Far North Focus June 2022 The wheels of our Club
Tom & Marg Deverall’s 1984 Rover P6 3.5 ltr Assembled in Nelson, NZ. Just passed the 200,000 kms.
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Who’s Who for 2022/2023 Chairman
Winston Matthews
win@matthewsvintage.com
09 4060203
Vice Chairman
Keith Lyndsell
keithlyndsell@gmail.com
09 405 5500
Secretary
Naomi Mason
vinomi88@gmail.com
09 408 1376
Treasurer
Robyn Mackay
wmackay116@gmail.com
09 4061955
Northern Club Captain
Tom Deverall
tadmadinparadise@gmail.com
0274735389
Southern Club Captain
Steve Edwards
steveedwards243@gmail.com
09 401 6239
Buildings Officer
Warren Mackay
wmackay116@gmail.com
09 4061955
Communications Officer
Margaret Ilton
4ed.focus@gmail.com
0221008119
Beaded Wheels Rep
Murray Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz
09 407 7255
Editor
Margaret Ilton
4ed.focus@gmail.com
09 4068565
Committee: Winston Matthews, Murray Cormack, Warren Mackay, Robyn Mackay, Mike Pooley, Vince Mason, Keith Lyndsell, Tom Deverall, Steve Edwards, Margaret Deverall, Margaret Ilton. The full list of the elected officers is circulated with the minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting.
Club Cleaning Roster June
R & W Mackay
July
C & M Ilton
August
D & B Francis
September
N & V Mason
October
Everyone
November
M & T Deverall
December
Winston & Glenis
January
C & M Ilton
February
R & W Mackay
March
P O Dell
April
M & T Deverall
May
M Pooley
The Far North Branch of the VVC does have a policy that pets are not brought to any Club events. We do ask that this policy is respected please. Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
During the month and preferably before the main calendar event, please give the clubrooms a thorough check over. This includes cleaning the toilets, hand basins, checking kitchen, table tops, window ledges, sweeping the floors etc. If your cleaning date does not suit you, please swop with someone else. Window cleaning, washing walls etc. will be done at working bees. Take note of any required maintenance and pass on to our Building Officer - Warren Mackay 4061955
09
For any further enquires please contact our club Captain.
Remember the Taipa Bay Caffeine & Classics 3rd Sunday every month 10 to 12.30 Ramada Resort Next date: Sunday June 19
Club Calendar of Events 2022/23
February 18 Northern Club Captains Run Organised by Tom & Margaret Deverall March 18
Saturday June 11 Monthly Club Meeting 2 pm Aurere Clubrooms
Southern Captains Run Organised by Steve & Steph Edwards April 15 Brian Parker Trophy
June 19
Organised by Keith Lyndsell
Taipa Caffeine & Classics 10 -12.30
Ramada Resort Taipa
Organised by Rosco
May 16 Mother’s Day Run Organised by Claude & Marg Ilton
June 25 Molloy Trophy Rally
Monthly - 2nd Saturday
Organised by Steve & Steph Edwards
Club Meeting @ Aurere Clubrooms Monthly - 3rd Sunday
July
16
Annual Prize Giving & Dinner Organised by Tom & Warren August
27
Kohukohu Run
Caffeine & Classics @ Ramada Taipa +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Club Notices ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Organised by Keith Lyndsell
Molloy Trophy Rally September 4 Annual FNVCC meeting September 17th Father’s Day Organised by Vince & Naomi Mason October 15 Working Bee and Car Boot Sale at Club Rooms November 12 & 13 Dunny Run in conjunction with Far North Tour December 10 Xmas Dinner. Organised by Max Allen January This will be a picnic. Yet to be decided when and where.
Saturday 25th June Please meet at the Mitre 10 car park [Kerikeri] at 9 am for a 9.30 start. The first part of the drive is to Opua. Practical footwear & no jandals pse. Bring a chair each and your own morning tea. Lunch can be purchased locally if you wish. In the Focus this month we have photos contributed by: Gloria, Margaret D, Margaret C, Naomi & Murray. Reports, notices & contributions from Ruth, Murray, Win, Tom, Graeme, Steve & Naomi. Thank you club members for taking the time to add to the interest of our Focus.
