“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 43, No 8 september 2020. 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 September We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: With so many events being cancelled, the two events we have held recently have been very well supported, so we can consider ourselves lucky. The cancellation of the McLeans Island Swap Meet has been a bitter blow for many, as it’s their social highlight of the year. They ramble up and down the rows, looking vainly for car parts amidst the general dross that’s on sale, and generally have a wonderful time. Those that just want to look at car parts only will be disappointed that the Hororata Swap Meet is also cancelled. It’s been going for ten years, and John Foster and his team have created a very popular and successful event. Michael Pidgeon has done something he never expected to do and bought a British Sports Car. It’s a 1954 Triumph TR2, ex Leon Witte, and Phipps and Amanda Rinaldo.. It’s one of six factory modified cars that came here new, and in 1958 Leon set a NZ speed record of 122mph for the 1500 – 2000cc class on the South Eyre road. Michael has no plans to try to break that record at this stage, but to get himself in the mood, has been seen lurking in Ballantynes, looking for a suitable flat cap and some leather stringbacked racing gloves. I expect the MG club has lots of them in stock too. Gavin Bain has also bought a British Sports Car. That’s a fairly generous definition, but it is a 2 door coupe, has a coachbuilt body, is turbocharged, will be VCC eligible in two years and is of course British Racing Green. Give up? It’s a 1992 Bentley Continental R, ex Ollie Newbegin. With that long
wheelbase, it will an ideal Pomeroy Trophy car, which is, I suppose, why Gavin has bought it. He can spend the next two years trying to get it to go round corners. John McDonald, ace photographer and MG historian, recently unearthed a lovely article from a 1955 Dripfeed, courtesy of Geoff Edwards. It’s so good I think it’s worth publishing. Welcome to new members Nick Cressey and Pip Marsh, with 1935 Austin 7 Special. They joined so they could enter the Targa, but that’s been cancelled too. Nick and Pip live on Waiheke Island, and their car may perhaps be related to that other amphibious Austin, Rubber Ducky. From Dripfeed, June 1998. “A well known Branch Member was motoring to Dunedin recently, but was pulled over by the law, not once, but twice, for holding up traffic. Was he driving his veteran Wolseley? His vintage Alvis? His H.R.G.? NO!! He was driving his Ford Cortina. Well done Peter!” For Sale: The RTC Single Seater. Built by John Penno, Alastair Neaves and Terry Henry, based on a chassis made by Jeff Lean. It’s powered by a modified six cylinder Vanguard engine stroked to 2500cc with a Standard Motors 4 speed gearbox with Laycock overdrive. Suspension is independent front and De Dion rear. Has competed since the 1990s at all the South Island circuits. For more details contact John Penno at john@penno.nz 03 4881772.
Future Events: Opening Run Sunday 27th of September. We’ll leave from the Tai Tapu store at 10.00am, so come early for coffee. We are going to the Ashburton Aviation Museum which has an entry fee of $10. The branch will sudsidise this back to $5 per head for those interested. We’ll finish at Lake Hood for a picnic lunch if the weather is on our side. There is a good bar/ restaurant at Lake Hood for more discerning members. .
