Far North Focus
September 2018
A pleasing line-up of cars outside Matthews Museum on the Daffodil Rally
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The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Far North Focus Who’s Who for 2018/19 Chairman
Murray Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz
09 409 3823
Vice Chairman
Winston Matthews
win@matthewsvintage.com
09 406 0203
Secretary
Gloria Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co,nz
09 409 3823
Treasurer
Robyn Mackay
wmackay@vodafone.co.nz
09 406 1955
Club Captain
Naomi Mason
vinomi88@gmail.com
09 408 1376
Editor
Peg Hills
comstockdowns@gmail.com
09 406 1077
Communications Officer
Ruth Reid
r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz
09 4060 392
Welfare Officer
Margaret Wallace
johnandmarga@actrix.gen.nz
09 407 8251
New Member Liaison
Murray Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz
09 409 3823
Beaded Wheels Scribe
Dave Duirs
dave.duirs@xtra.co.nz
09 406 1288
Area Rep North
Ruth Reid
r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz
09 406 0392
Area Rep South
Warwick Woollams
w.woollams@gmail.com
09 407 7494
Committee
Murray Cormack, Robyn Mackay, Winston Matthews, Graeme Moore, Paul Sullivan, Vince Mason, Mike Pooley, Margaret Wallace, Gloria Cormack
Building Officer
Peter Mason
09 406 1409
A full list of elected officers was circulated with the minutes of the 2018 Annual General Meeting
Club meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at the Aurere Clubrooms at 7.30pm.
CLUB CLEANING ROSTER 2018-2019 During the month, and preferably before the main calendar event, please give the clubrooms a thorough check over, as in: Clean the toilets and hand basins, check kitchen, window ledges etc, and sweep the floors. Window cleaning, washing walls etc will be done at working bees. Note any required maintenance and pass on to the Building Officer- Peter Mason, ph 406 1409. If your date doesn’t suit you, please swap with someone else. For any other enquiries please contact the Club Captain.
September
P & Z Mason
July
C Brownlie
January
D & P Hills
August
D & D Duirs
February
G Coulson
September
P & Z Mason
March
C & M Ilton
October
Everyone– working bee
April
W & R Mackay
November
G & S Mc Mullen
May
G Moore & M Cornwall
December
P O’Dell
June
R & R Pennell
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Calendar of Events 2018 / 2019 September 15th
Bruce Holmes Look In
Club Captain
October 13th
Working Bee
Everyone
October 27th
Vintage & Classic Mix & Mingle At Emu Farm
Raewyn & Rosco
November 3rd
Far North Tour
Anyone
November 17th
Classic Car Show
Anyone
November 24th
Dunny Run
Rex & Sandra
December 8th or 9th Christmas Rally
Peter Mason
January
Summer Picnic
Bev & Matt
February 16th
TBA
Ian & Mary
March
TBA
Terry Rogers
April 13th
Brian Parker Rally
Hills & Pooley
April
Whangarei Swapmeet
Anyone
May 12th
Mothers Day Rally
Dave & Dorothy
June
Molloy Trophy Rally
The old and the not-so– old; Daffodil rally cars at Winston’s.
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The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand From the Chair……. Greetings, A big thank you to all those who helped or took part in our Daffodil Day Rally. Special thanks to Winston and his helpers and those in the kitchen and other organising roles. Also a big thanks to Peter for coordinating the Kerikeri rally section. A sum close to $900 was raised, to be split equally between the Kaitaia and Kerikeri Cancer Society divisions.
the National AGM in Napier. These were recorded in the minutes. The proposed remit on ‘code of conduct’ struck me as very wordy, but may well provide a standard for measurement and deter possible issues. This is featured in the September Focus. I guess I find ‘remits’ a struggle to cut the mustard in terms of ‘having a good time’. All branches have been asked to comment on this by 1 October and I welcome your ideas. st
We look forward on 15 September to a great Kerikeri As reported earlier we have record membership numlook-in hosted by Bruce Holmes with assistance from our bers. This does not appear to translate into more people Club Captain. prepared to accept roles within our branches. At the NaI am not sure about the weather, but with daylight- pier meeting the Management Committee reminded the saving starting on 30 September, summer motoring is meeting several times that they were volunteers and not suddenly upon us. We have a great program with much paid. Our membership has incredible diversity in backvariety in terms of club events for the balance of our ground and gender, amazing skills both trade and profesyear. Several of our members are heading to the South sional. We must ‘support the ball carrier’ rather than Island over the summer for ‘one-make’ national ‘playing the man’ with this huge resource. events. We all wish them the best of motoring. Matters mechanical. Arthritis in the wind-screen wipers, th
th
The easy access of most branches’ current magazines (on the web-site vcc.org.nz, then follow ‘news from our branches’) gives a great view on other rallies throughout the country. Should a member find another vehicle in the ‘for sale’ sections of the magazines … this could be hazardous for some.
arrogance in the steering and suspension, and downright belligerence in the brake department, all will be forgiven when we feel the wind in our hair with summer vintage motoring. Hang on … what hair ...? Let’s get the vehicles out and have a good time. Murray
At our last monthly meeting I spoke on issues raised at
“The RoundabouT Way” Saturday 15th September Meet at the bruce holmes transport museum Kerikeri road, 10.00am
Bring your morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. There will be a rally to follow
The September Club meeting, on Tuesday the 11th, will be held at the Bay Sports Pavilion in Harmony Lane, off Waipapa Road, at 7.30pm.
