CLASSIC, VINTAGE AND VETERAN MOTORING FOR 75 YEARS
No. 369 April/May 2021
NEW ZEALAND’S FOREMOST HISTORICAL MOTORING MAGAZINE $7.95
9 418979 000012
SOUTHLAND BRANCH TAKES TO THE ROAD RARE 1928 JAMES • ON TOUR IN LOCHINVER MAGAZINE OF THE VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF NEW ZEALAND
1906 Darracq. Photo supplied by VCC Archivist Don Muller. Photographs Required: Submissions of suitable prints and information are welcome. Post or email original photographs or high resolution digital files of historical interest with any available information to: beadedwheels@vcc.org.nz or Beaded Wheels, PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Laserprints/photocopies are not suitable. Photos will be returned as soon as practicable.
NATIONAL OFFICE
The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140 Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 Email admin@vcc.org.nz
VCCNZ LIFE MEMBERS Andrew Anderson Roger White Norm Dewhurst Rod Brayshaw John Coomber
VCCNZ MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
PRESIDENT Diane Quarrie 06 876 4009 president@vcc.org.nz SECRETARY/ TREASURER Christopher Leith 03 358 5378 hon.sec@vcc.org.nz CLUB CAPTAIN NORTHERN REGION Kaaren Smylie 021 664 341 nicc@vcc.org.nz CLUB CAPTAIN SOUTHERN REGION Alon Mayhew 027 202 9491 sicc@vcc.org.nz
REGISTRAR Rod Brayshaw 07 549 4250 registrar@vcc.org.nz SPEED STEWARD Tony Haycock 021 662 441 speedsteward@vcc.org.nz BEADED WHEELS CHAIRMAN Kevin Clarkson 021 0270 6525 kevin@vcc.org.nz Tony Bartlett 06 867 9850
mgmt1@vcc.org.nz
George Kear 03 347 0315
mgmt2@vcc.org.nz
COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING comms@vcc.org.nz ARCHIVIST Don Muller 03 385 6850
archivist@vcc.org.nz
Murray Trounson mgmt3@vcc.org.nz
Please note this information changes annually - these details are valid until October 2021
VCCNZ BRANCHES A full list of branch addresses and contact details can also be found on the VCCNZ website at www.vcc.org.nz ASHBURTON PO Box 382, Ashburton 7740 ashburton@vcc.org.nz AUCKLAND PO Box 12-138, Penrose, Auckland 1642 auckland@vcc.org.nz BANKS PENINSULA 27 Showgate Ave, Riccarton Park, Christchurch 8042 bankspeninsula@vcc.org.nz BAY OF PLENTY PO Box 660, Tauranga 3140 bayofplenty@vcc.org.nz CANTERBURY PO Box 11-082, Sockburn Christchurch 8443 canterbury@vcc.org.nz CENTRAL OTAGO C/-114 Shortcut Road, Luggate, RD2, Wanaka 9382 centralotago@vcc.org.nz CENTRAL HAWKE’S BAY C/- 73 Porangahau Road, Waipukurau 4200 centralhawkesbay@vcc.org.nz EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY PO Box 2168, Kopeopeo Whakatane 3159 easternbayofplenty@vcc.org.nz
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FAR NORTH C/– 50 Davis Strongman Place, RD3, Kerikeri 0293 farnorth@vcc.org.nz GISBORNE PO Box 307, Gisborne 4040 gisborne@vcc.org.nz GORE PO Box 329, Gore 9740 gore@vcc.org.nz HAWKE’S BAY PO Box 3406, Napier 4142 hawkesbay@vcc.org.nz HOROWHENUA PO Box 458, Levin 5540 horowhenua@vcc.org.nz KING COUNTRY C/- 53 Huia Street, Taumarunui 3920 kingcountry@vcc.org.nz MANAWATU PO Box 385 Palmerston North 4440 manawatu@vcc.org.nz MARLBOROUGH PO Box 422, Blenheim 7240 marlborough@vcc.org.nz NELSON PO Box 3531, Richmond 7050 nelson@vcc.org.nz
NORTHLAND PO Box 17, Whangarei 0140 northland@vcc.org.nz NORTH OTAGO PO Box 360, Oamaru 9444 northotago@vcc.org.nz NORTH SHORE C/- 7 Godwit Place, Lynfield Auckland 1042 northshore@vcc.org.nz OTAGO C/- 21 Mornington Road, Balaclava, Dunedin 9011 otago@vcc.org.nz ROTORUA PO Box 2014, Rotorua 3040 rotorua@vcc.org.nz SOUTH CANTERBURY PO Box 623, Timaru 7910 southcanterbury@vcc.org.nz SOUTHLAND PO Box 1240, Invercargill 9840 southand@vcc.org.nz SOUTH OTAGO C/- 1931 Breakneck Rd, RD 4, Balclutha 9274 southotago@vcc.org.nz SOUTH WAIKATO PO Box 403 Tokoroa 3420 southwaikato@vcc.org.nz
TARANAKI C/- PO Box 39029, Egmont Village 4361 taranaki@vcc.org.nz TAUPO PO Box 907, Taupo 3351 taupo@vcc.org.nz WAIKATO PO Box 924, Hamilton 3240 waikato@vcc.org.nz WAIMATE 4 Harris St, Waimate 7924 waimate@vcc.org.nz WAIRARAPA PO Box 7, Masterton 5810 wairarapa@vcc.org.nz WAITEMATA C/- 9 Marlborough Ave, Glenfield, Auckland 0629 waitemata@vcc.org.nz WANGANUI PO Box 726, Whanganui 4540 wanganui@vcc.org.nz WELLINGTON PO Box 38-418, Petone, Wellington 5045 wellington@vcc.org.nz WELLSFORD/WARKWORTH PO Box 547, Warkworth 0941 wellsfordwarkworth@vcc.org.nz WEST COAST C/- 1999 Kumara Junction Highway, RD 2, Hokitika 7882 westcoast@vcc.org.nz
