“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 42, No 1 FEBRUARY 2019 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 February. We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: Welcome to 2019 and another year of motoring. This is the 41st year of the Banks Peninsula branch, and we forgot to acknowledge the 40th in suitable fashion, so some sort of celebration is in order. The highly trained group of zealous professionals, otherwise known as the committee will think of something suitable and let you know. I was given the club records recently. These highly sensitive documents came in a well used old school case, rather like the sort that some of us of a certain age might have taken to school, plus an equally old and battered expanding file thing, held together with elastic. The contents were equally old and battered, consisting mainly of back copies of Dripfeed, and some wonderfully indignant letters to the editor. Highly entertaining, as were the cartoons of Dapper Dave Richardson, some of which will appear again. Best of all was the discovery of a wonderful article by the late Derek Margetts, “Some Motoring Meanderings of Margetts.” Derek was an early member of the VCC, and in 1949, while still at Boys’ High with Warner Mauger, became a member of the Bugatti Owners’ Club. (No, he didn’t own a Bugatti). A man of great style and erudition. The other consistent feature of the old Dripfeeds were the regular reports of the snail like progress that Craig Keenan was making on the Talbot. Twenty eight years later the Talbot is going, with some degree of reliability, and is about to take part in an extended Talbot rally in the North Island.
Talking of superior French cars, the “Tractions Sans Frontieres” tour of NZ is nearly upon us. This is a group of English and European Citroen Traction Avant owners who annually undertake an international tour, and this year, are coming touring round NZ for four weeks. They arrive in March, and I’m sure many of you will want to join me in meeting them when the cars arrive at Lyttelton. Thanks to Rod Corbett, we keep getting new members. The indefatigable Rod is busy promoting this year’s Targa, and to take part in the VCC class, you have to join a VCC branch. Supersalesman Rod insists they join Banks Peninsula, so a welcome is extended to the following new members. Tim Evans, 1970 Alfa GTV coupe; Colin Singleton, 1970 Reliant Scimitar SE 5; Kevin Telford, 1962 Jaguar Mk 2; Kenny and Nicola Walker, 1929 Graham Paige 612 Roadster. I don’t think the Graham Paige is a Targa entrant. Tony Haycock, who is the Supreme Commander of the 2021 Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring in New Plymouth, wants it to be known that there is now a website to which you can go for everything you wish to know about the event. Go to www.historicmotoring.co.nz and register your interest, There are accommodation deals to be had at the New Plymouth International Hotel, and the Auto Lodge Motor Inn.
Coming Events. Art Deco Weekend, February 14 -17 2019. The Hawkes Bay VCC are hosting this event, which will have an emphasis on Commercial vehicles, so I suppose there will be lots of Bentleys there. Details are in the notice in the latest Beaded Wheels.
Picnic Run, 24th of February. Meet at The Beach Cafe, 16 Beach Rd (corner Beach and Broadpark Rds) , 9.00am for 9.30am start, for a pleasant meander through North Canterbury roads. There will be some shingle, which might put off the delicate MGs and Morgans and so forth, but it’s a chance to exercise your car in a suitable manner. Bring your lunch.
Ashburton Rotary Club Run, 5th of May This is the 27th time that the Ashburton Rotary Club has organised this popular event, with the $20 entry fee going to a local charity. It starts at the Ashburton racecourse at 10.15am and finishes at Mount Somers. No shingle roads, so ideal for kit cars, the chrome bumper brigade and so on. Contact Owen Moore at owen@moorepark.net.nz for more details.
Pomeroy Trophy, 6th of April. The thrice victorious editorial Citroen will not be competing this year, as I’ll be in Cambridge to celebrate 100 years of Citroen at the Citroen Club National Rally, so drivers of lesser marques might have a chance to claim victory in this wonderful event. Put it in your diary and start polishing those wooden dashboards.
Veteran and Vintage Rally, May 6th – 13th, 2019. Details to be finalised, going through the Haast. Expressions of interest to Diane Ross at randross@kinect.co.nz or phone 03 3082356.
