“Dripfeed” NEWSLETTER OF THE BANKS PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF New Zealand (INC) VOLUME 42, No 8 September, 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 11th of September. We look forward to seeing you there. Supper is provided.
From the Editor: Given that we are one of the few branches that provide opportunities for members to exercise their cars on a track, the need for a new speed steward continues to be something the committee is eager to solve. Competitive fields in our class are diminishing and at the recent Levels meeting, there were seven entrants, which reduced to four after lunch. I went down with Giles Gill in his Lotus Elise. I think Elise is Chapmanese for no suspension at all, but I suppose that after the sophisticated luxury of a DS Citroen, anything else does tend to feel agricultural. The chiropractor expects me recover eventually. Don Gerard, who competes in his very tidy and surprisingly reliable Mistral, is keen to revive racing interest, and has suggested that at the 2020 Skope meeting at Ruapuna over Waitangi weekend, we organise a lunchtime parade of as many historic track cars as we can muster, with suitably informed commentary. The feeling is that there are many significant cars sitting in garages that haven’t been driven for some time. We want to contact the owners and see how we can help to get these important cars either back on the track or at least onto a trailer so they can be on display at Ruapuna, and thus stimulate interest and involvement in our branch of motorsport. Phil Mauger will bring the Cropduster, the Murray Maxwell A7 has been offered by Geoff Edwards, the Pidgeon Bugatti will be there, as will the Ransley Riley and so on. So if you are aware of an historic car that hasn’t seen daylight for some time, contact the owner, or tell us. And of course, think about becoming a speed steward.
Foundation BP member Tom Cloudesley has written to the branch, to tell us that he is not well, is confined to his home , and has a terminal illness. He wishes the club all the best, and expresses his appreciation of the wonderful times he has had with the club over the years. His daughter Sandra will stay on as a member and use all of his cars. Tom would appreciate it if anyone would like to go round and see him and have a bit of a chat. He lives at 62 Stanbury Avenue in Somerfield, and his phone number is 337 4002. We are finally becoming quite grown up as a branch, because Mike Crehan, retired gent of Mapua, offered to be our branch delegate at National Executive meetings. Some of us have been to the odd meeting, but never have we had a regular delegate who can represent our interests and get to travel round the place at our expense. Mike’s comprehensive report is enclosed. Cynics have pointed out that this is a vanity project for Mike, as he is probably the youngest person there, an increasingly rare situation for him.
Trevor Lightfoot is offering his collection of English AUTOMOBILE magazines for sale. They cover pre 1960s vehicles with a wide coverage from pre 1960 through to 1960. $40 for a bundle of 12. Years 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. 2003 has 11, $37, 2002 has 4, $15, 2000 has 1, $4. They originally cost $12 each and are a fabulous read. Contact Trevor at 385 1200 or trevor.wendy@xtra.co.nz The following travel deals are available, as are two other items of interest. RATES QUOTED FOR NZ Vintage Car Club Booking Reference: WH5465 See http://vcc.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2020interislanderNZVCC.pdf RATES QUOTED FOR NZ Vintage Car Club Booking Reference: WH5465 See https://www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz/tranzalpine/
Radio New Zealand Interviews Last year Lynne Freeman from Radio New Zealand interviewed Life Member Roger White from Wellington Branch and Diane Humphreys from Waitemata Branch for her Summer Days radio programme. The following are links to the interviews plus there are lots of great photos as well. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/audio/2018677152/vintage-car-clubs https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/20181227 These links can also be found on the VCCClub's facebook page.
Coming Events Opening Run, Sunday 29th of September Assemble at Little Poms, corner of Kilmore Street and Fitzgerald Ave, at 9.00am for coffee, ready for a 9.30 start. In spite of the name, Little Poms is not where short English people meet, nor is it an abbreviated car park version of our famous event. It’s a great cafe that also serves breakfast, if you so desire. As usual, we will traverse rural Canterbury, via some shingle roads, with a morning tea
stop at a small hamlet, and our final destination near the foothills is an interesting collection of vehicles that I’m sure none of you have seen before. Bring your own lunch.
