“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 45, No 4 MAY 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 12th of May • We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: Although there are no past events, we are returning to normal with our usual calendar , and I’m sure they will be well supported, even the AGM on the 9th of June. Given that the average age of the committee is alarmingly high, we would love to have a new member or two who were under the age of fifty, or even forty. Optimistic I know, but that’s how the branch will continue to stay relevant. Giles Gill of Morgan and Austin 7 fame, has added to his collection of odd little British cars that don’t go by buying the bits of a 1927 Morgan Aero Two Speeder. No, it doesn’t mean forwards and backwards, nor does Aero imply some sort of flying ability, as Morgan nomenclature continues to baffle most of us. Giles assures me he’s not going to add the bits to his three wheeler to make a six wheeler, but instead turn it into a potent racing machine. However, he has a few other projects to finish, specifically his Austin 7 Sports, the car he bought some time ago. A Sports Austin 7? It certainly was, with twin racing mirrors, a leather bonnet strap, a fish tail exhaust, a rev counter, and twin SUs. However, in spite of these important go faster bits, it wasn’t safe, and a new chassis was needed. Mike Crehan of Delage and Te Reo fame happened to have one lurking in his workshop, and I was privileged to watch Michael Pidgeon and Giles welding a cross member (no not David Seymour) to this frail looking piece of metal. So all Giles has to do is take the body off the dud chassis, insert the new and freshly welded one, plonk the body back on, and hey presto, yet another potent racing machine in the Gill garage. He can then concentrate on his new Morgan project, but only after he has put the rebuilt engine back in the A7 Chummy. All sounds fairly simple, and optimists are predicting
that the fleet of three Morgans and two Austin7s will all be going nicely by the end of the decade. Not sure which decade.... The piece about Craig Pidgeon’s Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, and their success in the RAC Rally prompted Peter Croft to mention that his HRG competed in the 1954 RAC Rally. Driven by Mrs D.M. (Cherry) Osborn, it also competed in hillclimbs such as Prescott and Shelsey Walsh, and in trials such as The Exeter. Cherry also raced it at club events at Silverstone.
Peter Croft’s HRG, driven by Cherry Osborne competing in the driving trials component of the 1954 RAC Rally. The HRG is the one in the front.
Welcome to new members Robert Smith, Anne and Tamati Thompson, and Richard Stevens. They are all navigators in the upcoming Targa Rally.
Citroen technicians assiduously checking the legality of the headlight bulbs. If only British manufacturers had been so thorough and honest about headlight bulbs when competing in subsequent Monte Carlo Rallies the Entente Cordiale would have remained firm and there would have been no Brexit. For the want of a nail a shoe was lost etc...to extend the metaphor. Photo from 1939 Auckland Weekly News supplied by John McDonald
Future Events. Yes, there are some. Autumn Fling, Levels Raceway, 14th of May. Entry details from Ron.
Hadstock Gymkhana, 29th of May. Yes it’s on again thanks to the generosity of the Chamberlain family, and the paddocks should be nice and slippery by then. Last year the winner was Colin Hey in a Honda Hotrod with independent rear brakes. Generously, we have allowed Colin Hey, and owner Malcolm McGibbon to enter again, as the car is club eligible, but the independent rear brakes are banned, and eagle eyed spotters will be lurking behind all cones, ready to pounce. The committee has decided to have a separate Motor
Bike section, so if you are an old biker, come on out and try and beat the hitherto invincible John Foster on his Triumph Matisse. As an added incentive, there will be a new Very Special Trophy for the Motorbike section, that may well rival The Cynthia in terms of subtle good taste. Even if you’re not competing, come and have a look, as it’s a very entertaining event, with mud and or wet grass a great leveller, which is why competitors get two turns, as red cones get very confusing. There are rumours of some Young People entering, led by the formidable Pidgeon sisters in the TR2, and one of the Keenan daughters in the Mk 2 Jag, if it gets there. Hopefully Jessie Morrison will be there in the family VW to show her father up, as will Courtney Chamberlain, probably in an XK120. Throw in the Dawber boys with the Pontiac Sports and a junior Kear or two, and the average age of the entrants could well dip below sixty. To get there, turn into the Leeston Road from Springston, then right into Bethels Road just before the Selwyn Bridge. Proceed for about 2km until you see the VCC sign on your left, and turn into the paddock. Scrutineering is at 9.00am for those without a wof.
AGM, Thursday 9th of June, Charles Upham Room, Papanui RSA Do come along to support the committee and express your opinions, positive or negative, safe in the knowledge that doing so does not mean automatic committee membership. And you get a free supper...
Night Trial, Saturday 18th of June. Messers Pidgeon and Williams promise a night of cunning complexity, with start details in the next Dripfeed. We had a great turnout last year, with Team Morrison in top form, and there’s always a chance that Vaughan’s Model A will survive Irishman and be there with LEDs blazing.
Rosco Sporting Trial Reefton, 19th of June. A wetter and muddier version of Balcairn, so if you have a god pair of thigh waders and a snorkel, go over and have a look. Always a great event. Contact Nick Harrison, annetteandnick@xtra.co.nz 0275419696.
Balcairn Sporting Trial, 24th of July. One of our most popular events. Details next issue.
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With the Irishman Creek Rally a few weeks away, this 1959 Beaded Wheels Report from John Palmer (father of James & Tim), is entertaining reading. With a Berliet, a Bentley, a Cadillac amongst the 15 entrants, these were, indeed, the good old days.
An advertisement from the 1957 Veteran Rally souvenir programme The Cockram Family (Euromarque) are still part of the motoring scene in Christchurch.Not so sure about the Goliath though, which was slain by David in the form of the emerging Japanese car indus1961 Beaded Wheels
1961 Beaded Wheels