“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 45, No 2 march 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 10th of March. • We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: This really will be the slimmest of slim volumes, as there are neither past nor future events to write about. The committee made the decision to suspend operations while the Omicron virus is so infectious, and we can only hope that we can resume our activities in the foreseeable future. Given the sacrifices that many have had to make, in social and financial terms, missing out on a few old car events seems fairly trivial. Many of you will be aware that Tom Clements died recently. Tom was a very early member of the VCC, and as the accompanying article shows, took part in one of the first hillclimbs in 1948 in his Fiat 501S with the ohv Silvani head conversion. Tom continued to motor this car with great enthusiasm for many years and had a BSA as well in which he also competed. He was the Beaded Wheels committee chairman during the early years, and is mentioned frequently in Molly Anderson’s book, 50 Years. Tom was one of the last links with the early years of the VCC. The Branch extends its sympathy to his family. Austin Hadler, a branch member died recently, and the Branch extends its sympathy to his family. There were, it would seem, many more BP members at the New Plymouth National Rally than I mentioned, and I do apologise for not mentioning you. Serial Pothunters. Russell and Brenda Yates were there in their VW Kharman Geddit, and managed to win the time trial in glorious fashion, without the rear wheels tucking under, so congratulations are in order for both feats.
Welcome to new member Tim Stace with a 1960 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk 1. Tim is the son of the redoubtable Jeremy, of E Type fame. John and Zelma Stanley of Motueka, but more recently of Westport, will be well known to the old Balcairn followers as keen participants in their A7. They have recently been re united with their wedding car from 60 years ago, a Riley Lynx, and it now adorns their garage, which is well above water level. Typically, Garry Moore claims all the credit for bringing both parties together. Talking of wild and windswept moors, two of them, Johnny and Garry, plus Geoff Edwards and Greg May, went to see The Great Helmsman Andrew Anderson, to record his memories of the first Irishman Creek Rally. The thought of Andrew, Garry and Geoff all in the same room is an amusing one, as none of them could be described as the strong and silent type. I hope Greg took earmuffs, or perhaps he went along as referee? We await a full report. I was honoured with a visit from Mike Crehan and his wonderful Delage recently. The Delage is quite a large car and I live up a steep Lyttelton hill at the end of an inaccessible cul de sac, up a very steep bit of drive that has defeated allcomers except the D over the years. Nothing daunted, Mike charged the drive, and I heard and smelt him before I saw him as clouds of smoke and steam wafted across the valley. He managed to park in a more accessible area, but did leave evidence of his visit. When Giles Gill comes to see me in his three wheeler Morgan he does the same, so the road outside our house is a perfect example of Entente Cordiale, as English and French fluids mix together happily. The Delage really is a wonderful thing, looks marvellous, and Mike has done a brilliant job. The mechanicals are all Delage, and the body was made in Nelson, with superb attention to detail. Classifying such a car is always difficult, but it’s probably best described as a recreation. Mike intends to take it to Ruapuna and do some demonstration laps, hopefully at the Skope Meeting when the world returns to some sort of normal. Our BP committee meetings are usually fairly noisy, but our last one was even more so because Beloved Leader Craig was in the middle of bidding on Trade Me for a Mk 2 Jaguar 3.4 manual. Craig feels like a change from the XJ6, and when he saw this Mk 2 couldn’t believe his eyes, as it was amazingly cheap for what looked like and read as very straight car. Foolishly, he asked for our opinions, so Jag horror stories filled the air for some time, with a suggestion that a Give A Lot page be set up to pay for future problems. Undeterred, he put in what was the only very low bid, and became the proud owner of the Mk 2. Remarkably, it’s not red, doesn’t have wire wheels or a wooden steering wheel, and looks reasonably original. Trouble is, it’s in New Plymouth, but even as I write, Craig and Michael Pidgeon are defying the odds and driving it home. Surprisingly, they got to Wellington last night after a trouble free run, but today, as they make the big push for home, noticed a leaking frost plug, so have stopped at the Blenheim Repco for some Stopleak. It’s meant to be 28 degrees today..... STOP PRESS!! Sunday 5.30pm: The Jag, Craig and the trusty Jenks have arrived home! A miracle.. Andrew Bain is finally showing some taste and continues to buy Citroens, thus carrying on a fine family tradition started by his grandfather. He bought a lovely ripple bonnet 1950s 2CV but sold it to Tim and Barbara Palmer after only a few months. He then bought a fairly rusty much later 2CV that he claims will become a paddock racer, and a few weeks ago hit car dealer gold. The local Citroen club magazine advertised a one owner Archibalds new 1989 AX 14 TRE, a car few of you have heard of, for free. It had been garaged for a few years after developing some trivial fault and the owners were happy to give it away to someone who appreciated Citroens.
Andrew was round to pick it up about 5 seconds after the magazine was published, and is of course now faced with a dilemma. Morally, he ought to keep it once it’s going properly, as it’s a rare car and really quite interesting. But, the urge to make an easy profit is always there. I’ll keep an eye on Trade Me......
Future Events. Festival of Speed, Highlands Park, Cromwell, 1 – 3 of April 2022. Following on from this year’s very successful meeting, the VCC have again been asked to compete in next year’s event. For those of you who haven’t yet had the experience of competing at this world class facility, it’s certainly well worth ticking off your bucket list, just ask any of this year’s competitors. We aim to get at least two dozen cars to the grid, so start making plans now. It’s two weeks before Easter, so accommodation should not be a problem. All expressions of interest to paul.coghill@xtra.co.nz Will it be on? Your guess is as good as mine.
Skope Meeting at Ruapuna, 8th – 10th of April. If it’s on, which is unknown at this stage, it will probably be spectator free. We’ll keep you posted.
A few gems from past issues of Dripfeed.
Stevie Onedoor and Peter Henry hard at work
Last rites for Austin
Citroen completes overtaking manoeuvre at Ruapuna
Bug in mud
“Where’s my wallet?” Bain and Cadillac at Balcairn
On
One of George Calder’s best efforts
Quel Magnifique Delage
The British bargain
Cosmetic touch-ups obviously needed... Photos by John McDonald, Michael Pidgeon, John Newell