February
2026
Forthcoming Events
Veteran / Vintage Rally—7 March 2026—entries close 26 February
Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring - 15thMarch 2026
Central Otago Branch Golden Times Autumn Festival Rally 18 April 2026
Waimea Motorcycle Rally 9 May 2026
P60/P80 Rally 16 May 2026
60th Arrowtown Motorcycle Rally 21 November 2026
Rumour
(see page 4 for more details)
Guest Speaker
Michael Gilbert—The Grace Street Project
Meeting: Ariki Lodge 26th Feb of the 64th Dunedin Branch Brighton Veteran Car Rally in the Octagon. (Further information on page 9).
Wednesday Run: 4 March
Next run is Wednesday 4 March 2026
Leaving from the Racecourse by 10-30am, Cost: $25pp Menu Blue Cod Salad and Chips, Chicken Schnitzel Salad and Chips or Pork Schnitzel Salad and Chips. Please ring Elaine or Angus on 03 212 8956 or 027 310 4239 by Sunday evening prior.
Wednesday Run 4 February
56 people left the Racecourse in 27 cars on a beautiful sunny morning for the first Wednesday Run of 2026.
They travelled east through Kennington and out to Lorneville/Dacre Highway then over to Winton/ Hedgehope Highway. Browns area proved a bit tricky for some!
Onto Otapiri, Winton/Dipton Highway then One Hundred Line East, Heenans Corner, to Drummond/ Heddon Bush Rd, Mayfield Rd, and over to Wreys Bush/Winton Highway and Invercargill/Queenstown Highway and stopping for lunch at The Top Pub, Winton.
On the return to town one little green and white mini needed a ride on the back of an AA rescue truck with its passengers inside.
Thank you to Dave Birss for his understanding and the lift home.
Bar Roster
21/2/2026 Russell Jenkins
28/2/2026 Andrew Brown
7/03/2026 Paul Hamilton
14/3/2026 Mac McGarry
21/3/2026 Peter Pryde
Office Bearers 2024/2025
Patron Wayne Nicoll 215 7136
Chairman Tony Warren 0272 845 840
Secretary Carol McGarry 027 277 6878 southland@vcc.org.nz
Treasurer Sheryn Warren 021 712 198
Club Captain Gerry Pethick 0210 298 5620
Bulletin Editor southland@vcc.org.nz (until position filled)
Welfare Officer Barry Hayman 03 216 3639
Southland VCC website sporty.co.nz/southlandvintagecar
VCC website www.vcc.org.nz
VCC forum www.trash.co.nz/vccbb 46 Ariki Avenue, Otatara, Postal: PO Box 1240, Invercargill 9840
Rumour Notices
Copyright of the contents of the “Rumour” magazine rests with the VCC of NZ (Southland Branch) unless otherwise stated. The Rumour is available by e-mail as a PDF file, contact the secretary if you wish to receive it this way. It also delivered earlier. Views and opinions expressed in the Rumour are those of the authors of the articles and are not necessarily those of the Southland Branch of the VCC of NZ, the Branch Executive or the Editor.
Authors of the articles are responsible for the accuracy of the articles and captions. The Editor does not “Fact Check” any article and will only correct obvious mistakes after consultation with the author. Mistakes will be corrected if possible if they are pointed out to the Editor.
Chairman’s report
Why is it that the start of the year is always busy?
We started out with the Southland Rally; while low in numbers, it was a great day of vintage motoring with a good cross section of vehicles. It also helped, that me and the Buick gelled for once and I was named the overall winner.
Next up is the Veteran/Vintage Rally, I hear there’s some great work going on in the background to boost numbers.
We will be welcoming the after-tour rally members from the National BSA Club Rally to the clubrooms on Sunday 1st March. We will be catering for around 20 visitors, with our famous pea, pie & pud dinner. You are all welcome to visit with the attendees and it would be nice to see a display of local BSA’s and others.
Sheryn and I will be attending the National Executive meeting in Christchurch in the weekend of the 7th & 8th of March; not long after that we are off to the Vero International Rally in Nelson –taking the club’s Darracq. At this monthly meeting, we will try to put together a list of Southland attendees for distribution.
