BLOWOUT
This is the Cadillac that's been in the Museum since it was built. It now resides in Western Australia with Mark, the son of Colin Bearman who restored it many long years ago. The 2 boys in it are Colin's Grandsons.
Thanks to Diane Ross for this update and photo.
JULY-AUGUST 2026
Patroness & Life Member
Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Committee
Beaded Wheels Reporter
Groundsperson
(Phil)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2026
15 July Night Trial - Starts at 6pm from the Clubrooms, returning for soup and buns
22 July Annual Dinner at the RSA. 5.30pm for 6pm. Only 9 places left! Please contact Colin if you want to go. Ph: 307 7373
30 July Mid-Week Run
Meet at the Clubrooms at 11.15am for an 11.30am departure. Local run of head.30kms followed by a two-course lunch at the MSA, Noble 600. $20 per
Combined events with South Canterbury Branch
6 August QUIZCO, at Timaru. Time now confirmed as 7pm for 7.30pm.
8 August Garage Raid. Meeting at the RSA Club Rooms at 130 King Street in Temuka at 9.30am for morning tea. $15 per head for morning tea and lunch. Cash only on the day please.
To assist with catering, could you please advise Colin if you are intending to come to this. Ph: 307 7373
12 August Visit to Ashburton College Automotive Class. There will be morning tea at a Café followed by the visit. More details to come
23 August Daffodil / . National Day More details to be advised soon
27 August Mid Week Run
13 September Opening Run - note change of date
NB:- New Calendar of Events is included in this newsletter
NEW MEMBER - We extend a warm welcome to our new Member.
Richard Gould, 1962 Morris Minor Tourer
We hope you will take an active participation in our Club Meetings and Events etc, even if your vehicle is not roadworthy yet, come in your modern. It would be appreciated if you would write an article on the vehicle you have, trips taken or anything else of interest. I look forward to hearing from you. Please send to the Editor: chris.gulleford@outlook.com Thanks Chris
Chairman’s Report
We welcome Peter back after his well deserved 6 week holiday.
The first duty he performed beforet the AGM on Thursday, 25th June was to introduce to the floor, Jesse Chapman, our first recipient of our Sponsorship Fund of $1000.
Jesse spoke to us about doing his Small engine and Motorcycle Apprenticeship at Honda Country in Ashburton and had used his Award towards building up his tools. He also gave us a short talk about the work he does and he has now been given the position of Field Technician, going around the area advising and fixing vehicles and other small engine machinery and his aspirations for his future.
Visit To Radius Millstream Care Home. Some photos from today's Run to the Village Kitchen at Ashford Village on West Street followed by Jane Sargent’s organised visit to Radius Millstream Rest Home day.
Passenger Ken Kingsland, a long term Ashburton VCC Member and Museum Custodian, takes a ride in an Austin 7 Saloon.
Meeting prior to leaving for Millstream to take Residents for rides in the old cars.
Village Kitchen at Ashford House where Members had lunch prior to the visit.
Gary Hawke organised a Motorcycle Run on King’s Birthday Monday 8 June to the Staveley Store. A lovely sunny day that turned chilly on the return trip.
Six motorbikes and a trike enjoyed the trip up from Ashburton and Damien from Methven met us there.
May 2026 Mid Week run to Drift Inn
John Wards and Jill Blacklock
Left at gate, follow Maronan Road over railway line, then left at SH1.We
Above: Line up of moderns at the Drift Inn Car Park.
Owen Wilson with his very impressive Burger (But did he eat all of it, that’s the big question?)
Father to Son, one family, Roy and Paula and their gorgeous orange Leyland P76
Below: Impressive Rolls Royce
VCC South Canterbury Branch Motorcycle Outing
Sunday 12th April 4 Members of the Ashburton Club attended the South Canterbury Motorcycle Rally.
The Rally was sponsored by the late John Pateman who left money to the Club for running of events.
John was well known in the motorcycle world, a keen restorer and supporter of Timaru Classic Motorcycling.
A great turn out with 31 bikes attending, the biggest number they have had for many years.
Models ranged from early Harley Davidson to several classic Japanese bikes.
The weather treated us kindly, once again the weather report was for doom and gloom, but turned out to be pleasant.
The ride started at their Clubrooms and wound out through the back of Timaru across to Pleasant Point on to the Cave Hotel for lunch.
Fed and watered we set off back to Timaru via the Pareora Gorge, at a nice gentle pace, with those who were on more modern bikes soon leaving us on the older bikes behind.