The Peninsula Run, Sunday, 20th of October Assemble at the Tai Tapu store at 9.30am, ready for a 10.00am start. Digby Gemmel and Brain Smith have promised to find us some new roads to explore this year, so come along for what is always an interesting day’s motoring.
Waimate 50, 60th anniversary, 26th & 27th of October This classic road circuit hasn’t been run for some years now, so this weekend will be a rare treat. With limited passing opportunities, this is a great spectator circuit, and all accommodation in Waimate is already booked out. We really should have a club charabanc to take us all down. Perhaps a few Rolls Royce Phantom owners could spring gracefully into action, and we could perambulate down in style. Should be a great weekend, with a number of BP members competing at this demanding circuit. Some amazing cars have raced there in the past. In 1981, at a reunion meeting, Gavin Bain in his Ferrari 375MM and Leon Witte in his Aston Martin DB3 S had a great tussle, and back in 1960, Leo Leonard raced a Citroen ID 19, which is no doubt where he learnt how to handle a lot of power. In the same year Vic Blackburn raced a Goggomobil, the 392cc sports model, and beat a Morris, a Renault, a Fiat, a Singer and a VW. The book about the Waimate 50 makes fascinating reading, and this typical passage is part of a report of the 1959 main race: “Jenson, giving a great display of wet weather driving, lost the lead to McLaren on the 34th lap when he struck clutch trouble and spun, ending up on the footpath”. See you there.
Hawkswood Sprint, 10th of November. Past Events. Garage Raid. As has become the pattern of recent years, we started off at the incomparable Auto Restorations for our annual event, which was also our fundraiser for the Cancer Society. We’re very consistent and always raise about $300, and this year was no exception. Allan Wylie was our guide this year, and we were allowed to wander at will. Most of us were almost overwhelmed at the sight of the gorgeous yellow and blue 1930 Hispano - Suiza. It came as a chassis, so exact identification is difficult. The car has been essentially built by the Auto Restoration team for an overseas client and is quite remarkable. The great joy, for those of us who seldom visit, is the diverse range of cars. There was a Ford V8 Coupe, a Corvette, a Mustang, a vintage Cadillac, assorted Ferraris and a new Bentley tub for a 4½ and a half re creation. Unusual even on an Auto Rest scale was an Iso Rivolta IR430, an Italian supercar of the 1960s. With a Corvette motor, Jaguar suspension uprights, a Lucas wiper motor and a lovely Italian designed body,, it’s a very classy hybrid, to use the word in a non electrical way, and very rare. The paint shop revealed even more treasures. After we had all stopped drooling, our next stop was Lyttelton to see some of Geoff Edwards wonderfully eclectic collection. Geoff has been collecting a wide range of interesting and unusual vehicles over the years, and about half of them are able to be viewed at his premises in Lyttelton. Geoff likes cars that go, because he likes to drive them regularly and started many of them while we were there. Geoff isn’t a big fan of large groups as a general thing , and has only recently decided to
share his collection with other enthusiasts. A list of the marques on display include Delage, Bean, Fiat, Rolls Royce, Tatra, HRG, Lanchester,Porsche, Vauxhall, TVR, Riley, Gordon-Keeble, Goggomobile, Studebaker, Rolls Royce, Skoda, Mini Sports, Austin 7 Special, Humber. Not to mention numerous scooters and motorbikes And that’s just some of them. A fabulous collection and a very interesting afternoon. Many thanks to Allan Wylie and Geoff Edwards for sharing their knowledge and time.
HRG
Domiatric Delage looking down on the rest
Hispano............
......Suiza
Iso Rivolta still in its original wrapper.........
Auto Restorations innovative way of dealing with the soft plastics problem
De Joux Mini GT raced by John Rush of Oamaru
Andrew McGuire’s latest purchase, an SS (Sturdy Sunbeam)
Desperately Desirable Dino
La Dolce Vita