Vauxhall Rally, Timaru 23rd – 26th of October. Contact Ross Luscombe 027 4359620
Ruapuna meeting, 31st October – 1st of November. Hawkswood Sprint, 8th of November. Peninsula Run. 22nd of November. Pomeroy Trophy, Ruapuna, 16th of January. Highland Fling, 24th – 26th of April Contact Kaaren Smylie kaaren@smylie.co.nz 021 664341 07 5764180
Past Events. The Night Trial. A good turn out of hardy souls arrived at a new starting point to tackle the wilds of North Canterbury. There were lots of MGs, including the mercifully rare LHD 3 wiper model of Russell Yates, and in a show of reckless bravery, Paul Taylor in an MGF. Allan Rennie was in an interesting Fiat 130, and Pat O’Connell showed how much confidence he had in his fleet of MGs by arriving in a Toyota. Vaughan Morrison and extended family were in the battered Model A with an extra LED lighting bar that lit up most of Marshlands Road. John and Carol McDonagh raised the tone with their Mark 2 Jag. The route took competitors through Spencerville, Brooklands,( home of the Chrysler), and the back of Kaiapoi, then to Waikuku, Sefton, Leithfield Village and the Leithfield Beach settlement. Lots of obscure shingle roads and cunning questions. . One of the questions involved indentifying a Singer SM 1500, looking forlorn, which old hands later thought was once owned by Dave Hocking. Given that it’s in the open and by the beach, it won’t be there for much longer unless rescued soon. The route continued round the back of Sefton and finished up at our old haunt, The Anglers Arms. Nearly everyone arrived safely, with the exception of Brian Smith who found that Joseph Lucas was living up to his reputation, and thus struggled back home in his Morris 8 Sports. The winner was the Keenan family in the Jaguar, whose electrics performed faultlessly, much to Craig’s surprise. The Honourable Mention award went to the Morrison Family in the Model A, for having the oldest car and the most passengers. Everyone enjoyed the shingle roads, and felt it was one of the best Night Trials for some time. Many thanks to Michael and Louise for their efforts.
Awards Lunch. This was a really successful event, with the tone being set by the line up in the carpark: Bugatti, Rolls Royce, Humber, Jaguar, Fiat, Citroen etc, and the quality continued inside, with great attendance, good food and interesting speeches. National president Diane Quarrie came down from Hastings to present the gongs and VCC co-founder Andrew Anderson was there, in splendid form, as were other senior statesmen Warner Mauger, Leon Witte and Geoff Owen The three recipients, John Ferguson, Clynt Inns, (50 years) and Richard Foster (60 years) all drove there in suitable cars, with Richard and Kate driving in from Hororata in the 1923 Humber that Richard bought 60 years ago when he was courting Kate. Son John followed behind in his Holden Commode and could only just keep up.
John didn’t want to speak, but Richard and Clynt were both very entertaining, and Richard’s speech was so interesting that it’s published in full . Clynt started off with a 1929 Pontiac and over the years worked his way up, owning some wonderful cars: Alvis 12/50 , Bentley Coupe, numerous Jags, Vauxhall 30/98, Austin 7 (?), Delage, Alfa Romeo, etc etc. Hasn’t quite managed a Citroen yet. But his main contribution has been at a national administrative level, where he was Honorary Secretary from 1975 -84 and Administrative Secretary from 1976 -82. His other huge contribution was as Rally Director of the very successful 1996 Anniversary Rally. Andrew Anderson spoke to me after the speeches, and felt that too much fuss was made of his own contribution over the years. Andrew felt that he and other early members were inspired by Hugh Foster, father of Richard, and Godfrey Hall, father of Kate Foster, and that these two have not been acknowledged as fully as they should have been. Andrew also felt he was simply part of a good team in the early days. He then went on to say that when Clynt became involved at a national level, he made a huge and positive difference to the VCC, given his accounting and business background. “In fact”, said Andrew, straying into Biblical metaphor, “Hugh and Godfrey were the early prophets, Shand, me and the others were the disciples, and Clynt could be seen as the resurrection!!” Now I’m very fond of Clynt, but a less God like figure I have yet to meet. Perhaps he’ll take the Parables to heart and give all that he has to the poor. Hope I get the E Type. With over fifty people sitting down to lunch, this was a real celebration of what vintage motoring is all about.