No gossip to tell as all bikes performed well with no breakdowns
Thanks to Garry, Bevan and Grant for attending.
Peter Lambie's Solstice and Sav Run,
It was a 1.30pm start at the Clubrooms. An hour run and return to the Clubrooms for our traditional Afternoon Tea of Savs & bread with lashings of tomato sauce, tea and coffee. After a cold day it was a welcome feast.
Peter Lambie picking some Savs as part of his first prize!
Swap Meet Report - June 2026
Another Swap Meet has been and gone thanks to the work of about 60 Ashburton VCC Members and Spouses. Your input across so many fields, prior to, on the day and afterwards made for a great event. We had many positive comments from both site holders and the general public re the site plan, tidy environment, parking, access and administration.
The foggy start probably put a few off attending, but the crowd was on
Another foggy Swap Meet start to the day, cleared to a beautiful sunny day
We instigated a few changes this year.
Site Bookings for 2027 taken from Friday afternoon and Overnight Accommodation fees collected upon entry on Friday.
Next year we will increase the size of
Disabled Parking, spread the type of sites across the fields, as suggested by site holders and promote the $20 per vehicle entry fee.
Ashburton Lions assisted us with entrance collection and their food facilities served food and beverages throughout the day.
A few Members need a Special Thank You.
Cathy Sweetman – Office Team leader, bookings throughout the year and supervising the office on Friday afternoon and Saturday.
Alan Begg – Team leader for the marking and setting up of sites across both fields.
David Parks - For leading the signage team.
Peter Lambie – Team leader for SH1 advertising sign (erecting, taking down and repairing) and SH1 Directional Signage on the day. With Ann Hart attaching site numbers.
Rod McKimmie – Grounds – Mowing and marking.
Peter Jacob - Chairman:
Colin Sweetman - Secretary
Grant Cullimore, - Treasurer: for their work leading up to, at, and after the event.
Jim Rooney and Team - Museum
Gavin Smith and Team - Parts Shed
Donations have been given to Tinwald Rugby Club for their ground and Tinwald Scout Group for the Leaders, Parents and Cubs, patrolling the boundaries. Plains Trust allowed us to park on their paddock.
Ryal Bush Transport allowed us to use their yard for VCC and Lions Club vehicle parking.
Eion and Chris Matheson allowed us to have a sign on their property at Fairton on SH1. There are new Owners of the property now and they are happy to carry on the same.
Cathy reports forward bookings are at 122 for next year May 1 2027 so
Noel Batty / Peter Lambie
Assembling the food and coffee stalls in the pre dawn light.
Below: Job done; winding up with reports on facts and figures
Christmas Run 2026
This years run will travel to Central Otago beginning on the 9th December and returning home on the 15th December.
We will be visiting 2 High Country Stations and traversing some of the farm tracks on those Stations, some of which are steep , possibly muddy and requiring vehicles with high road clearance.
We will also be traversing some little used public or privately owned tracks in the Queenstown area.
The run will be suitable for and is limited to vehicles in the Vintage Class, (up to and including 1931), some Post Vintage vehicles or Veteran vehicles with higher clearances, may also be suitable, but 2 wheel brakes could be a problem.
It is not intended for later Model 4WD vehicles.
For information and accommodation suggestions; Contact David ph 021 370 956 or Marion Oakley ph 021 172 1261.
HISTORY ! BORING ? HA I SAY! - READ ON & LEARN.
In old, small villages, local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (‘the graveyard shift’) to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be ‘ saved by the bell,’ or was considered a 'dead ringer'.
(Well that’s my take on things!)
A Minor Obsession
Local Branch Member Peter McQuarters reports
Did I need another old car project? No.
Did that stop me? Also NO.
When the BLOWOUT arrived in my email box around October last year, interest was piqued with news that the Ashburton College Project Morris Minor 1000 4 door had been abandoned, and was looking for a new owner.
The idea had always been a good one on paper and I remember thinking back to when the Minor was first delivered to the college by our club, that this could well spark something greater in our NZ school system.
However, every venture needs a “driver” and the story goes that the teacher who was leading the charge with it, transferred north, the car project lost momentum and was pushed into a shed on the college campus.
I already have a ’52 factory MM convertible on the road, but something about this opportunity called out to me. I immediately made some calls to key local VCC officials and signaled my interest.
A peek in the shed at the school revealed the car covered in and surrounded by other stuff, but from what I could gather, it looked pretty sound.
I decided though that if I was to have it and do something with it, I couldn’t pay too much for it. After all, there would be plenty of calls on the old wallet as things progressed, even with an eagle eye on costs.
