“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 45, No 6 JULY 2022. Editor: Michael Williams 10 Selwyn Parade Lyttelton Ph 328 8043, email mimiandmichael@yahoo.co.nz
Chairman: Secretary:
Club Officers: Craig Keenan 322 1006 Ron Hasell 942 1105
Branch Address: 27 Showgate Ave, ChCh 8042 E-mail: bankspeninsula@vcc.org.nz Noggin & Natter: 2nd Thursday of the Month • Noggin 7.30 pm at the Papanui RSA. Upham Room – enter either from 55 Bellvue Ave or the first entrance on the left on Harewood Road (Papanui / Main North Road) • Thursday 14th of July. • We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: A rare and wonderful thing happened at the AGM last month. Someone actually wanted to join the committee, and even more surprisingly, that someone is under the age of thirty, thus lowering the average age of committee members by a decade or three. The someone in question is Thomas Palmer, son of Tim and Barbara, grandson of John and Margaret, nephew of James. A very distinguished lineage, rather like a top stallion at the Te Rapa sales. John was one of the early VCC members, so to have a third generation family member on the committee is quite a coup for the branch. Other things in Thomas’s favour are that he lives in Lyttleton, and best of all, his mother Barbara has a Citroen 2CV. Thomas has access to the family Unic and Fiat but I’m sure he’ll buy himself a proper car soon. Ron Hasell told the AGM that this was to be his last year as Secretary Treasurer, so we have a year to do some succession planning as we think about replacing what at times seems to be the irreplaceable. From the Editorial Blunders Dept comes an admission of guilt. I’ve now had two attempts to describe John Foster’s Triumph motorbike, both of which have involved mistakes. Given that it’s a British bike, you do have to wonder why the Brits gave it a French name. The said Triumph is a sort of a scrambler and my first attempt called it a Triumph Matisse. Derek Upton, in a tactful email told me how to spell it correctly. I ignored his advice, and in the next issue, called it a Mettise. Another tactful email followed, this time from another old biker, Alan Wylie who even more tactfully, mentioned that it
is in fact a Metisse. Thanks to both of these observant gentlemen. As used to be said in newspapers in the olden days, this correspondence is now closed, I hope. Russell Yates, in the recent Targa, organised by the indefatigable Rod Corbett, won his class convincingly in his MGB, losing only a few seconds over the whole event, and generally finding it all a bit too easy. That’s why we never ask him to organise any BP events..... A little known sub committee of the BP branch sprang into action recently. Known as PAROTT (Preservation and Restoration Of Tacky Trophies), it was felt that the latest addition to the collection, the Johnny Angel Trophy for the winning motorbike at Hadstock, needed to be mounted even more spectacularly, so the sub committee lurched into action. Consequently Johnny Angel is now mounted on high, looking down on everyone, rather like his namesake, and we hope to be able to reveal the finished article soon. So The Cynthia and Johnny Angel will be a lovely matching pair. Art imitates life etc. There is to be a Memorial Picnic for foundation member Richard Foster. Covid restrictions meant that attendance at the celebration of Richard’s life was limited, and so Kate and family extend an invitation to all to join them in the Terrace Station garden, Hororata, on Saturday the 27th of August, from 11.am – 3pm. John King from Auckland, brother of Tom, was rummaging through his memorabilia and found some lovely photos of the 1975 Invermay Hillclimb. This year’s Model A Winter Run, previously known as Irishman, was by all accounts highly successful, with the Sunday Run going to new destinations in the heart of the McKenzie Country. With 93 Model A’s this year, it was hard to get away from them. However , Paul McCulla’s Model A ute was yet again unlucky. After breaking down en route to their starting point on the Monte Carlo last year, Paul felt he had solved the problem, but at 6.00am on the Saturday morning of Irishman, when forward motion ceased, discovered that even Model A’s are not indestructible. A more permanent solution is being investigated. Donald Wright, resident of the one street light town of Annat (look it up), is usually to be seen on Irishman in his Model A Hotrod or family Bentley 3 litre, but this year was one of the backup team and thus had some spare time. Given that I was at home with Covid, Donald kindly took on the coveted role of BP roving reporter, and his report follows.
Future Events. Balcairn Sporting Trial, 24th of July. One of our most popular events, so let’s hope for some rain closer to the date. This is one of our most popular events and always attracts lots of noisy spectators. Thomas Mauger was last year’s winner of The Old Boot, carrying on a fine family tradition set by his uncle and grandfather, but every year, there is the possibility of a new creation entering that surprises everyone. Giles Gill in his Morgan Three Wheeler seems like a contender for the one wheel drive prize, and every year, we hope that an actual real vintage car ie 1931 or earlier, might enter. Perhaps Paul McCulla will have his Model A ute fixed. Load up the deck with some of the Irish rugby team Paul, and you could be a winner of the Long Wheel base class. A little known BP Branch by law bans all mayoral advertising vehicles. To get there, from the Anglers Arms pub at Sefton, head up Pemberton Road, turn right at the T into Marshmans Road, go straight ahead at the shingle and turn left at the VCC sign into Flemings Road.
Please remember that we are very lucky to be allowed to play on the Flemings farm, so if you are a spectator, please behave sensibly, and don’t drive your Merivale tractor into some mud and get stuck or we’ll send you home. This is a competitive event on private property, not a playground. Timetable: 8.30 Scrutineering 9.15 Drivers Briefing 9.30 Start your engines......
Mid Year (sort of) Lunch, Sunday August 7th, 12.30pm,Tai Tapu Hotel. Note the change of date from the 21st. There are no awards this year, but it’s always a very pleasant and relaxed time, so do come along. Numbers to Ron by the 1st of August please. The cost is $40 per person, payable to the branch a/c 03 135506111 00.
