SIDE CURTAINS
SIDE CURTAINS The magazine of the
ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
MARCH 2017
WE’RE NOW ON FACEBOOK ! www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz
Bentley Drivers Club in Rotorua
SIDE CURTAINS - March 2017 The magazine of the ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
Clubrooms: Neil Hunt Park, Tarawera Rd, Rotorua Postal: PO Box 2014, Rotorua Email: rotorua@vcc.org.nz Website: www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz Sun Alliance Agency Number: HO 0300146 Club Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of month (except January), 7.15pm for 7.30pm start OFFICERS
Chairperson - David Tomlinson Secretary - Dennis Whimp Treasurer - Terry Fitzpatrick Club Captain - Angie Brunton Asst. Club Captain - Kevin Scott Committee Lois Thompson Terry Wadsworth Steve De Jeu Darryl Stretch Roger Nelson John Peters
CONTENTS Chairman’s Report From The Secretary February Club Run Report Pink High Tea February Midweek Run EBOP Rally Report Mystery vehicles Upcoming Mid Week runs Events Calendar
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Patron - Bob Mowbray Mid Weekers - Bob Mackay Side Curtains Editor - David Tomlinson rvvcc.editor@gmail.com Beaded Wheels - Ronald Mayes Librarian - Roger Couchman Asst Librarian - John Kirkland Cards/Flowers - Doreen Green
Cover Photos Front - Packard on February club night Back - February/March Car Shows
CLUB CAR PHOTOS
If you want your club car photo on the clubroom wall then get in touch with Doug Green, and he will organise a time and place for a photo shoot. It would be good if we could have all member’s car photos on display. Side Curtains March 2017
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Chairman’s Report
- February 2017 by David Tomlinson
This is a the “mad” time of year, with February/March allegedly with the best weather (really?!) and there has been much for the avid car enthusiast to see or take part in. Our February club night was one of the best in a long time, with Phil Monk’s 1924 Packard in the room (tight fit with ballast on board to get it in and out!), with an excellent talk about the car. This was followed by an excellent talk and photo display by visiting Canadian enthusiast, Chris Bamford. Chris talked us through an epic journey to the northern most reaches of Canada in a 1947 Dodge. The car has been all over Canada, and coast to coast across the USA. As well as our monthly club run and mid-week run, 4 member cars took part in the EBOP Rally and 6 cars in the Gisborne Rally. At least 8 member vehicles were also on display at the Vintage Tractor and Machinery show, with branch members helping marshall cars into the car park area. We were also invited to the Glenbrook Steam Festival, but I am not aware if any members attended. A number of members also went to the Art Deco weekend in Napier, with Neville and Carol Harper driving their 1931 Studebaker President in the parade of 250 cars. I understand that all cars have to be pre-1945, and they turn cars away every year! This year the Bentley Drivers Club (mainly UK based) took part during a two month tour of NZ which included two nights in Rotorua. Many local branch members perused their fine machinery which included some Lagondas while they were here. The annual NZ Classic Intermarque Concours was held in Ellerslie and I attended and displayed a car in the RRBC area. This year was like most other events plagued by poor weather, with many gaps in the display areas. The star of the show for me was an Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 cabriolet. I also attended the Brit-Euro show at Howick in the first week of March, again displaying on the RRBC area. This show was huge, and again started in slight misty rain, but ended up hot and sunny. This show is free to display and for people to visit and view, and attendance of both cars and the public was excellent. I highly recommend it to members for next year. 2
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This month we had no car in the room or speaker organised, so I am taking the bull by the horns and following along the lines of last months’ meeting will display a slightly modern thoroughbred car with an interesting history, including a epic record breaking length of NZ trip in 2009. Our April meeting will feature a talk by John Reid of the Geyserland 4x4 club, I highly recommend that members attend for what should be an interesting night. I will make sure we have a car in the room too. Along with many other branch members I will be taking part in the Taupo Golden Anniversary Rally on March 11, with our Chairman’s Run planned for the following day. I wish to thank Terry and Lois for attending the VCC mid year general meeting while I am away enjoying myself. The Chairman’s Run will have a “split start” so those staying the night in Taupo can incorporate the Chairman’s Run on their way home. I will invite other VCC members to take part also, but they will not be eligible for the prize-giving silverware. The run should finish back at the club rooms around 1pm, and I will provide light refreshments to accompany the tea and coffee. Those leaving from Rotorua should be at the club rooms by 10.30am to collect Rally papers. Those wanting to do it on their way back from Taupo can collect papers from me at Taupo over the weekend. Our 2017 AGM is only 2 months away, please if you are interested in standing for a committee position, or wanting to put business forward for the AGM, let me or a committee member know so we can make sure you get paperwork in correctly and on time. As well us our club runs and the Taupo Rally, there are many more events over the next month including Car Shows at Matamata and Thames. There seems to be never ending opportunities at present to get your car out, make hay while the drizzle is still light, winter is not far away!