“The best view comes after the hardest climb.” Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Your continued dedication is much appreciated. Some of you have spent many years in respective positions and deserve a break.
From the chair… Chairman’s Annual Report It is my pleasure to present the 2022 annual report. Looking back, this year has still been affected by Covid lockdowns with a lot of public events, as well as our own, being cancelled. Unfortunately we have lost some of our longstanding members with Dave and Peg Hills leaving in November for a retirement village in Waipu and Dave passing away in April. Also Graeme Moore and Margaret Cornwall left for the South Island in January to be closer to family. And Dave and Dorothy Duirs resigned from the club after 25 years in it. They, as well as others who have not renewed their membership will be sadly missed by the club. With lockdowns, although a number of events have been cancelled or postponed, we just scraped through with the Dargaville train trip, going into lockdown as we drove home. It was a very successful and enjoyable run. Many thanks to Tom and Murray, our Club Captains, for organising our motoring and social events for the year. Also the Vero Rally at New Plymouth went ahead with a very normal atmosphere despite the threat of lockdowns which once again happened on our way home. It was a very enjoyable rally over interesting roads and country. There was excellent entertainment and good camaraderie with our 16 members present. Many thanks to all of our Office Holders who kept our club operating successfully.
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
As we move forward, I think we should consider having our monthly meetings on Saturdays say at 1 pm, followed by afternoon tea along with the spare parts shed being open or some other event. Travelling at night, particularly in winter is not good as we get older. With some members travelling over an hour in each direction, the change is food for thought. Finally, thank you one and all for your support over the year and don’t hesitate to put your hand up to take on a job. Thanks Winston Matthews
Many thanks to all those who attended the annual meeting and took on positions of responsibility. I look forward to working with you over the next year and let’s enjoy happy motoring. Regards. Win
branch some years ago. Two, three and four wheeled vehicles are a passion to Keith.
Southern Club Captain’s Annual Report The last twelve months have not been easy for group activities. In spite of the difficulties I believe club members have enjoyed our varied activities. Monthly informal car shows have continued at Taipa and Paihia with a great mix of cars, people and food. As with last year I am humbled by the generosity of our host members who provide their private homes for our potluck lunches. We enjoyed a beach picnic as a change from these in March.
A big thanks to Gloria and Ruth for your continuous help over the last two years. Both of them are also to relinquish their roles at this AGM. Lastly a big thanks to all members for being there, and hope you continue to enjoy our activities and your involvement in the club in whatever form that suits you best. Murray Cormack
Mother’s Day Rally Winners
This year Tom and Margaret from the north organised our two-night stay in the Kaipara area enjoying the rail carts. We have continued with the odd midweek event, principally based around places of interest in our area. I keep being surprised at the number of vintage eligible vehicles that come to our notice. Hopefully we can entice some of the owners to VCC membership. The Vero International rally in New Plymouth over the summer was a personal highlight for me. It was an awesome collection of all manner of vehicles from all over New Zealand. The sheer horsepower of vehicles, knowledge, commitment to vehicle ownership and the VCC movement overall was a humbling experience. My term as club captain will finish at this AGM and I will support Steve Edwards’ nomination for the position next term. Steve has great skills and enthusiasm for the role, and I am sure he will do a great job for the club. I will also support nomination of Keith Lyndsell for Vice Chairman of our branch. Keith has a long history in the vintage car movement, transferring from Horowhenua Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Congratulations Naomi and Vince.
If anyone has any more ideas please tell Steve or myself so we can add to our schedule. Happy Motoring. Tom Northern Club Captain’s Report We have begun our FNVCC new year with a change of times for our monthly meetings for the winter, June July & August. The meetings will be held on the second Saturday for those 3 months, start time is 2 pm followed by afternoon tea. A huge thanks to these members... Keith Lyndsell for agreeing to take on the Vice Presidency at the AGM. Naomi has kindly accepted the job of Secretary with Robyn MacKay staying on as Treasurer and Steve Edwards accepting the Southern Captain’s role.