Brooklands Meeting, Levels Raceway, Timaru. Although not entirely a BP branch event, we are in charge of the VCC field, and Ron Hasell puts in a huge amount of time organising the entries. This year there were 19, compared to 9 last year, and a splendid time was guaranteed for all. The Rob Cope-Williams Lotus 23B has been sold to inveterate Lotus collectors Mark and Tracey Barrett, who now have a matching pair. It’s been painted white, given some reliability pills, and Tracey and Mark had a splendid meeting dicing all day, as they both became more confident in their respective cars. Another welcome returnee was the MGV Crowe Special, now owned by Russ Haines. He’s painted in green, generally fettled it, and it went like a rocket all day. It’s bit of a handful on the twisty bits, but on the straight it roared away from the pesky Mistrals that had caught it up. Great to see it back in action. Previous owners include Digger Mauger and the Townsend family of race and rally fame. Giles Gill entered his 4 wheeler Morgan, a 4/4, after the 3 wheeler did serious damage to big ends etc at the Blenheim Mudplug. Murray Frew had his 1929 Chrysler 62 Six going well. It’s a classic NZ special based loosely around a Chrysler chassis, with a Plymouth 3.7 motor, a Vauxhall gearbox and Jag wheels. The radiator cap is off a Commer truck, the grille is from a Nuffield 44 tractor and the petrol tank is two kitchen sinks bolted together. The triple carbs are from Ford Escorts. It’s a big heavy car and Murray throws it round with great skill. Chris Read had the BCM Special going well, and Ramon Farmer in the immaculate Ransley Riley drove with his usual flair. Colin Hey entered his ex Jim Chrystal Wolseley 1500, complete with new head, but some wheel stud threads gave up on the first lap of the first race, luckily, no damage was done. Paul Coory in the lethal Chev CAE Sprinter didn’t run out of petrol this year, diced with Jim Bennett in the Furi, and was the fastest car on the day, but in the last lap of the last race got the line wrong on the twisty bits, allowing Brian Ashworth in the Daimler Dart to sneak through for a win. To say that Brian was overjoyed would be an understatement.
So a great day at the track with four races, no off track excursions or nasty noises from man, woman or machine. Well done to the South Canterbury Car Club.
SPEED EVENT, Birdlings Flat, 12 February 1955. It had been arranged that we hold a speed event with the MG Car Club during this month. After a lot of headaches we finally found one of the best tracks we have yet had, the Birdlings Flat Air Field, which is a grass surface with nice little undulations here there, and everywhere. By about 11.30am cars had started to arrive in some numbers and the day promised to be a good one. For about half an hour the odd bods cleared all the large stones and rubbish off the track while three of us removed some five 44 gallon oil drums from the bombing site to the scene of the crime, to act as markers. By the time this was finished the remainder of the crowd had arrived including Bill Luxton in his beautiful Minerva. After rigging up the P.A. system things were ready to percolate. At twelve, noon, a series of scratch races were run off so as to get the handicaps.This was an advantage as the drivers got to know the track much better. The track itself was about a mile and a half round with some very nice corners which vintage machinery could drift around. One unfortunate incident occurred when one of the MG boys turned his car completely over in mid air. Fortunately he was only shaken and bruised. All told 11 races were run off and some of these were for the “vast vintage” which consisted of the 4.5 litre Bentley, V8 Cadillac, 23/60 Vauxhall, 510 Fiat and an Auburn. The smaller vintage cars numbered about eight and these were all Austin Sevens amongst which were Murray Maxwell’s and Warner Mauger’s rather fast models.The Austin race seemed very popular especially as the two “hotted” Austins raced neck and neck for the finish. Another race was open to the MG Car Club only in which a Singer roadster put up a very inspiring display. During one of the other races, a very good duel was fought between two Model “A” Fords which startled some of the vintage boys quite a bit. RESULTS OF THE MAIN EVENTS WERE:Fastest Cars Race. 1. W. Mauger (1923 23/60 Vauxhall) 2. L Witte (MG) 3. M. Maxwell (Austin 7 special) Vintage Race. 1. W Mauger (1923 23/60 Vauxhall) 2. H Turtle (1923 V8 Cadillac) 3. G Sheppard (1929 4.5 litre Bentley) 4. D Barker (1921 Fiat 510) The fastest lap of the day for a vintage car was made by G Sheppard, who covered the distance in 2 minutes 2 seconds in his 1929 Bentley. Our thanks go to Bill Luxton, Andy Anderson, and Rob Shand and all those who were connected with the running of the show for a 100% event.