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FROM THE SECRETARY Dennis Whimp New Member Welcome to Graeme Hardy of Turner Road, Hamurana. Graeme has a 1982 Ford Cortina AGM 10th May Please start thinking about the AGM. If you would like to be on the committee, approach one of the existing committee members. Nomination forms in the next magazine. It’s a very satisfying job with a bunch of great fellow enthusiasts. Any Notices of Motion for the AGM need to be in the Secretary’s hands 14 days before the meeting. Art Deco Street Parade Saturday - 18th Feb If you haven’t been to one of these, put it on your bucket list. Even the English Bentley Drivers who had rallied all over the world said that they had never seen such a great collection of pre 1945 vehicles. 250 in the parade and more in the side streets. Neville in his multicolour striped blazer and boater accompanied by that flappered Carol fitted in nicely in the big Studebaker. Many of the spectators were dressed in 30’s attire, as were the shop staff. A day full of smiles with many of the soft top cars keeping their hoods down despite the drizzle. April Meeting Guest Speaker Will be John Reid from the Geyserland 4 Wheel Drive Club. John has been around motorsport for most of his life and loves organising off road excursions. There are few back country parts of NZ that John hasn’t tried to cross. FIVA World Rally 2017 July 4-9th, Szczyrk, Poland for pre-1971 I have info if anyone is in that vicinity in July, but looking at the pictures, I think the Art Deco tops it 4
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From the VCC The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand is creating a number of new online features that will be of advantage to members. The first one is now up and running. At a recent meeting of the Club Executive it was suggested branch monthly magazines and newsletters were made available for reading on the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand website. Magazines are now able to be read by going to http://www. vcc.org.nz and clicking on “News from our Branches” on the menu down the left side of the home page. Then click on the magazine you want to read. Each magazine will be posted as soon as it is received and will appear in the alphabetical order of the branches. The current monthly magazine for each branch will be removed once the current months is received. There are a number of magazines already on the site. You can read them at vcc.org.nz/news-from-our-branches Ross Holden Communications & Marketing Officer Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) MYSTERY CARS FROM LAST MONTH’S ISSUE OF SIDE CURTAINS
1963 Daimler SP252 Side Curtains March 2017
1965 Alvis Super Cabriolet by Graber 5
FEBRUARY CLUB RUN
Only a small number of members were able to enjoy Kevin Scott’s 100mile run on Sunday 12 February and it ended up being an all-British run with 3 Austins (7s and A35) and a Triumph 2500TC. We were told that there would be no straight-line navigation and no roads named, after we had turned left off the Rotorua-Taupo highway after seeing a sign, on the right hand side of the road, saying Reporoa with an arrow pointing left. Ah ha, we thought, that must be the road we take when going to Taupo via Reporoa and Broadlands. But it wasn’t, there is alittle minor road before that junction which we had to take. That road took us to the east of Reporoa, pleasant countryside which we had never before explored and after the very busy main highway, driving with absolutely no other traffic was a pleasure. But we had to keep our wits about us as the instructions just said “Turn left at T”, “ Turn right at T”, “Take next left” etc, so that meant ticking off every turn as we went, as well as looking for the answers to all of the questions. One question was “What battle was a road named after?” The sign for Alamein Rd loomed up ahead on our left, but as we approached it the road veered left and down a grade and the sign was revealed to be on the right. A trick question? We must have got it right as, for the first time ever, we won the rally and with a 100% score! But victory came at a cost: near the Waiotapu Golf Club Course (at Broadlands!) the car’s steering began to feel somewhat vague. By the time I stopped to check what could be the cause the left rear tyre was flat and its valve had broken away from the tube. No sign of a puncture but I suspect the tyre, the sidewalls of which feel very soft, is no longer safe to use. There now seems to be only one make of 185/80R13 passenger car tyre available in NZ and they are not cheap. After leading the run in the fastest car we arrived back at the clubrooms for afternoon tea long after the others - unloading all the junk (I mean “vital spares”) from the boot to get at the spare wheel and pumping up its tyre and fitting it to the car, took some time. Ronald and Gloria Mayes 6