Many thanks to Winston for accepting the role of Chairman for the coming year. He has filled a gap for us at this AGM. He has agreed to accept the position for 1 year. I appreciate his continued support of the club, his years of experience, knowledge and the time he gives to the overall functioning of the club. Thank you Winston"
Austin Rally 26th April 2022. Naomi Mason Vince & I decided to attend the Austin rally in Whangarei on the 26th April, since we were down there for a long weekend. We took Vince's sister, Rose, whom we were staying with so she could enjoy a day out too. We met at 10:30am at the Whangarei Town Basin, meeting up with members & Jim Shaw who organized the day. Jim's friend, Warren Thomas shared with us about the Rolling Ball Clock, he, being the Chairman of a group of people, who were responsible for raising money to build it and look after it. He explained all about the workings of the clock, which is really amazing. Jim's father had built a previous one, which is now in the Clock museum in Whangarei.
June 25th is set down for the Molloy Trophy Rally. Steve Edwards is our organiser for this event. July 16th is our annual prize giving and dinner. Time and venue to come later. Trophy holders are asked to return trophies to the club at the next meeting or two, thanks. Rosco’s Caffeine & Classics at Taipa is always a great socialising morning, 3rd Sunday of every month with good turn outs of Classics, Muscle cars and bikes. The committee has organised a great number of runs for the coming year, from Kerikeri to Kohukohu to Cape Reinga.
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
This rolling ball clock is the only one in the world & was so fascinating to watch. There were SO MANY moving parts and all going so smoothly, just like clockwork! Lots of people were there watching, fascinated by it all, especially the kids.
We left the Town Basin & headed out towards Onerahi, up Awaroa River Rd, to the old Money Factory, up on the hill. The owner of Homewood Stoves- Zac, met us, & showed us all through the different areas of the business, from design, through to the finished product. They built their own patterns, castings, bricks. Everything except the glass panels, were made on site. One big workshop had huge manufacturing machines, brought in from overseas which were old & very solid. They made their own moulds & templates to make these stoves. There was a HUGE mixer, (way bigger than our cake mixers), that they used to make their own fire bricks. So solid & strong. We went through rooms of all the differing stages of construction until we came back to the finished product. These were so lovely to look at, very solid & strong. They export them overseas, as well as selling to New Zealand customers.
After this we headed to Onerahi, and down Raumati Cresent to the end, where we had our lunch stop at Dragon Fly Springs. Jeremy Busck, who donated the land to Council, told us all about this area of wetlands, nature & conservation. He is very passionate and told us of all the plans for this land & what they have done so far and about the ways they collect all the rubbish which is stopped under the grates of the drains etc. Very interesting. He took us all for a tour through the bush and wetlands on well-kept paths and we saw traps to trap predators, which were donated by people, even school kids. They get quite a few groups through, learning heaps & even volunteering. There was even a "Pirates" point where we had to "walk the plank" for the brave. Some of us ventured over.
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
There were great views & lovely walks. Even Rose managed the whole walk with her walker, although not over the "Plank" This was a lovely informative day out. Thank you Jim, for organizing the day out. Rangiora Newsletter. Graeme Moore The first wintery blast has passed through and a second is on the way. At present they are passing through quite quickly. There are some good dumps of snow along the Southern Alps enabling the ski fields to start preparations for their openings. Autumn has passed with most of the oaks, maples and deciduous trees having dropped their leaves forming a massive colourful carpet on the ground. This must be a real problem for the local authorities clearing potentially blocked drains and gutters. At Easter I travelled over to Westport to meet up with my daughter Jacquelyn, son-inlaw Darren, grandchildren and my first "Great Grand Daughter". We all had a most enjoyable and entertaining time together including paddock "go-cart" racing. Granddad even surprised them by some of his past skills coming to the fore. We were invited to visit a private 1200 acre native bush block about 5km inland off state highway 67 to see deer in the wild and a wild free ranging stag that had been hand fed at times from when it was an orphan fawn. The road in to the block was a logging road formed when rimu and native tree harvesting was permitted on the West Coast. At our destination, we found a large cleared area and met the 80 year old owner who
lived in a real "bush camp" hut. He spoke to us about the history of the area and the logging days. Scattered around the clearing were the abandoned relics of the logging days. Old tractors, bucket loaders, big hauling winches and items used in the logging operations. Of interest to son-in-law Darren, were 2 Bedford trucks that had been parked up out in the clearing. They were in surprisingly good condition having been sitting idle for about 5 years.