Richard’s speech Well, 60 years’ membership makes me feel quite old! Some of you will remember my father Hugh Foster. He took on the restoration of a 1908 Humber in 1957. I was a teenager and I think his idea was to give me an interest in something other than girls. We restored that 1908 Humber and at about the same time we heard of a Humber for sale at Homebush Station. We went to see it and the dickey seat lids had been removed, but not thrown away. A small truck deck had been built on the back. It turned out to be a 1924 8/18 Humber – the same as Gavin Bain’s but a roadster. Mr Rothwell, a shepherd at Homebush, was the owner and wanted £20 which I didn’t have. (I had about £8 so it was too dear for me.) Mr Rothwell said the wheels and tyres were worth £20 – it was fitted with 1950 Ford Prefect wheels. At this stage my father spoke up and suggested that Mr Rothwell keep the wheels and tyres and we pay £5 for the rest. The deal was done! We borrowed the wheels to get the car back to Christchurch. Back in town I went to see Mr Tidswell at Auto Parts and bought five Triumph 7 wheels with warrantable tyres for 30/each. I had to re-drill them to Humber centres and the car is still running on these wheels. I motored my 8/18 on several rallys - when I could afford the petrol. My wages were £3/10/- per week and I paid £1 board. I recall going home from work to say I had a wage rise of 10/-. Father explained that with my
appetite he was subsidizing me and my board was increased to 30/-. So, at my next pay rise, I didn't say a word and I could then afford to take my car to work occasionally. The 8/18 had a petrol tank that held 3 gallons; I could fill it for 9/9d so got 3d change from 10/-. The car has only one door, and Kate was the only girlfriend that let me get in first. She is still with me today 54 years later. We motored everywhere in that car and in the past few years have at last redone the upholstery and had a hood made. When I finished my apprenticeship at M S Coombes (5 plus years) I was declared an automotive machinist/or engine reconditioner. I had always wanted to go farming but father insisted on an apprenticeship. I secured a job at the Glens of Tekoa on the Hurunui River. Bill McRae was my boss. Getting there in my little Humber was quite a challenge. It took more than 2 hours with two dogs in the dickie seat. No hood when it rained either. One Sunday afternoon, heading back to work, the car died at Waipara, just over the bridge and round the corner. No spark and a look at the magneto showed the spring on the contact breaker points had broken. I was ‘stuffed’. Just as I was deciding what to do, an old chap wandered out from under the willow trees. I have forgotten what his name was, but he told me he had been to the Boer war. He asked me to go and look at his collection, “I’ve got a few magnetos.” Well his camp in the trees was bits of canvas and corrugated iron and in one section there were about 20 magnetos, quite dry, that he had rescued out of the dump. To my surprise there was a Lucas magneto (“No bloody good.”) exactly the same as mine. He was very happy to give it to me so away I went. Next time I called to see him he had gone and I understand it was to the Kaikoura hospital where he received his service medals 60 years after the Boer war. All the British car manufacturers in the 1920s built small cars of 1000 cc or smaller – Ariel, Triumph, BSA, Austin, Humber. Michael Williams’ favourite, the Austin 7, was the most successful of the lot and cost £155 when new. The Humber I drive cost £250. And if you drive a 4 ½ litre Bentley the insurance cost 4 ½ times that of the Humber. The Vintage Car Club has provided good companions for motoring events and I am glad to have been a member. Long may it continue.
Three generations of Foster plus Humber
Saint Clynt in His Earthly Form
The Ferguson Clan
Levels
The Mighty Chrysler
Ramon’s Resplendent Ransley Riley
A drizzle of Mistrals
The Field of Dreams
The Ultimate MG Hot Rod
Equipe Barrett; Double Trouble, Usually Serious
Photography by Don Gerrard