CONTENTS
Beaded Wheels Publisher
The Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc.) The Historic Vehicle Authority of New Zealand ISSN 0113-7506 Vol LXXII No. 369
Issue 369 April/May 2021
Editorial Committee
Kevin Clarkson (Chairman), Judith Bain, Bevars Binnie, Rosalie Brown, John Coomber, Mark Dawber.
Material for Publication
Reports of restorations, events, road tests, historical and technical articles should be submitted to beadedwheels@vcc.org.nz. Email of text and photos is preferred, digital photographs should be high resolution eg 300dpi. Alternatively mail your contribution to PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141, typed or neatly printed, double space on one side of paper only. No payment is made to contributors. The opinions or statements expressed in letters or articles in Beaded Wheels are the author’s own views and do not necessarily express the policy or views of The Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc).
Email beadedwheels@vcc.org.nz Advertising Enquiries
Classified and Display Advertising to: PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Email beadedwheels@vcc.org.nz Phone 64 3 332 3531 Rate schedule available on request.
FEATURES 14 The Famous James 1928 Sports
David Richardson explores his family connection
18 22 24 26 31
Back Issues Available on request to PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141.
Correspondence & Editorial Contributions
Phone 64 3 332 3531, Fax 64 3 366 0273 PO Box 13140, Christchurch 8141. Email beadedwheels@vcc.org.nz
An Umbrella on Wheels Roger Clark’s 1987 Citroën 2CV Charleston Memories of workshop trucks and a new generation vintage vehicle of some note
14
James 1928 Sport
The Racing Sunbeams in New Zealand - No 1 1913 Coupe de L’Auto Lochinver Vintage Car Safari 2021 Rally Snippets 29 60th Annual Rally – North Otago Branch 30 Veteran Run – Auckland Branch 31 Wee Wheelie Wander Number Two – North Otago Branch ‘ 31 Burma Rally - Wanganui Branch 32 Three Rivers Rally – Gisborne Branch 34 Pomeroy Trophy – Banks Peninsula Branch
18
1987 Citroën
Subscriptions
Beaded Wheels subscribers change of address to: PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140. Phone 03 366 4461, Fax 03 366 0273 Annual subscription (6 issues) $45* inc GST Australian subscription (6 issues) NZ$76* Other countries (6 issues) NZ$136*. *Payment by credit card incurs additional bank fee processing charge of 3%
Production
Design: RGB Design & Print Ltd, Christchurch Print: PMP Ltd, Christchurch.
Closing Date for June/July: Editorial Copy Advertisements
24 April 2021 10 May 2021
COLUMNS 4
President’s Message
39
4
As We See It
40 Marketplace
5
VCC Events
45
Swap Meets & Rallies
6
National Office
47
Trade Directory
7 Mailbag
49
Idle Torque
10 Timelines
62
Passing Lane
10
Notice of of AGM
The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.)
12
The Way We Were
National Office Phone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 Email admin@vcc.org.nz
36
Address: 12 Aberdeen St, Christchurch,
Pomeroy Trophy
34
17 Awards
Postal Address: PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
Archivist News
38
Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring Update
Marketplace
40
Book Reviews
New Zealand.
Website: www.vcc.org.nz Copyright Information
The contents are copyright. Articles may be reproduced complete or in part provided that acknowledgement is made to “Beaded Wheels, the magazine of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc)” as the source. Beaded Wheels reserves the right to digitally store all published material for archival purposes.
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COVER Katy and John Parish, Gore, in their 1952 Alvis TP21 at the Southland Rally. Photo Rae Wilson
The Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA) is the worldwide organisation dedicated to the preservation, protection and promotion of historic vehicles and related culture. The Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc) is a founding member of FIVA. VCCNZ Registrar Rod Brayshaw is the New Zealand delegate to FIVA and also a member of the FIVA Technical Commission.