I had an initial figure in mind, but when I first saw it an attack of the realities hit and I thought I could either “walk”, or perhaps try another figure I could stomach and “take it or leave it.”
I visited Parts Shed manager Gavin, unannounced, at his nearby home straight afterwards where I was cordially welcomed and proceeded to share my thoughts. After priming him for disappointment, I basically said I have a revised figure in mind, please don’t feel insulted when you hear it, and likewise, I won’t feel insulted when you tell me to get lost.
Being a reasonable man, he didn’t convulse on the spot, but rather weighed it all up and said “let me talk to a few people and I’ll get back to you.”
Within the hour the phone rang, . . . and it was mine.
The car had originally been donated to the club for the college engineering project by Trevor Begg. He was in on the process with me and was very helpful. He assured it always started on the button and ran well. So that was a good plus. The interior needed complete replacing and there was no hood lining fitted, but a rolled-up replacement was provided.
The car was collected in fairly short order and I towed it home.
Time to see if it still runs. The fuel pump didn’t work, but after connecting the borrowed battery from my convertible, and injecting some fuel into the carb, she fired straight up and ran for just long enough to confirm Trevs claim. It ran sweet as a nut.
I started making enquiries regarding the interior. I was warned that a retrim of the seats could run into several thousand dollars and I decided after having the cost confirmed by a local upholstery man, that was never going to happen. The whole idea of this project, was to keep a strict eye on costs, without trying to compromise the job too much. Trying hard not to over capitalise. Dreams are free.
I popped a bit of a wanted notice up on one of the NZ Morrie enthusiast facebook pages in the hope of finding a useable interior from a parted out car and a bloke came back to me with an offer. He had the rear seat and both front seats available, in the right material, right pattern for the year and the set had never been in a car since they were done. He was a retired upholsterer up north and a Morris Minor man and had done these on “spec” as a fundraiser for his own project.
The cost? A quarter of what I had been quoted. $900. SOLD.
A hearty shout out to my good mate Alex Cowdell, owner of Canterbury Bulk Freight, who had them picked up from the North Island and delivered to his Rolleston depot for me to uplift.
Meanwhile, work was going on to clean out the car, take a stock of the parts in the boot, as I removed the old seats and what was left of the floor covering and underlay. Financially, the project began to make more sense as I recovered about $2.35 in loose change from the bowels of the vehicle. Trevor was obviously rolling in it back in the day! I also happen to know he visited New World on a certain day back in 2014 as I have the receipt.
Luckily I have owned a compressor and DA sander for years and it has had a fair old work out in recent times. The car had been repainted by someone at some point, and I have been taking it all back with 80 grit ready for an epoxy primer.
I negotiated with Duncan and Debra Ross at Panelcraft to do as much work as I possibly can on the prep myself, with them doing the paint. They are brilliant, involved and passionate about their work and immediately agreed to help out that way. They did my 1924 Model T fire engine some years back which spent time in our VCC Museum at Tinwald and always attracted admiring comments about the paint.
Jonny, the head finisher at Panelcraft convinced me to remove the doors for a better overall job, so I have done that. Both bumpers are off of course, plus the bonnet and boot, and the radiator and front grill and surrounds are also about to come off as I write this. Oh, and both rear wings are off as well.
Some of the bits are already in epoxy and look great.
Currently plans are for it to be refinished in a very deep blue and, sorry purists, a shiney set of JBW minilite mag wheels fitted.
I’d like to present it pretty much stock standard mechanically, but with a tribute classic saloon race car “window dressing” graphics job.
I reckon that’d set it apart from all the other Minors out there.
A dof of the hat to the “Lady Wigram” saloon racing years.
In fact, that is what we’ve named the car.
Stay tuned for updates, or an insolvency notice. Hopefully the former.
To be continued.
PS: Playing around on Kiwi Plates I see W1GRAM is still available. What a great plate that would be if I proceed in the saloon racing livery.
But at $999.00 I’ll need to search for more of Trevor’s cash down the back seat
First impressions. Laid up in the College Shed
At home after an initial wash
A Long Weekend Memory
A reminder of a trip has come to mind.
It was with my sister, Judy and her late husband David in their quite new Triumph 2000 on a road which follows Hongi’s track during Labour Weekend 1971.
Hongi’s track passes through lovely native bush along the shore line of some of the Rotorua Lakes.
There are many pleasant memories from that trip, a lovely stay in a nice family cottage, water skiing and filling the almost empty 14 gallon fuel tank on that car for just under $5. Petrol was 40 cents a gallon. That’s right a gallon!
