PHOENIX
The 1969 Aston Martin Vantage DBS, the 1970 Ford Mk1 Escort 1300, 1974
Moto Guzzi 750S (Chairmans photo when much younger).
WAITEMATA BRANCH DIRECTORY
CHAIRMAN: ROBERT CHAPMAN
CLUB CAPTAIN: Awaiting appointment.
021 038 3281
robman@orcon.net.nz
SECRETARY: JACQUI GOLDINGHAM 09 44 58811 waitemata@vcc.org.nz
TREASURER: JACQUI GOLDINGHAM 09 445 8811 goldienz@orcon.net.nz
BRANCH DELEGATE: IAN GOLDINGHAM 09 445 8811 goldienz@orcon.net.nz
EDITOR: MICHAEL GREIG
SCRIBE Moveable Feast
PAST CHAIRMAN: BRENDAN LAMAIN
COMMITTEE:
0272455786 michael.john.greig@gmail.com
021 132 4557 brendanandterry@gmail.com
MAX JAMIESON, MIKE HOPE-CROSS, HAMISH ANDREWS, MARCUS LING, STEVE SHARP, RAY FERNIER, STEVE CRANCH
COMING EVENTS
Looking Forward
August 24th Daffodil Run
Sept. 28th Ryders Run and the usual meal and picture.
28th Run to Ardmore with Vintage Austin Register, Two different workshops. October Revisit to a famous Motorcycle collection. 10-12th Christchurch, McLeans Island.
Novem ber Classic Yacht Visit. Spiffing Event, Proper kit. Details to come!
2nd Tauranga, 9am start. 29 Cliff Road, VCC Bay of Plenty
Still the First Tuesday of the Month, until further notice.
N.B. See you at the RSA Room, King George V Memorial Hall, Library Lane, Albany, 7.30 pm.
For the below event which is the main one for the month, we need volunteers at the start to collect money and donations from entrants. Please be forthcoming, and still enter.
DAFFODIL RALLY & CAR SHOW
SUNDAY 24th AUGUST
$10 per vehicle: CASH/EFTPOS Donation to Cancer Society
Meet and Register at the North Shore Vintage Car Club Clubrooms
MASONS ROAD, ALBANY
Entry at MAIN GATE from 9am
First vehicles away at 10am bring/buy lunch at Matakana vehicles on display at Matakana
Full Route Instructions given upon Registration
Organised by Waitemata, Warkworth/Wellsford & North Shore Branches of the Vintage Car Club of NZ
https://daffodilday.org.nz/waitematanorthshorewellsfordwarkworthvintagecarclub
The Chairmans Report.
At the time of publishing the newsletter, we are still waiting of a reply from the residents meeting for permission to use the hill and should know with in the month. This month is the Daffodil Run and we are looking for helpers at the start to collect donations and distribute route maps. This does not exclude you from entering the event, as you will leave after the entrant depart. Please volunteer for this National Event.
Tyre: On obtaining a WOF, I discovered that the tyres would not get through again next time. The shock was the price of tyres had doubled from five years ago. Thinking outside the box, I contacted Blockley tyre in the UK and found that direct importation, I would save $500 on the price compared with local. So, just be aware when purchasing, there are alternatives. If anyone else is interested and in need of tyres, there is a possibility of bulk purchase and freight cost reduction. Hope you all have recovered from the R’oil Can.
Editorial Time.
Actually, I am away in the tropical clines. There may be the possibilities of a secret stash of hill climb and sprint vehicles that have not succumbed to rust, longing for new fields to conquer that I may discover. Thank the gods that no one has asked me to bring back duty free items.
TEMPO n:
The speed at which a passage of music is meant to be played
Ah yes, that well-known French manufacturer, Talbot-Largo (page 7, July Phoenix). Originally stemming from Darracq and being renamed Automobiles Talbot in 1922 under new owners, the Largo model unfortunately lived up to its name and proved to be disappointingly slow, only one step up from the Lento of a rival manufacturer. When Italian engineer Antonio Lago came along and bought the business from the receivers in 1936 things improved considerably.
Talbot-Lago specialised in sporting cars, offering a variety of models which, powered by 4- and mostly 6-cylinder engines up to 4 litres, were almost as comprehensive and confusing as the Sunbeam-TalbotDarracq saga itself. The short-chassis Talbot Lago SS was noted for exotic designs by such French coachbuilders as Figleaf & Flashy, but as with most French manufacturers of luxury cars, postwar production struggled and, after tottering for years, the company was sold to Simca in 1959. The rumoured Vivace and even faster Presto never saw the light of day.
Austin, having started in the early years of the 20th century with a range of large cars up to 9 litres, also produced the 40hp 6236cc Vitesse, only slightly modified from Vivace. The Austin Seven, introduced in 1922, spelled the death knell of the Larghissimo cyclecar, but the marquee name staggered on, through the 1952 merger with Nuffield to form BMC, until 1987. One of Austin’s last models, sold from 1973 to 1982, was the Allegro, superseded by the Maestro.