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Club Captain Reporting….. Well hello there, again. Another month gone!! And what a month it has been! Plenty of cold weather and sickness going round. Not much fun being sick! Fantastic to see the warmer weather and lighter days coming.
along, bring your gear to give our Clubrooms a real good birthday. We will finish with a pot luck tea, always a great time.
October 27th will be a Show and Shine– polish of our cars, up at Raewyn ad Rosco Pennell’s home, The Daffodil Rally went off well. Many thanks to all Kaimaumau Road. We will be having a relaxing the helpers and especially many thanks to Winday with many other clubs invited so polish up ston, Murray and Gloria for all their input. your vehicles and come along and have fun. Promises to be a great day. Our next event will be a lookin at Bruce Holmes transport Museum on Kerikeri Road on the 15th of Don’t forget that we are not catering for the Far September. Meet there at 10.00am for an insight North Tour this year, so this gives all of us a great into what Bruce has been getting up to on his oc- chance to participate in the rally and have a lot of casional days off from a busy lifestyle in Auckland. fun. Bring your morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. Wishing everyone the best as summer approachAfter we’ve had a look around we’ll be having a es. Looking forward to it. short rally to finish off with. Happy motoring, On October the 13th we will be having our annual Naomi working bee to clean up our Clubrooms, so come
The Chairman wore a Daffodil Hat
Everyone looks better with a bunch of daffodils nearby Stu-
Winston demonstrated the grain feed process………
and everyone learned …..or remembered.
Thank you Dave Duirs for photos in this issue.
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Welfare Report, from Margaret Wallace I was happy to catch up with Phyllis at the Matthews Museum after the Daffodil Day rally. She is finding things pretty hard at the moment, not only with John being in care, but also with her own health, and her eyes being an ongoing problem for her at the moment. I’m glad she felt able to come on the run and socialise with a few people. It is always good to get out and about for all of us. It was also good to see Ian and Mary Macgregor come on the run in their Lagonda. Mary has been having a few health problems, unrelated to her hip and knee, and found herself in hospital again a couple of weeks ago. She was pretty weak when she got home but, being Mary, she was determined to be “onwards and upwards”, and is now just about back to her normal cheerful self! I have not been made aware of any other welfare issues in the Club. If you do know of anything, please phone me on 09 4078251, or 027 298 7322, or email me on johnandmarga@actrix.gen.nz Don’t forget, spring is just around the corner!
Hi I am looking for a 1920s Salisbury Differential as I need to replace the crown wheel and pinion in a restoration I am currently completing for my 1920 Davis Phaeton Tourer. I have attached a photo of the differential cover which measures 32mm high and 30.5mm wide. I am hopeful you may have a differential in your parts shed. I am a VCC member of the Canterbury branch. I can be contacted on 0274481430. Regards John Lynn
FOR SALE 1977 Mercedes Coupe With hardtop
2 NZ owners
Registration Lapsed 104,000 miles $12,000 ono
Phone Greg, 09 406 0180
The Far North Branch of the VCC does have a policy that pets are not brought to any Club events. We do ask that this policy is respected.
WANTED Cheap and cheerful car suitable for VCC rallies. Prefer French or English but anything up to $10k considered. Phone Don 022 109 1373 6
b) Display honesty, courtesy, fairness, respect and sensitivity through their interactions with Members and others, in a manner that is mindful of the differences of opinions that may arise.