Another memory was finding a suitcase on Hongi’s Track.
It had obviously fallen off a roof rack.
We decided to leave the suitcase where it was but to look out for a vehicle it may have belonged to and sure enough not long after we came across a family in a VW Kombi with one suitcase on their roof rack.
Turned out the suitcase had come loose from their van and the driver was grateful for being told but a little upset when he looked up to see only one suitcase.
They had started out with six!
I guess we’ll never know what happened to the other four!
Many years later I shared this story with a farmer who sort of saw the funny side telling me he had a similar experience. His didn’t involve suitcases, nor a roof rack or a VW.
The farmer set off from Carew with several pigs being taken on a trailer to market in Timaru.
Much to his dismay when he got to the destination he was on his own. The pigs had flown!
The farmer retraced his journey but never saw the animals and though that would be that until he arrived home to find them all happy grazing to their hearts content.
In his typically polite fashion he said the swine (I’m sure that’s the word he used) had obviously decided they didn’t feel like a drive to town!
Just thinking how values have changed, petrol now costs much, much more and the VW Combi would be worth a heck of lot more too!
Bernard Egan - A True Story
Not all old cars can be stolen - especially ones with large tanks
The owner of a magnificent 1956 Chevrolet Convertible, wrote to say he had restored the car to perfection over the last few years, and sent this:
On a very warm summer afternoon he decided to take his car to town. It needed gas, as the gauge was practically on empty, but he wanted ice-cream, so he headed first to his favourite ice-cream shop.
He had trouble finding a parking space and had to park the car down a side street. He noticed a group of young guys standing around smoking cigarettes and eyeing the car rather covetously. He was a bit uneasy leaving it there, but people often take interest in such an old and wellpreserved car, so he went off to enjoy his ice-cream.
The line at the ice cream shop was long and it took him quite a while to return to his car. When he did, his worst fears were realized... his car was gone. He called the Police and reported the theft.
About ten minutes later the police called him to say they had found the car abandoned near a gas station a few miles out of town. It was unharmed and he was relieved. It seems just before he called, the police had received a call from a young woman who was an employee at a self-service gas station. She told them that three young men had driven in with this beautiful old convertible. One of them came to the window and prepaid for 20 dollars worth of gas.
Then all three of them walked around the car. Then they all got in the car and drove off, without filling the tank. The question is, why would anybody steal a car, pay for gas that they never pumped and then abandon the car later and walk away?
IF YOU GIVE UP
SCROLL DOWN
They couldn't find where to put the gas!
From Whitby, Yorkshire, to Ashburton, New Zealand,
by Morris Eight
The car was first owned by Harry Reader and was registered on January 1st 1937. Harry had good service from the car until 1957 when she was laid up for 15 years. The original buff logbook and ration stamps are still to hand and make a nice time capsule. Her second owners were Roger and Marilyn Spurr who purchased the car in August 1972. An extensive restoration which included the fitting of a replacement motor was soon completed. The motor was purchased at auction from Post Office spares and was a low compression version as fitted to Series Z, 5cwt vans. There had been some sort of building damage where this was stored, a fire perhaps. Consequently Roger found quite a bit of shattered glass inside the engine. I also found some when dismantling it again many years later.
This car is similar to one seen on the James Herriot Veterinary television series. It also came from Whitby in Yorkshire where that series was set. Another slightly more of a stretch, is the connection of Lieutenant James Cook whose ship HMS bark Endeavor was built in Whitby as a collier, the Earl of Pembroke. James Cook was apprenticed to John Walker at Whitby in 1746 and learned his trade sailing colliers such as this out of Whitby. Like Cook, the Spurrs also had the lure of the South Seas which drew them into their own “Endeavor”. So was born “The Spirit of Whitby”, the name which graced the Morris as they set out on their adventure.
Departing Coventry, England in early 1973, this intrepid vehicle and crew travelled through France, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Sounds easy in a few words, but they were very adventurist times. On the Khyber Pass, they were reduced to pushing, as the car advanced in low gear on the hand throttle, the surface nothing but ice split flint and shale with the conditions extreme. The Khyber Pass has an average gradient that varies depending on the direction. From the Pakistani side (Peshawar), the average incline is 3.1%, and from the Afghan side (Jalalabad), it's 2.1%. However, these averages don't tell the whole story. The road currently has steeper sections exceeding 10%, which are being smoothed out in a modernization project to keep the maximum gradient at no more than 6%.