National Veteran Rally, 24th – 26th of February 2023. To be held at Tuakau, Franklin, 56 km south of Auckland. Enquiries: barrybirchall@xtra.co.nz
National Motorcycle Rally, 3rd – 6th of February 2023. WWW.SPORTY.CO.NZ/NATIONALMOTORCYCLERALLY. or the Rally Coordinator; glenys@apprenticeships.net 021 388649.
Past Events. Night Rally. The night was neither dark, stormy nor foggy, as a quality field set off for places unknown, even though the route set by the crafty organisers was the same one as used four years ago. That was the year of the Great Fog, when competitors had no idea where they were and miraculously didn’t drive into the back of one another, or into the various ditches and waterways that were alongside the course. The early Night Rallies were highly complex affairs, involving straight line navigation, Halda Speed Pilots, extra driving lights, customised clipboards, slide rules, abacuses, and fractions of a second the difference between victory and defeat. The only person I’ve ever met that actually enjoyed those was Tony Haycock, who was brought up with them, and look at him now.....
These days it’s all very relaxed, and the main concern for entrants with British cars is hoping that Joseph Lucas doesn’t let them down. They were in luck this year, even the Webbs in their Triumph Staaag,, as were those in their French, German and American entries, and no one got lost or broke down. The general idea of the Night Trial is to have competitors drive down long straight bits of the Canterbury Plains, knowing that somewhere down the long straight bits are answers to a series of tricky questions. Either the Yates or Keenan equipe usually win this, but both were feeling lazy, or had torches that didn’t work, so victory eluded them this year. The route took competitors round the back of the airport, through Mcleans Island, around Sandy Knolls, Rolleston, the outskirts of Lincoln, down the sacred Chamberlains Road, through Coes Ford and onto the finishing point of Leeston.
The organisers felt happy that no one got all the questions correct, but Morris Wright and family, in a remarkable original series 3 swb Land Rover, and Russell and Brenda Yates in a very unremarkable Toyota MR2, came first equal with only one mistake each. Brenda thought that writing “Thank you for the Rally” on the answer sheet would ensure victory, but alas, poor spelling and punctuation let her down, so the Wrights, who were in an older car, were declared winners. James Robinson, in a great recreation of a Monte Carlo Mini, and Simon and Vanessa Hall in a Mercedes 250 were second equal. The Halls, Canterbury branch refugees are clearly competitive motorists, as their brown Stuttgart taxi boasted fluffy dice and a sports steering wheel. Massed Morrisons, (Paul, Josie, Lucy) were in the Model A, minus the LED display. The prize for the oldest vehicle went to Digby Gemmel in his Graham Paige. Good fun all round.
Irishman Rally Some 180 entrants rolled out the gate of Cutler Park. Certainly another significant Canterbury VCC Irishman back country rally. The masters of course design or better known as last year's winners (Andrew Mehrtens and Bob Scott) provided challenging metal roads, fords and simplistic instructions. Talking of fords there was certainly an abundance of the "A" type together with other allsorts (no Citroens) of vintage manufactured vehicles that are both robust
and reliable, some looking a tad unkept. The course masters were also in touch with the weather gods providing beautiful weather on Saturday and Monday. If you like a cold start then Sunday was certainly your thing, the open tourers had occupants that could have been mistaken for rag dolls! Starting on Saturday, they travelled North of the Waimak up to the Gorge Bridge then into Kowai Bush, Lake Lyndon / Lake Coleridge, behind Staveley, behind Geraldine then to the 'Irishman Hub' of Fairlie. Sunday, a frosty 8:30am start in Tekapo. The team of hardy lads and lasses motored West to Braemar Rd through the Joseph Valley tracking through tussock, humps, hollows, inclines and bulldust onto Glenmore Station. Five generations of the Murray family have farmed this 19,000 hectare property since the late nineteenth century. Mr George Murray at one stage motored a straight eight Hudson - a good choice for high country roads. ‘Heart of The Mackenzie’ is a 2014 pictorial publication by Matt Philip - well worth a read. It is the story of Glenmore. However, our Irishman course on Glenmore then turned West up the Cass Valley ending at the Waterfall Hut for a picnic lunch. We were amongst awe inspiring scenery with air that resembled a cool store - pure oxygen and mountain water that added to a Johnny Walker whisky would turn it into fine single malt. The road was grass carpet / large rural metal with a couple of easy fords. All completely negotiable giving navigators a tour of excellence. A return to Pete's Patch in Fairlie for gymkhana, drinks and presentation. From the heated support ute, talking to participants and indeed assisting with tow rope one could say that this Irishman was well run, easy to follow instructions with little hold ups, an event that the organisers need congratulating on as one of the best. As the participants crossed a railway line in Kowai Bush we had a spy taking note of those who failed at the compulsory stop. These criminals were singled out to the side at the presentation, all given a hat that set them out as a genuine 'Irish ratbag'. Out of this line up next year's winners are Richard Spencer Bower and John McDonald (Saturday) and John Campbell (Sunday). We welcome their ability for next year - well done lads. Until then preserve these iconic autos for another attempt at the Irishman Rally.
Irishman photos courtesy of AJP Photography. For further photos go to https://www.facebook.com/101328091835979/posts/432922065343245/
Bob Beardsley, Alta
Young Bain + Bentley
Ted Leversedge , MG
Leon Witte, DB3S Aston
Warner Mauger, Cropduster
Geoff Owen, J Type MG
Wogan abusing Renwick Bentley