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Looking back at my column one year ago, I was commenting on the impact Covid-19 was having on our Club and advising the actions that we had to take in response to the crisis including cancelling the March Executive meeting, National Easter Rally, our National Day and postponement of the Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring. I concluded my last Beaded Wheels column with “Let’s have a great 2021!”. Who would have thought that in late February this year the country would be going back up to Level 2 and 3 with the result that the decision was made by the organising committee to cancel the National Motorcycle Rally being held in Wairarapa in the second week of March. It was a heart-breaking time for the rally team who had put a huge amount of hard work into the event. Let’s hope that the other national events planned for this year will proceed. The Club Executive met in Wellington on 20 March 2021 and the meeting covered a wide range of topics. As well as various reports from members of the Management Committee, the Executive also discussed two upcoming notices of motion regarding on-line membership (which was held-over from
the preceding year) and the introduction of special interest groups. The latter notice of motion was as a result of the Management Committee being directed by members at the Club AGM to investigate ways and means of accommodating VCC membership by special interest groups that share the same or similar aims and objects to our Club. We also had presentations regarding our National Day, branding update and national office systems which were all received with enthusiasm by the executive. Chris Leith, our Hon Secretary/ Treasurer reported that with a couple of weeks to go before the end of the financial year, the Club is in a healthy position with a 200% increase in the operating surplus against the budgeted figure. This has come about mainly because of Covid-19 in that there was no March 2020 executive meeting, there was a reduction in delegates attending the August 2020 AGM and a big reduction in the promotions budget due to our National Day not proceeding. The new integrated accounting and database system for National Office has been installed and is now successfully operational. The capital cost of the upgrade is approximately
$22,000 plus GST. This covers the Accredo software and licencing plus new up-to-the-minute hardware to boost capacity and speed. The decision to upgrade the software and hardware is a demonstration of our commitment to be as efficient as we can be in our service to branches and members. On behalf of us all, I would like to record a huge vote of thanks to Management Committee Member Murray Trounson who has spear-headed this massive undertaking at no cost to the Club. We are indeed very fortunate as if we had to pay a contractor to undertake this work, the Club would be looking at a cost of somewhere between $30,000 to $40,000. I am pleased to advise that Robyn Ashworth has been appointed as National Office Administrator following the retirement of Julie Cairns-Gee. Robyn comes to the Club with 30 years of office management experience I warmly welcome Robyn to the team. At the Executive meeting, the Management Committee put forward a design for a new logo for the Club which was, in the main, wholeheartedly accepted by the delegates, although a few made it clear that they still preferred the ‘wings’. This is of
course totally understandable and I acknowledge their depth of feeling around why they prefer the status quo to remain. There is still a little bit more work to do on the design and then it will be sent around to Branches for discussion and feedback from members before a final presentation is made at the August AGM for approval. There is a new Incorporated Societies Bill before Parliament. The current 1908 Act is now out of date and deficient in some respects. While I have not had a chance yet to study the Bill in depth, its purpose is to put in place a modern framework of basic legal, governance and accountability obligations for incorporated societies and those who run them. In particular, the Bill puts in place expressed duties on the officers of a society (similar to a director of a company). We will update Branches as we know more. All the best and take care out there
Diane Quarrie VCCNZ National President
AS WE SEE IT In his mailbag letter in this issue Stuart Battersby is quite correct in pointing out that I slightly erred in my assumption about split infinitives in Winston Churchill’s quote within my editorial in the last issue. On the other hand he quotes the famous Star Trek split infinitive of “To boldly go where no man has been before” when the actual quote was “where no man has gone before”. Nonetheless that does not change the fact that he was right – If it was a competition then Stuart has won! I appreciate his feedback. I have had other feedback as well, all of a positive nature, on that column. One letter to me by a gentleman slightly older
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than me had this to say as his opening statement “Having read your last editorial I was at first going to describe you as a died-in-the-wool old pedant, but then it struck me that that would be a perfect example of the pot having the temerity to denigrate the countenance of the kettle, as I am myself a died-in-the-wool old pedant…” Now – that was fun to read, as was the rest of his letter. Apart from the examples I used last issue I have many other examples of pet hates I hold regarding the murdering of the English language but fear I am losing the battle and have to face the fact that languages are everchanging, whether I like it or not.
This issue contains some interesting stories, including the rare James 500cc V-twin motorcycle, a Citroën 2CV, early Toyotas being used as workshop trucks and Andrew Anderson’s excellent story on early racing Sunbeams. The Sunbeam story is important from a historical viewpoint because as time passes and memories fade getting the story down now preserves the information for future generations. Disappointingly, current events have resulted in the cancellation of some VCC events, including the National Motorcycle Rally to be based in Masterton. This was one I was really looking
forward to, but I suspect that my disappointment would pale into insignificance compared to that of rally organisers Peter Bull, Beth Taylor and the committee from the Wairarapa Branch. To do all the work required to organise a big rally only to have to cancel at the last minute. Heart-breaking for them, I’m sure. Nonetheless we publicly thank them here for their efforts, as we were unable to do so at the rally.