Other atrocious conditions saw them floating their way across an Indian river on a raft. The next and more restful section was by ship to Western Australia arriving in Perth in May 1973, where they spent 9 months.
As well as replenishing the coffers, Roger went over the car, fitting spares he had carried to return it to top condition, before moving on. Throughout the trip, their planned speed limit was 30mph which gave excellent economy and safe motoring with only one breakdown. As fate would have it, this was a broken axle leaving the ferry on arrival in France.
The next hurdle was the crossing of the Nullabor Desert to Sydney. One can only imagine the shimmering road extending forever in front of them, as the little car quietly puttered its way across the continent. But no, Sydney couldn’t be the end of the road when New Zealand called from across the Tasman. So onto a ship again, with their destination Auckland. Once safely here, DLY 866 became HA 8218 in February 1974. A New Zealander at last! From Auckland, the road ahead could only be south, and sure enough the couple ran out of road in Invercargill.
The car was originally supplied in black with a white hood. Roger chose to amend this to Aircraft Blue with black guards and white hood. After a re-spray in these colours again, the car spent a year on exhibition in the Queenstown Motor Museum. More service around Southland followed, until a move back to the UK was mooted. After establishing that the value here plus shipping costs equaled the value in England, the decision to sell in New Zealand was made.
This was our chance to become her third owners, so in May 1983 at 24,777 miles, the deal was done. The trip out had run up 16,800 miles, with everything since then being much more mundane. To say the engine was now a bit tired was an understatement. The Kilmog out of Dunedin was quite an experience. We were barely moving and I am not kidding! The oil pressure showed 5psi, when 30psi would have been much more encouraging. I had visions of a hand throttle/ push adventure of our own! Never-the-less the old trooper that she is came up trumps again and we gained Christchurch after 13 very long hours. One of the longest of those hours was spent in the blackest of night south of Waimate, when some louts in a PA Vauxhall thought playing chicken with an old car was fun. Chris was absolutely petrified and my language with appropriate hand signals just didn’t get through to them. Steering an old car with dim 6volt lights, wandering steering, slow speed, flapping hood and no other traffic around while being menaced from alongside, behind and in front by hoons wasn’t the best memory to have of our first trip.
Fitting of a 1937 reconditioned motor from under the bench was soon done, with all other mechanicals brought up to top condition as well.
With a lifelong interest in Morris Eights, this car is fairly unusual in New Zealand in that it is a Four Seater Tourer, as against the more familiar Two Seater Tourer or Sports as they are known. It also features its original “Home Market” specification 450x17 wire wheels rather than the “Export” 525x16 normally seen here. As an aside, we also have a Series One Morris Eight 5 cwt Van under restoration. This has “Export” 17 inch wheels rather than the “Home” 18 inch.
The specifications of the Morris Eight are: 4 cylinder 918 cc side valve 8 hp, with 3 speed gearbox and hydraulic brakes. Top speed 60mph, 45mpg (6.2L/100k). 218,102 saloons, tourers and vans were produced from September 1934 until August 1938. The vans continued as Series 1 until 1939. The Tourer was in our hands for thirty years, which overtakes the Two Door Saloon we had for only twenty-five years. Mileage is now------------, as the last ten years have been yet another period of rest for this little beauty. It was time for another family to start their own adventures with her. (2018)
The Tourer is still in Kaikoura.
Alan & Chris Gulleford
Before leaving Whitby for NZ
Entertainment night at the Senior Citizens' Centre
It was entertainment night at the Senior Citizens' Centre. After the community sing-along led by Alice at the piano, it was time for the star of the show - Burt the Hypnotist!
Burt explained that he was going to put the whole audience into a trance. "Yes, each and every one of you and all at the same time," said Burt.
The excited chatter dropped to silence as Burt carefully withdrew from his waistcoat pocket a beautiful antique gold pocket watch and chain.
"I want you to keep your eyes on this watch" said Burt, holding the watch high for all to see.
"It's a very special and valuable watch that has been in my family for six generations," said Burt.
He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting, "Watch the watch --- watch the watch --- watch the watch."
The audience became mesmerized as the watch swayed back and forth.
The lights were twinkling as they were reflected from its gleaming surfaces.
A hundred and fifty pairs of eyes followed the movements of the gently swaying watch.
They were all hypnotized.
And then suddenly the chain broke!!!!
The beautiful watch fell to the stage and burst apart on impact.
"SH-T," shouted Burt. It took them three days to completely clean up the Senior Citizens Centre and Burt was never invited back again!
during
Notice in a farmer's field:
MUSEUM ROSTER 2026
