night Owl Run 5pm
No Vintage/Classic vehicle.......... come along to events in your ‘modern’
Please support our East Coast Rally Sponsors
REPCO Nicholson Autos
Commerce Street Autos Whakatane Printers .15.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc)
Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch
Annual General Meeting
To be held at the Athletic Clubrooms, Short Street, Whakatane
On Thursday 25th May 2023
At 8.00pm
Preceded by the Branch Meeting at 7.30 pm
AGENDA
Present Apologies
Minutes of previous AGM Matters Arising
Chairman’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Club Captain’s Report
Election of Officers
General Business
All Welcome
Secretary: Karen Spackman
All positions are up for nomination and if you would like to make a difference to the running of your Branch, please come along and either nominate a member you wish to have on Committee, or maybe be part of the Committee yourself.
Remember this is your Branch of the Vintage Car Club and your input is vital to the running of our Club.
Another couple of photo’s This cool Ford V8 at the Pukehina Surf & Sand Car Show
And a kit Porche - VW