Kevin Clarkson Chairman Beaded Wheels
VINTAGE CAR CLUB BRANCH EVENTS
Canterbury Branch Grand Garden Country Party was a day of motoring and relaxing with a bit of competition thrown in for good measure. Photo Colin Hey
APRIL
2-5 Sth Canterbury 3 Bay of Plenty 4 Canterbury 5 Ashburton 7 Canterbury 9-10 Waikato 10 Marlborough
National Easter Vintage Rally Jazz Festival Car Parade Ground Crew Day Easter Branch Run 9-90s Run Mooloo Meander Whatamango Bay Picnic Lunch 10 Nelson Coffee Cruize 11 Canterbury P Group Rally 11 Wairarapa Club Captain’s Run 11 Wanganui Park Up At City College 11 Northland Swap Meet 14 Bay of Plenty Mid Week Run 15-18 Rotorua Not a Spring Tour 16-18 Otago Otago Rally 17 Far North Brian Parker Rally 17 Nelson Club Run 17 North Otago Gerald Lynch-Blosse Memorial Motorcycle Rally 17 Wanganui Castrol Motorcycle Rally 18 Auckland Gymkhana 18 Banks Peninsula Mystery Run 18 Manawatu Branch Outing 18 Rotorua Night Run 18 Taupo Chairman’s Run 18 Wellington Country Run to White Rock 21 Waikato Wednesday Wander 23-26 Bay of Plenty Highland Fling Rally 24 North Shore Northern Raid Rally 24-26 Canterbury Autumn Three Day Run 25 Bay of Plenty End of Month Run 25 Canterbury Malvern ANZAC Run 25 Gisborne Club Run
28 Rotorua 28 Wellington
Midweekers Run Kapiti Mid-week Run
MAY
1 Ashburton Swap Meet 1 Manawatu Post Vintage Rally 2 Ashburton Plains Rotary Classic Car Run 2 Wellington Sunday Run 8 Ctrl Hawke’s Bay Twilight/Night Rally 8 Gore Night Trial 8 Nelson Coffee Cruize 8 Southland Waimea Motorcycle Rally 8-9 Wairarapa Motorcycle Reliability Trial 9 Far North Mother’s Day Run/Lunch 9 Hawke’s Bay Swap Meet 9 Sth Canterbury P Classes Rally 9 Wairarapa Motorcycle Reliability Run 11 Far North AGM 12 Bay of Plenty Mid Week Run 12 Manawatu AGM 12 Taupo AGM 15 Northland Motorcycle Rally 15 Southland PWV / P60V / P80V Rally 15-16 Nelson Club Run 16 Otago Restoration Rally 16 Rotorua Chairman’s Run 16 Taupo Club Run 16 Waikato Vintage Venture 16 Wanganui Sunday Run 19 Waikato Wednesday Wander 20 Wellsford/Wkwth AGM 23 Sth Canterbury Restoration Run 23 Wellington Ladies Rally 25 Wairarapa Mid-week Social Run 26 Rotorua Midweekers Run
26 Wellington Kapiti Mid-week Run 27 EBOP AGM 28 Marlborough Night Trail 30 Bay of Plenty End of Month Run 30 Marlborough AGM 30 Gisborne Club Run
JUNE
2 Wanganui 3 Sth Canterbury 4-6 Canterbury 5 Gore 5-7 Waikato 6 Sth Canterbury 6 Wanganui 9 Waikato 10 Sth Canterbury 12-13 Otago 13 Northland 13 Rotorua 13 West Coast 14 Bay of Plenty 14 Wairarapa 16 Bay of Plenty 16 Gisborne 17 Ashburton 19 Wellington 19 Manawatu 20 Nelson
20 Otago 20 Taupo 20 Wellington 20 West Coast 26 Far North
AGM AGM Irishman Rally End of Season Run Double 50 Rally All British Rally Annual Rally AGM Midweek Run Coast to Coast Tour AGM Prizegiving Run AGM AGM AGM Mid Week Run AGM AGM Mid winter night trial Twilight Rally AGM & Restoration of the Year AGM Club Run Colonial Cup Rally Rosco Sporting Trials Molloy Trophy Run
This list does not contain all branch events (eg midweek or small club runs) Check branch newsletters for up-to-date details of smaller events. This column is compiled from the VCCNZ National Calendar of Events, and events as listed in each branch newsletter. Any deletions, additions, alterations need to be notified to Beaded Wheels by the Branch Secretary before 10th of the month prior to magazine publication.