August 2018 Prospective Remit to the VCC Executive -
Code of Conduct
c) Adopt behaviours that are free from harassment, 1. This Code of Conduct shall serve as a guide as to what intimidation, exploitation or discrimination. the clear majority of Members may consider to be the d) Recognise and acknowledge the contributions, acceptable conduct of others. It is acknowledged that experience, skills and endeavours of others, many of the degree of tolerance of the behaviour of others may whom may, for the time being, be serving in elected or vary from Member to Member. Nevertheless, it is rea- appointed roles or offices. sonable to expect Members to conduct themselves at e) If serving the Club or its members in some capaciall times in a manner that means involvement in the ty, do so with due care, diligence and integrity. Club’s activities is engaging and inspirational for the parf) Be mindful of complying with applicable laws, regticipating Members and other persons concerned. ulations and reasonable expectations that may relate to 2. Many of the Club’s Members voluntarily contribute the events and activities of the Club, its Branches, its their time and expertise to support a wide range of Club Members and its guests. activities. It is expected that their efforts will be valued g) Comply with the constitutional policies and proceby the Members who benefit from them. This Code of dures set down by the club and its Branches. Conduct sets out some of the guiding principles with regard to organisers and participants of such activities h) In any given situation, adopt an appropriate and also the elected and appointed office holders and course of action to the best of their ability, or refrain administrators within the Club and its Branches. from a particular course of action as the case may be, in the best interests of the Club. 3. The Code of Conduct ; i) Conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively upon the Club and its Branches, and, to that end, demonstrate sound ‘driver etiquette’ and commonsense when motoring club-eligible vehicles on Club events or Many hands soon get through a bag of spuds. at any other time when other motorists are a consideration. [Sound ‘road and driver etiquette’ are referred to in Section 20 of the Club’s Branch Manual, and may also be found in various other motoring publications. Some aspects of driving may need to be adjusted given the possible variations between the speed, performance, braking capability, lighting, signalling, handling ability and other facets of Club- eligible vehicles in comparison to modern vehicles. The prevailing traffic density at any time is always also a factor.]
• Shall be consistent with adherence to the aims and objects of the Club, including the ‘fostering of mutual voluntary assistance with the preservation of Clubeligible vehicles’; and• Shall be expressed using terminology that garners enthusiasm and participation from Members, prospective members and guests; and• Shall aim to encourage conduct that would prompt respect, praise and support from the public and from governmental and non-governmental bodies alike; and-
• Shall acknowledge that prevailing attitudes of the motoring public and the public at large may change over time, necessitating the Club and its Members to respond appropriately to cultural, economic, environmenj) At all times, and as a priority, consider the safety tal and legislative influences. of themselves and others.
4. The Club’s Disciplinary Procedure may be invoked for k) Be made aware that some Members may have a breach of the Code of Conduct, if this is considered elected to have the details of their Club membership warranted, based on the circumstances, nature and im- and Club-eligible vehicles, perhaps including images, plications of the breach. withheld from publication, and shall respect this wish. CODE OF CONDUCT Members shall; a) Actively engage [Mechanisms may need to be put in place to minimise in, or support, the restoration, documentation, preser- the chance of breaches of Members’ privacy, particularvation and appreciation of historic vehicles and vehicles ly by Club and Branch Magazine Editors, Branch Beaded Wheels Reporters and Club website and social media of potential interest for the future, recognising these administrators.] vehicles as a distinct and valuable facet of New Zea-
land’s cultural, technical and pioneering heritage.
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A Tale of Two Gauges
now have smart phones that have the time and our “sat-nav” has a real time clock so the problem of knowing the time is solved.
By Charles Dickens (?) An easy way to see if a Citroen Traction Avant, Light 15 or an early DS Citroen is built in Slough, England, is to look at the instrument panel, particularly the gauges. If the instrument panel is wooden and the gauges are square and “Smiths’, then the car was assembled in Slough, just west of London, between 1935 and 1965. Old electric gauges, such as petrol gauges and clocks, are now quite unreliable so often one has to forgo them in favour of other means. The clock in the photograph is 100% accurate at 9.30am and 9.30pm regardless of daylight saving, however at other times of the day it is totally useless; if the sun is out it is daytime and if the moon is out it is night time.
The petrol gauge, shown, has a different story. When we bought the car, in 2012, the petrol gauge was working “in a fashion”. The seller of the car told us that the gauge was accurate at full reading, accurate at half full reading, but totally inaccurate below half full. I will however still keep the “optical petrol gauge” in the car because it is 100% accurate! Steve Cornwall Paihia.
According to the internet, old car clocks become increasingly unreliable when old cars are not run frequently and the battery voltage drops. They can be made to run when out of the car and lying on their backs; however when they are vertical gravity stops them rising upwards as they rotate. Some people fit modern quartz movement clocks in the old housing; however those people apparently have to reset the clock every time they drive their cars because of battery voltage drop, disconnecting the battery, etcetera. Anyway, most of us CLUB SHIRTS AVAILABLE: THE CATERING COMMITTEE Mike & Lynn Pooley
Winston Matthews
Dorothy & Dave Duirs
Colleen Brownlie
Margaret Cornwall
Raewyn Pennell
Dave & Peg Hills
Margaret Ilton
Contact Ruth- see her at a meeting, call her on 09 406 0392, email her at r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz There will be samples at the Clubrooms to try on for size. Cost is $30-$35 dollars, depending on size.
1952 Chrysler d’Elegance “Simply put, the d’Elegance stands in a class unto itself. It is the most significant surviving styling prototype from a legendary American designer, reflecting the purity of his lines and ideas at their very best and most passionately influential.” G T MULLER State Highway 10, Coopers Beach
WOF CENTRE
VEHICLE IMPORTS
PHONE 09 406 0406
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