It’s a shame to see that the South Otago Motorcycle rally has been cancelled this year– there is information about the cancellation on the notice board.
From the February Branch Committee meeting: it was agreed that all past Patrons will be recognized with a photo to be displayed alongside Ray Lindsay’s.
Enjoy motoring while the weather is still good. Tony
Wednesday Run 4 February 2026 - Winton.
Forthcoming Events
7 March 2026 Veteran and Vintage Rally
15 March 2026 Gore Swap Meet
15-21st March 2026 Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring – Nelson
9th May 2026 Waimea Motorcycle Rally
16 May 2026—P60 / P80 Rally
21 November 60th Arrowtown Motorcycle Rally
Advert from The Motor Cycle Magazine November 10th 1938
Don’t you wish you been around in 1944 and purchased a 1939 Velocette for £44 for the two stroke or £74 for the Model KSS.
Magazine on loan from Malcolm Hodgkinson.
Secretary Notes
On Sunday 1st March 2026 we are hosting the 63rd International BSA Rally “After Tour ” at the clubrooms from 6pm. Members are invited to bring their bikes along to display and if inclined, join in the Pea, Pie and Pud meal for $25.00 per person. Numbers need to confirmed by meeting night Thursday 26 February 2026. This is our opportunity to show off our clubrooms and motorbikes to fellow BSA riders who taken part in the rally. All motorbikes are welcome not just BSA’s.
Emergency exit /accessible entry door This door must be kept clear at all times.
2025/2026 VCC Subscriptions -Check with Head Office phone 03 3664461 (9.30am to 1.30pm) or email admin@vcc.org.nz if you think you haven't renewed your subscription. Continuous membership counts towards your service award badges. Financial membership of the Vintage Car Club of NZ Incorporated is a requirement to be insured under the VCC/Vero Insurance Scheme.
Anderson Park House 100-year celebration is now on the 28-29th March 2026 11am to 4pm. Members are welcome to take their Vehicles to display over the weekend.
The firebox refurbishment is moving along. Please dress warmly for meeting night.
For those going to Vero contact Ray McCulloch on 03 217 9667 or 021 0295 1296 and let Ray know your travel arrangement. Ray may make up a list to let members know fellow travellers whereabouts if a break down occurs.
Paper copies of the Rumour
Please let me know if you receive the email version and no longer need a copy of the Rumour posted to you. Postage costs $33 per member each year. Printed copies are available at our clubrooms and several members pick up their copy on meeting night. Thank you to those members who have already advised me to remove them from the mailing list.
LADIES RUN 18 JANUARY 2026
About 22 ladies gathered with anticipation, at the home of Janet McCulloch to take part in the Annual Ladies Run. Our first visit was to Pamela and Murray Ballantyne in St Andrew Street where Murray spoke about his hobby of woodworking projects which are for sale. In the absence of his wife, a student of hers showed us her cubby house/pottery shed where classes are held. It was interesting to see many examples and the variety of their work. The group then went to Main Street Café where Janet handed out ‘brain teasers’ for us to puzzle over or we could just enjoy a chat over coffee and cake. Some highlights enjoyed of reacquainting with friends of long ago or just having time to chat with fellow members. Lastly, we headed to Ten Pin Bowling where most of the group enjoyed friendly rivalry while sending those heavy balls down the lanes. Janet shone with the highest score and I fluked coming second. It was a lot of fun and laughter. We must thank Janet for again organising a very interesting, fun afternoon which she put a lot of thought and effort into organising. Much appreciated and a first-class way of spending Sunday afternoon.
Norma Wilkey
Free Mk 1 Jaguar 2.4 auto suitable for parts at no charge. Contact:
Grant Sutherland on 021 361 747
Parts Shed
The parts shed will be open the afternoon of meeting nights between 1 & 4 p.m. The following people can be contacted at anytime if requiring parts or information on parts in our Parts Shed.