While Beaded Wheels makes every attempt to check the accuracy of the dates published in this column we advise readers to confirm all dates with the individual branch concerned.
A valid Vehicle ID card (VIC) is required for any vehicle entered in a National VCC event. Visit www.vcc.org.nz for more information on how to obtain a VIC for your vehicle.
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NATIONAL OFFICE Contact National Office for all queries regarding VICs, logbooks, historic race licences, registration of vehicles, lighting endorsement, address changes, subscriptions, membership cards, speed events.
endorsements. A VIC change of ownership form can be processed by the National Office. All applications must include photos VERO INSURANCE Don’t forget the VCC Vero Insurance Scheme for discounted premiums.
JOHN L GODDARD TROPHY NOMINATIONS On ths page you will find a notice regarding the John L Goddard Trophy. Please put some thought to placing a nomination. VCC ID CARD/AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS See your branch secretary about these and lighting
Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc.) National Office, PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140
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CHANGE OF ADDRESS Please advise the National Office if you have changed address or vehicle ownership. COOK STRAIT FERRY Members of the VCC can obtain a discount with Interislander and BlueBridge. Full information on how to book is on the club’s website www.vcc. org.nz
JOHN L GODDARD TROPHY for achievement Members of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand are invited to nominate a fellow member for this annual award. The nomination should be for any member who they regard as having been involved in a significant achievement. It may be a particularly significant restoration, a memorable motoring journey or an important historical article or series of articles published in Beaded Wheels or some special service to the Club. Nominations for the Award should be forwarded to: John L Goddard Award, Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc) PO Box 2546, Christchurch 8140.
NOMINATIONS CLOSE 9 JULY 2021
NOTICE OF AGM
On page 10 you will find a Notice of AGM along with a request for nominations for the Management Committee positions.
CLASSIC,
AND VINTAGE
VETERAN
G FOR 75 MOTORIN
YEARS
E $7.95 G MAGAZIN L MOTORIN T HISTORICA S FOREMOS NEW ZEALAND’
No. 368
CLASSIC, VINTAG E
AND VETERA
N MOTORING
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Telephone 03 366 4461 Fax 03 366 0273 email admin@vcc.org.nz www.vcc.org.nz Office Hours Mon – Fri 9-5pm
No. 358 June/July
FOREMOST HISTORICAL
MOTORING MAGAZINE
BAY HAWKE’S ACTION IN IDSON VETERAN LEY-DAV • 1920 HAR
ER P6 V8 1972 ROV
Beaded Wheels is the voice of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) and its 36 branches covering the length and breadth of the country. The efforts of our members continue to foster and ever widen the interest in this segment of our country’s history. It is to these people, who appreciate the fascination of age, the individuality and the functional elegance of vehicles from a bygone era, that this magazine is dedicated Beaded Wheels – Our long established title may have readers wondering about its
GE CAR CLUB OF THE VINTA
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TRANSFER BETWEEN BRANCHES Complete a transfer form available from your branch secretary.
FOR OVER 70
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NEW ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Robyn Ashworth has recently joined the Vintage Car Club office team after 34 years working in the hydraulic industry and more recently working at a quarry. Robyn's main interest outside of work is running and every year she aims to complete at least one half marathon as well as local Christchurch events like City to Surf or Run to Remember, in remembrance of the Earthquake victims. Her other passion is motor racing, mainly V8 Super Cars and she has been to many Australian race meets. Robyn is married with a son, two stepdaughters and eight grandchildren, ranging in age from 6 to 16 years old. She is looking forward to meeting some of you soon and dealing with others via email or phone
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
MEGA MOTOR ING
ZEALAND
Rally Action From
Around New Zealan d
1966 NISSAN PRINCE SKYLINE MAGNETOS AND , MORE… MAGAZINE OF THE VINTAGE
CAR CLUB OF
NEW ZEALAND
origin. By way of explanation beaded edge wheels use beaded edge tyres that are kept in place by reinforced rubber beads, which fit into the rolled edges of the wheel rim. This style of wheel was a distinctive feature of early motoring, being used on early bicycles, many pre-1924 cars and most motorcycles until 1927. In March 1955 The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand adopted the title Beaded Wheels for their club magazine which was the successor to the monthly Guff Sheet.
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MAILBAG The editorial committee reserve the right to publish, edit or refuse publication of any item submitted as comment. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily express the policy or views of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) or the publishers. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
PRODDED INTO ACTION
Well done in issue 368 with your lightly disguised attempt to prod contributors towards more imaginative writing. But why have I a nagging feeling your classic example of why one shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition is much older than Winston Churchill? My sagging memory prompts me to my fourth form English teacher in the 1950s claiming it for Disraeli. Disraeli certainly provided the other much-quoted mixed metaphor: “I smell a rat…I see it floating in the air and clouding up the sky…so I’ll nip it in the bud!“ Hope you are right and I am wrong; otherwise you may have an expanded mailbag next month and nothing to do with items automotive! Bill Cockram
WHERE IS THIS CAR?