One, a 1952 ML Model with a well-worn steel deck and cam and roller hoist, and the second, a TK model that had been partly stripped. The ML Bedford has been recovered from the site and is sitting in Darren's large shed in Westport now, being stripped to establish the worth of a rebuild. We also met the "free ranging" wild stag and fed him with some bread buns that we had taken in for him. The stag is obviously used to human contact but been the "roaring" season, we made sure that we stayed on our side of the wooden fence that the stag could have come over if he was inclined. On the way back out to the main highway, we saw a number of deer grazing amongst the manuka scrub and regenerating native bush. A very interesting "look in". Last Sunday morning, I went out to the Canterbury Branch Clubrooms at McLean’s Island. It was their equivalent of Rosco's Taipa Caffeine and Classics. The day was a little cool and damp so the attendance was down on their usual numbers.
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
I met their Secretary, Rod Thrower, who gave me a tour of the complex and introduced me to a number of members. Rod and a number of members are preparing for their "Irishman Creek Rally '' starting on the 4 June. This is for Vintage and Veteran vehicles. A note on the entry form says, "While back up vehicles are provided, all vehicles must be self-sufficient and carry chains for mud or snow and be adequately prepared to cover some distance on back country roads with river crossings”. I noted that on some vehicles on Sunday, owners had already installed their long tow ropes to the front bumpers of the cars hoping that they would not be needed. I'm still impressed with the number of "club eligible" vehicles that appear to be driven as daily drivers down in the Canterbury area. Margaret and I look forward to catching up with any members who may be visiting down this way in the future. Regards and happy motoring. Graeme.
From behind a shed door…
independently designed cars by Ford of Britain. Complete restorations by vehicle owners have much reduced in number in recent times, for a whole variety of reasons. Looking at this car it is hard to believe it is 68 years old. Growing up in Christchurch in short pants, I had a friend whose older sister won the Miss New Zealand title (Susan Kellaway). Their family owned a bright red Mark 1 Zephyr convertible, and this was used for various swimwear photos of Miss New Zealand.
George Vuletich’s 1954 Mark 1 Zephyr 6 Convertible
There is quite a story about this spectacular bright red convertible in the final stages of a complete restoration. Originally shipped from the UK to South Africa as part of a consignment of new Zephyrs, it was rejected by the South African motor dealers. It was now 1955, they were aware that the new model
If it ever becomes PC to photograph such things again, George has the car. No fluffy dice or 10-foot aerials, just one really cool convertible. Well done buddy. Murray
Mark 11 was to be released in 1956, and elected to forgo any further Mark 1 vehicles. On to NZ came the vehicle, to be first registered here in 1955. George purchased the car seven years ago to become its second owner with 35600 miles on the clock. This may sound great, but when purchased by George the motor was completely seized, and the car had been off the road for approximately 35 years. Although the car was complete, a major body and mechanical restoration was required. George has spent the last four and a half years doing this. It is a six cylinder, 2262cc, 3-speed column change, two door, bright red, head-turner. It still has the original upholstery, seats, carpet and hood. The first Mark 1 Zephyr was shown at Earls Court London in 1950, and they ceased production in April 1956. The Ford Zephyr range finished in 1972. The Ford Zephyr models were the last
Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Pantry Perks… Thanks Ruth for sharing this special recipe with us.
4 oz (113 gms) melted butter 1 cup coconut ½ tin condensed milk 1 pkt malt biscuits, crushed Mix dry ingredients, add condensed milk and melted butter. Press into tin. Chill until set. 2 dsp gelatine, add 1 cup boiling water & 1½ cups sugar. Beat for 10 mins or until thickened. Pour onto base. Add colour if wanted and sprinkle with coconut.