Past Events: New Years Day at Little River. Another very pleasant day, with the hoi polloi turning up in ever increasing numbers. Yet again the Triumph club was there in vast numbers, their information board resplendent with dayglo glitter. Mercifully were we spared an invasion of massed Cortinas, and MG numbers seemed a little down on last year, so we must be grateful for small mercies. On the plus side there was a Studebaker Avanti, a Type 44 Bugatti, a 1948 Skoda Cabriolet, the Keenan Talbot 110, (which got there and back),14 Citroens, and five vintage cars, two up on last year. The Mainland Big Band tootled away happily, the Little River Volunteer Fire Brigade, provided food stalls and a good time was had by all. A nice relaxed way to start the new year.
Afternoon Tea at Tai Tapu. This occasion was organised to present the new 60 year membership badges to Ron Hassel, Ted Loversidge, Warner Mauger, Geoff Owen, John Palmer and Leon Witte. Well over fifty people attended to honour these stalwarts of the VCC, and as an added bonus Founder member and fount of all knowledge Andrew Anderson was in attendance too. Craig Keenan presented the badges, and invited each of them to speak. Ted said it was easy to be a member for 60 years, all you had to do was keep paying your sub! Geoff, Leon and Warner made brief comments, Ron preserved a dignified silence, and John made up for everyone else with a wide ranging and free flowing speech, in which he confessed to an early attempt at car conversion when still a teenager. Fortunately it was unsuccessful. John had brought along a significant and well labelled collection of photos from the early days of the club, and there was early 8mm film on screen, also provided by John. Two wonderful resources which were marvellous to look at. A late entry was Leith Newell. Although not a member for 60 years, Leith has been part of the vintage motoring scene for more than 60 years in the company of her late husband Jack, and son John made a lovely speech about the family motoring exploits over the years. Leith remarked that she decided shortly after marrying Jack that she did not intend to become a car widow, so shared all sorts of motoring experiences , both here and overseas. Leith was then presented with the Jumbo Goddard trophy by Gavin Bain, and Gavin made the point that the Newell family motored! Very fast!! All the time!! Probably more so than almost any other members. Leith is a mere 92, as compared to the others who range from 83 to 87. She said later that she felt she was holding up pretty well compared to those youngsters! Many members came in their vintage car, with the entire Palmer clan of three generations arriving in the family Unic.
Gavin Bain had his 1938 Aston Martin out, a car which most of us had not seen before, and Peter Croft was driving the HRG. Peter seemed to be enjoying the plentiful afternoon tea as much as anyone as he demonstrated that it’s unwise to stand between him and a plate of free sausage rolls.
Ruapuna Skope Classic. In the Murray Maxwell VCC field there was a field of 21 cars for this event, most of whom are BP members. It was great to see the Cullen Special, a lightweight single seater that was built in Dunedin in 1957 by John Cullen, and powered by a JAP motor. It’s now Harley Davidson powered and is raced by Adam Cullen, Gavin Bain and Leith Newell grandson of John. Although not the fastest in the field, it’s a part of that group of post war specials that were so successful in their day. Great to see it still in the same family after all these years. Mark McFadden was back in the 260M, and had a trouble free weekend, and the ever youthful Ramon Farmer and the Ransley Riley were both going well. Great to see the Healey Corvette again, likewise the mighty Stanton Corvette, which had a trouble free meeting and of course won every race. Paul Tayler’s Mistral didn’t last the distance, but Don Gerard’s did, after some emergency muffler repairs. The Lotus 23 of Rob Cope-Williams looked very fast, once he remembered where all the gears were, and the Hillman Hotrod, known as the Bello, driven very enthusiastically by new member Royce Bayer, and was a great deal faster than it was at Levels last 3 classic models awaiting a RESTORATION year. Ramon Farmer felt that the whole field was given a touch of class by the addition of a Knight in our ranks. Sir Robert Stewart of Skope fame raced his Jaguar C type replica in the VCC field, which clearly aroused Ramon’s royalist tendencies, so much so that he allowed the Riley to be beaten by the Jag! What a sporting gesture. Pidgeon family Avenger stuck in traffic