I am looking for members who may know of the whereabouts of a 1928 air-cooled Franklin. The owner was Trevor Bear from Tirau/Hamilton who crashed it before the 10th International Veteran and Vintage car rally in Australia in 1970. I would like to know if the car was returned to New Zealand or left in Australia. David Baer jdavidbaer@gmail.com
MOTOR BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Recently I produced an A4, black and white, landscape, 100 page book on Nelson motor businesses from 1903 to 1960 in order to preserve information I had. The book lists around 254 firms, has about 225 photos or illustrations and mentions more than 780 staff members.
brother’s first car which was also a 1937 Austin Seven.
not put”. Grammatically correct, but unreadable twaddle!
HISTORY
So, despite your final paragraph, Winston did not break the rule, rather he illustrated its silliness.
I would like to encourage members in other districts to do something similar. Denis Le Cren
CAR QUERY
Seeing the picture and article in Mailbag issue 367 Car Query I am pretty sure it is an early Sunbeam Talbot. A friend has a very nice 2 door Pillarless 4 seater saloon with identical rear guards to the open topped one pictured. Later Talbots had rear spats like the Jaguar Mks 7 and 8. The centre was cut out to ease removal of the rear wheels on Mk9s. My dad’s Mk9 ones often squeaked to my dad’s annoyance! His mechanic changed the catches to hold them in position and it worked, no more squeaks! Presumably my friend’s Talbot would be 1950s as he bought it second hand in the 1960s for £200. I do remember the plush grey leather seats (black exterior very shiny) and always very reliable. The Rootes brothers, manufacturers of Hillman and Humber, took control of Singer and Sunbeam and later, Talbots. They had of course a different body design with spats which were eventually dropped altogether. My friend’s lovely Talbot would have been a Rootes-made car and almost certainly the one featured is possibly the same. As usual looking forward to the next great issue of Beaded Wheels. Ken Braddon, Blockhouse bay
PS. Reading the article My First Car Austin Seven part 2 brought back a lot of memories of my
I am searching for some early history on a recently purchased Jaguar Mk II. It was imported new by the then Independent Motor Sales, Wellington. I believe its registration of CJ 5131 was allocated to the Wairarapa area. That’s the only history I have, up until the year 2000. Its original colour was British Racing Green. It is a 1961 3.8 manual, with overdrive and a tan interior trim. I look forward to hearing from anyone who has any info at all. Ron Gray 027 777 8077 email: d.r.gray@xtra.co.nz
AS WE SEE IT
I refer to your As We See It editorial in the February/March 2021 edition of Beaded Wheels. I often read your editorials and was particularly amused by this one. After giving us an incisive review of phrases and words that annoy you, I am afraid you completely muddled up the story of the dangling preposition and Winston’s comments. An example of ending a sentence might be: “Increasing the proportion of articles about veteran vehicles is something that I will not put up with”. In this sentence the verb is “put up” and the preposition is the trailing “with”. Winston, wanting to make known his opposition to some parliamentary point and while he really wanted to say “Nonsense, that is something that I will not put up with”, decided to make his point AND illustrate the ridiculousness of the Latin grammar rule. He actually said “Nonsense that is something up with which I will
More from Winston: he was a clever and wily politician and was once overheard in his office repeating a phrase over and over, each time with different emphasis and intonation. The phrase was “Gentlemen, I had not intended to speak on this topic”. Keep up the good work! I look forward to your next editorial and your comments on the Star Trek split-infinitive: “To boldly go where no man has been before.” Stuart Battersby
MYSTERY PHOTO OF THE WASP, BEADED WHEELS 368
You will find this photo and a very comprehensive exposition of the Parry Thomas Special or Marlborough Thomas on pages 65 and 66 of Flat to the Boards by Dick Messenger and Douglas Wood and published by us VCCNZ in 1985. Duncan Baucop was the General Manager and New Zealand agent for Leyland and Anderson’s Ltd held the Canterbury agency for them. He was a well known friend of the family too and a long time motor racing enthusiast. His Leyland connection, of course, ensured his acquisition of the Thomas on the death of Parry Thomas himself. Prior to that he had owned and raced at Muriwai one of the ill-fated 1913 Grand Prix Italas. The 1913 Formula was a maximum weight of 1100kgs and a fuel consumption limit of just under 14 miles per gallon. For this Peugeot dropped their 7.5 litre 1912 winner’s capacity to 5655cc, the Delages ran to 6234cc. Itala produced a very advanced rotary valve design of 125 x 160mm or 7854cc with a potential 150bhp but detuned for the race to produce about 110. All three cars were out by lap 15 of a 29 lap race with broken chassis thanks to that 1100kg limit. HR Pope, who was one of their
Beaded Wheels 7
MAILBAG
drivers and UK agent, brought two of the cars to UK, one, fitted with a single seater body, was a Brooklands regular, the second, fitted with a four seater body, came to New Zealand with Baucop. Just like the 1911 Delage at Brighton pre-war, the Itala was a complex car far from home and no-one could get it to go properly. After two unsuccessful Muriwais and a long spell in the back of the Baucop garage, he gave the engine to Wellington Polytech and the chassis was dumped! Andrew Anderson
MEMORY LANE
Gordon Higgie, Ken Sandstor with cased fruit ready for rail.