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Midweek Run - 22nd February We left the club rooms at 10am after morning tea, travelling first to the ‘i-Centre’ in Kawerau to pick up a forest entry permits. We then drove 20km plus on a slightly dusty and sometimes corrugated metal forest road to the outlet of Lake Tarawera for a picnic lunch in a shady spot on a beautiful sunny day. Having inspected the lake and the river from the over bridge it was time to pack up and head back towards Kawerau via the Tarawera Falls. While most participants followed the sign posted 20 minute walk in less than 10 minutes, there was no shortage of security volunteers to look after the cars. At this point we disbanded and headed for home all feeling that we had a good day. 6 club cars, 1 modern and 1 very tidy apprentice ute that will soon be old enough to become a club car. Bob Mackay
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EBOP East Coast Rally On Saturday 4th February we cruised to our accommodation in Otakeri and then on to the Athletic Club rooms to pick up our rally pack, then caught up with some of the other keen competitors. Sunday morning saw us up bright and early for the start of the rally at the Awakeri Events Centre. Some 37 cars were entered with four from our branch, one or two late scratching’s due to ill health depleted the field most of which were PV60. The run started with a timed section around the Poroporo area, the Burr’s lost no points and we lost two, not bad for an old Mercedes. The run continued around to the airport and back into Whakatane, on out to Taneatua and up into Urewera country and Ruatoki back through to Waimana and around to the Nukuhou hall for the lunch stop. The afternoon run continued through Ohope and down to the heads to finish at the Indoor Bowls Hall in Bridge St with a wonderful afternoon tea. The Burr’s finished 2nd in PV80 while we only managed a 4th place in PV60. The run was set by Tessa & Barrie Keene with lots of great questions and just to confuse things, two sets of instructions which had cars criss crossing at several points on the run. This added to the fun and made for a very enjoyable rally. A big thank you to Barrie and Tessa and their team of willing helpers for a great day out that covered some 120 miles of the Whakatane area. Cliff & Shona Wickham Side Curtains March 2017
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MYSTERY VEHICLES The upper car is a well know older English brand, this example made in the 1960s, around 29 survive. The lower car is a 1940s American concept car.
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NEXT CLUB NIGHT - March 8th Car In The Room: Fastest Car Across NZ* *conditions apply! Followed by tea, coffee and biscuits
APRIL NIGHT - April 12th
Car In The Room: TBA Guest Speaker: John Reid - Geyserland 4x4 Club Followed by tea, coffee and biscuits
Upcoming Midweek Runs
by Bob Mackay
22nd March Midweek run We will travel to the Katikati area for a café lunch, followed by a visit to Trevor Gordon’s workshop where I understand he repairs, modifies, and fits alternative gear boxes and differentials. Trevor has done work for a number of our members. In order to help relieve road congestion on SH 36 we will meet at Pyes Pa School and be ready to leave the school at 10.45 am. Remember, avoid holding up the traffic, slow down and pull over if necessary.
Chairman’s Run
by David Tomlinson
12th March - Clubrooms 10.30am (or start from Taupo*) The run will start at a point between Rotorua and Taupo, and members can collect papers at the clubrooms at 10.30am and head south in their own time. Members staying the Saturday night in Taupo can collect papers from me at the Taupo Rally, and try and head north a little ealier, perhaps leaving Taupo closer to 10am. The Rally should take just over 90 minutes from the “start point” so drivers should start arriving back at the clubrooms around 1pm for light refreshments. Side Curtains March 2017
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Branch Facebook Page Our Facebook page now has over 130 likes! This is the quickest way to get any notices regarding our events, club nights or any other activities, so if you are on Facebook search “Rotorua Vintage Car” and LIKE our page to keep up to date.
Contributions to Side Curtains This is your magazine! Please feel free to share anything you think might be of interest to the membership by sending it to the editor, preferably by email, and a picture says a thousand words, so include photos where possible. Members taking part in club runs or events hosted by other branches are encouraged to pen a short piece about their experience to include in the next issue going to print. All items to the editor by the end of the month. www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz The committee endeavours to have the branch website meet the needs of our members, and to promote our branch nationally, and to potential new members. If you have any suggestions for additions or improvements to the website please contact David Tomlinson. 12
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Branch Member Cars at February Tractor Show
Above: Intermarque Concours - Ellerslie Below: Brit-Euro Car Show - Howick