John Burke 217 8177 & 027 226 0067 or Ray McCulloch 03 217 9667 Library
The library will be open on general meeting nights between 7&9 p.m. Other times by appointment - phone 021 159 8319
The Southland Rally
Held on Saturday 7 February 2026 and attracted 28 entries. The weather gods were with us and we missed the rain shower that hit Invercargill in the afternoon.
Mac and I motored in the A95 on the long route, through Wallacetown, Nightcaps and eventually to Holt Park in Otautau.
Unfortunately Ashley and Gwen Bell had to go home and pick up their modern car to complete the rally but it didn't stop Gwen taking part in the field test and proving Ashley could still throw a tennis ball.
The field tests were at Holt Park and consisted of a variety of ball throwing activities. Once I managed to get the window down, I was severely handicapped by having to use my left arm to throw the balls. Needless to say I didn't get many points.
The first test was putting the ball in the tube and catching it at the end in the bucket provided while the vehicle moved along.
Test number two involved throwing of different sized balls in holes in different sizes and the third test was taking a tennis ball from a post and throwing it in a bucket some distance away while not stopping. There were three posts, each further away.
They were a good challenge and thank you to the volunteers who helped with the field tests.
Instructions took us back to the clubrooms for afternoon tea. The prize giving and meal followed at 6pm.
Much work was undertaken by our Club Captain and his helpers, the kitchen volunteers, barman and Sheryn Warren who did the results.
Patron Wayne Nicoll shared this story that was published in the Otago Daily Times in 2018 by John Lewis.
Wayne and Sharyn Nicoll in their 1908 Cadillac van at the start of the 64th Brighton Veteran Car Rally in the Otago Octagon on Saturday. Photo: Linda Robertson.
Ask a child what a Transformer is, and they may haughtily tell you it is a toy that can change from a vehicle into a robot. They may also tell you they were invented “yesterday”. But it appears they have been around a lot longer than we all think.
Wayne Nicoll has a 1908 Cadillac van, and the peculiar thing is if you remove four bolts, you can slide the body off its chassis and turn it into a car. “So when it came to Sunday night, you would put the work van body on it, and before you went to church on Sunday mornings, you could put a fourseater body on it. It could easily be transferred from a car into a work van”.
The retired Invercargill City Council Mechanical Overseer said it was probably one of the first-known transformers. The vehicle was retrieved from Edendale in 1955 and Mr Nicoll said he rebuilt it with his father William Nicoll in mind. “When I got it with this van body on it, I was going to change it to a car body.” Then I thought, No I like it. But I needed to put something on the side of it, so copied a lot of the bits and off his dad’s old letterhead. Now the van has M Nicoll & Sons – General Blacksmiths” emblazoned on the sides and is a fitting tribute to his father, who built the Centre Bush garage in 1926.
Since the vehicle was made roadworthy again, Wayne has taken it on rallies in Hamilton, Whangarei and Whanganui as well as local rallies. He said the single -cylinder vehicle was very fast down a hill but on average it travelled about 40km per hour. We take her out as often as we can. Southland weather – you have to pick your days. He said the Cadillac was one of many restored vehicles he had in his collection. “Once you contract the rust collecting disease, you cant stop. The only cure is death,” he joked.
He was tempted to drive the vehicle all the way from Invercargill to Dunedin for the 64th Brighton Veteran Car Rally which set off from the Octagon on Saturday. But he decided not to because he was recovering from a heart attack and bowel cancer. He said his family believed he was less likely to make it to Dunedin in one piece than his trusty Cadillac.
years to Alan Wilson, 35 years to Warren King, received by Issy King.
1912 Renault—Restored in 1978
Reg and Wof. Electric start, good hood. Tipping transporter trailer and some spares included. $50,000.00. Contact : Ashley Bell on 03 215 6154
1962 Austin Cambridge A60 early restoration, Black Plates, drives well, $6,000 Contact: Ken on 027 414 3377 FOR SALE: On behalf of the Southland Vintage Car Club 4 wire wheels, will suit MK2 Jaguar. $100 each ONO Contact: Ray McCulloch on 03 217 9667 or 021 0295 1296