5½ ton fruit going to rail at Alexandra in the 1950s from Earncleugh Orchard.
Recently I was sorting through some old photos and came across these two. They were taken with mum's old box brownie way back in the 1950s. John Loudon
PETER MAXWELL
1925-2021
You will recall many issues ago; my “Way we were” column had a photo of Garth Gould and I leaving Burnham Army Camp resplendent in our battledress in my Panhard-Levasser and my connection with the NZ Scottish Regiment. Our 1948 Annual Camp at Waiouru in July and under canvas was a very cold but interesting meet-up with all sorts of characters from all over NZ amongst whom , not a few had interests in “ancient” machinery. We duly “teamed
8 Beaded Wheels
up” in the process of starting M3 Stuart Tanks as there-in described. Peter was one of these and promptly joined us later in 1948 as did Roy Ferens from Dunedin thus beating Mike Haggitt who didn’t join until 1950. It was, of course, mostly a correspondence and gossip kind of membership, but, in it, he was joined by Ken Hemus and at least 3 others from the NZMRDA team. In “50 Years” you will read of his threat to resign in 1952 sparked a lot of discussion over the possibility of an Auckland Branch whilst I was still overseas and he stayed in. On my return, we returned to a sketchy correspondence till the advent of Genevieve (the film) and I get a call from him on Horace Robinson’s public notice to form an Auckland Club and I fly up and stay with him and his parents in Otahuhu as we campaign at the Public meeting to make it a VCC of NZ branch. We got quite a lot of support from those other members and others but not quite enough and The Veteran and Vintage Car Club of Auckland was duly set up. However, Peter and Mollie had been in touch throughout our planning stage of Beaded Wheels and through Peter’s good work Moll succeeded in hooking the Auckland Club into adopting “Beaded Wheels” as its magazine too! This proved very successful and Peter filed a big slice of their contributions and their decision to become a Branch pretty quickly followed on. For their very first display event, at Peter’s suggestion, they invited me up to judge their concours event which all helped. In May 1957 I spent a month in charge of our Anderson’s Auckland office and I had a lot of great drives culminating in the loan of Bernie McGlyn’s Low Chassis Invicta for a whole week! Wow! June 1958 “Beaded Wheels” has a great photo of Peter’s 20/60 Sunbeam winning their Rotorua Rally and the AGM of the Club in Wellington in 1960 had delegates from The
UNFAIR WOF SYSTEM
The reply to my letter in the last issue regarding six monthly warrants of fitness was answered by an indication that Government Departments are slow to change. I would still like to suggest there is little pressure from the Vintage Car Club and the Federation of Motoring on the Government changing the system.
Classic Car magazine listed countries warrant of fitness systems which is very eye opening and shows how classic and vintage car ownership in New Zealand is being taken for a ride by the government for no reasonable explanation and without being challenged for doing so. G Walker
COUNTRY
AGE OF CAR
WOF REQUIREMENT
Australia (QLD and ACT)
All
Only change of ownership
Australia (other states)
10-plus years
Annually
Canada*
All
Only change of ownership
Japan
All
Three years from new then two yearly
US
All
Roughly half of the 50 states no requirement
European Union (guidelines)
All
Four years from new then two yearly
Netherlands
35-plus years
Two yearly
Netherlands
50-plus years
None
UK
40-plus years
None and no rego
New Zealand
20-plus years
Every 6 months
*An authorised mechanic can report a vehicle as being unfit for the road Information reproduced from Classic Car magazine.
Ed Note: The Vintage Car Club does make representation to various Government departments on behalf of its members. This includes ongoing discussion about the need for six monthly warrants of fitness. Auckland Branch (Norm Adams and Earl Gill) and Peter now a family man and always a pretty retiring sort of chap, wrote a bit and drove his lovely Sunbeam into the background. Andrew Anderson
CALLING ALL ITALA OWNERS I am aware there are maybe more early Itala 4 cyl cars in Australia and New Zealand, than in Italy, Europe.
My Itala 1908 has a younger 4 cyl monoblock engine from 1911 (4 cyl cast in one block. The photo shows the old 2-cylinder twin-blocks, 2+2 = 4 ). I want to ask New Zealand Itala owners, if they know of an engine of any cylinder volume for sale. I also started a printed register of still existing Italas with chassis- and engine number and what year registered. I would like to hear from any Itala owner in New Zealand who is keen to join this register. Ing. Karl Marschhofer 4814 Altmuenster - Neukirchen email: oldtimer.marschhofer@ gmail.com whatsapp +43 699 122 01234
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THE FAMOUS
JAMES 1928 SPORTS TWIN 500CC MODEL 12 WORDS AND PHOTOS DAVE RICHARDSON
David Richardson explores his family connection through his father-in-law, Tony James, to the James cycle Not exactly a barn find – more a back of the garage find at my soon-to-become father-in-law’s property in Tauranga. A box of bits consisting of a V twin engine, gearbox parts, frame, most of a set of Webb girder forks, wheels, a very rusty tank and parts of mudguards. But what was it? I should have had a clue when I asked Mr Tony James whether it was a JAP or similar (there were no distinguishing names or transfers that could be seen). He explained that it was in fact a 500cc James, and of course I stated the obvious “I didn’t know James made large capacity motorcycles” …a statement that many people say to me when they admire the motorbike in the street. In fact Wikipedia doesn’t include any of the large capacity four strokes in their history of the James motorcycle, but the James factory actually made a range of 500cc and 600cc singles from 1909 and 650cc and 750cc V twins from 1919. Tony James’s grandfather, Harry James, started the James cycle factory in Birmingham in 1897, but the first motorcycle did not appear until 1902. Harry had died before the first motorcycle was manufactured, but my father-in-law had the foresight to bring a 500cc machine out with him when he immigrated to New Zealand in the 1940s. The bike had unfortunately been slowly dismantled by enthusiastic young sons who were better at dismantling and
14 Beaded Wheels
losing parts than they were at reassembling, once they found out what was on the inside. Mr James allowed me to take what was left of the 500 on the condition that I would promise to keep it in the family. And so in 1974, as custodian of a box of bits, I started the restoration. To find out what a motorcycle looked like in the days before the internet was a matter of searching the library and writing many letters. A breakthrough occurred when I purchased two books Motorcycles in Colour by Eric Thompson 1974 and The Fifth Vintage Road Test Journal C E (Titch) Allen 1977. Both of these books featured 1925 500 V twin James, with extensive notes in the road test journal. Titch Allen, one of the founding members of the Vintage Motorcycle Club, really rated the James 500 with phrases like “the 500 Jimmy really is charming” and “a motor… with character plus the heart of a lion”. I just knew this restoration was going to be really worthwhile. The photos in those two books, while of a 1925 model, gave me an idea of the parts which were missing, and I started to make a comprehensive list of what I needed to obtain or make. I started the restoration with a trip to a local panel beater. He was fascinated that the saddle tank could hold petrol in one side and a half, with an oil tank in the remaining quarter. He was
reluctant to dismantle the tank, but did a beautiful job (using lead in those days) to fill the extensive dents and dings. He welded the pieces of mudguards together, adding metal where required, and finished off with lead. I moved to Christchurch and disaster struck. Little boys lit a fire in my back shed, and fed with cans of petrol, thinners and other combustibles the James went up in smoke. When the local brigade finally put the fire out, the restored tank and guards had little pools of lead beneath them and were back to worse than unrestored status. I was heartbroken, as other parts that had been sandblasted and primed were black and blistered. I threw what was there in a box and forgot about it for another 40 years. Roll on the internet and pending retirement. I now had Mrs Google working for me, and locating missing bits and pieces was starting to become easier. Bad luck still followed me however. One of the pieces that had come with the bike was a brass Villiers carburettor. I had joined the VCC by then, and on the advice of one of the members took it to a local carburettor expert for reconditioning. After six months and not having heard from him I went around to his workshop to see what was happening. Not much apparently, his wife said that he had recently been admitted
to a dementia unit but I was welcome to have a look through the hundreds of carburettors and boxes for the missing carb. It was nowhere to be found. Another setback in the restoration. My son, who had caught the James bug, was restoring a couple of James two strokes, and introduced me his mechanic, Roger Cotterill, who has been superb at making the tricky little bits and pieces that were missing, and assembling the engine and forks. A true craftsman, he was the stroke of luck this difficult restoration needed, as I was a viticulture lecturer and lacked the finer skills of motor mechanics. Mrs Google also directed me to a site in Hungary (of all places) where I picked up most of another engine and a lovely cast aluminium silencer. Many of the Webb girder fork parts have been reproduced and are available on eBay. The James 500cc V twins were outstanding in their reliability, handling, and stamina in trials. A page of wins and gold medals over 59 national and international trials accompanied the parts catalogue for the 1928 model. Some of the most notable were wins in the 1924 International Six Days Trial as a member of the English team, and then repeated with gold medals in 1925, 1926 and 1927, including a tie for the manufacturer’s prize in 1927. Other successes included 1924, 1925, 1927 Scottish Six Days Trial and the ACU 1,000
Beaded Wheels 15