Driving a British vintage car, as is my wont, I don’t concern myself unduly with those exotic Italian tempo expressions. If pressed, however, I might describe a Riley Nine’s character as moderato, although by comparison with many of its contemporaries it could be deemed as allegretto (moderately fast). Its accelerando (gradually accelerating) performance in traffic is matched by the ritardando (little by little slowing down) brakes, which is why I tend to leave a decent
gap to the vehicle in front, frequently filled by somebody with more confidence in my brakes than I have. (And, encouraged by Ryan McDonald, the car now sports a brake light, something the Riley company never thought necessary back in 1931, just in case anything following is molto ritardando.) Who needs a car radio when you can summon up music of your own?
John King
Infront of the Service Department, not allowed entry as HRH Prince Charles’s DB Volante was being serviced.
A Childhood (I was younger then, but not in spirit) Visit to the Aston Martin Factory in 1981 . I was reflecting on writing on the concept behind the Aston Martin V12 engine since it was conceived thirty years ago so would makes it vintage. Well not really.
The number of times at car shows some well-intentioned but illinformed expert looks under the bonnet and tells me the engine is two Ford Duratec blocks joined end to end. NO.
A ‘Jag in drag ‘Tim Walkinshaw’s TWR designed V12 engine stolen by AM. NO.
The origins are from a failed V12 idea from Ford Advanced Power Train Engineering, Dearborn and Roush Performance.
However, this tale will have to wait for another Phoenix.
You wanted a real vintage story. My visit to the Aston Martin in 1981 is it. Having purchased an AM DBS Vantage two years previous, I was determined to visit the factory. In those days there was no agent in NZ and you communicated by letter to the Newport Pagnell for parts. The factory was a collection of building built mostly in the ninetieth century or early twentieth. When they claim the cars were handmade, they were not joking starting with jigs and hammers and welding and noise. Production was three cars per week. Lagonda’s to the Gulf, Aston Martins to America and UK.
Factory. A repurposed aircraft hangar, erected in 1912.
First step jig for Aston Martin chassis. An AM V8.
Wheel arches further along the assembly.
Chassis rotisserie for access to underneath the chassis.
First stage for the Lagonda after the chassis jig.
Man sitting on the jig has most important job in the factory. Title was ‘Jig Sitter’
Note the legs on the floor, the jig is to make sure that the windscreen apertures 100% correct. The screen is the only thing that is not handmade and if not fitted correctly, it will leak. Every thing else is hand made to the car and can be corrected. Screen cannot.
The left-hand and right-hand side jigs being presented to the chassis.
Lagonda with its alloy panels attached.
Back half of AM alloy body.
Note: More wood than in a Morgan factory
The roof framing for AM before welding on to the chassis.
Man beating alloy on to a former for the front end of an Aston Martin. Note finished product on his right.
Front end assembled on to the car.
Complete alloy body ready for attachment to a chassis
Volante in the rubdown shop.
Rubbing out the imperfections on the body before the paint shop. Could be there for a week. Black paint is for highlighting
Lagonda further along the assembly.
Wiring looms etc. being fitted.
Left hand drive Volante, wiring and accessories before trim.
Front end of Volante along assembly.
Installing the engine. 5.3L V8
Engines ready for instillation.
Emission setup for the US market.
Small plate on the rocker cover has the name of the assembler of the engine.
Ready to go in.
Inside trim shop
Machine shop, milling the block from castings. Churchill machinery from WW2 still being used.
Casting being readied.
Valve pockets machined.
Blocks been machined.
The assembly bench, note the pegs on the wall, each conrod is weight and placed on a peg. Eight rods to a peg. When full, goes into an engine. Same procedures with the pistons. On the bench a complete set for assembly.
The Man assembles 1 ½ engines a week, and had his name on the brass plate on the rocker box.
The factory moved to Bloxham for the production of the DB7 then to Gaydon from the DB9 on. Now a state-of-the-art factory. The company was on its knees at the time of the visit. The workers at that time were 100% enthusiastic about the cars and happy to see visitors.
The wedge-shaped Townsend Lagonda would have been a better sale car in Europe except for the fact it was used to escort high end ladies of the night across Paris to the five-star hotels. Needles to say many of this model ended up in the Middle East.
Don’t forget Mac’s Garage. Top advice, professional service, and well known and respected in the Vintage Austin and Riley world. Gearbox and diffs a specialty. 09 443-3733, found at 4 Ashfield Road, Glenfield.
More of the Riley. Two at Chelsea Hill Climb, The legendary WD 1931 Tourer and from Blenheim, the Sand Racer1923 11 hp. special
PHOENIX
The OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER of THE WAITEMATA BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB OF N.Z. INC.
Alison Moore’s Lagonda at the Mid-Winter Party a few years ago at Whatapu Lodge on the Wind West Coast of Auckland. Photo from Editors Collection.
CLUB NIGHT
Tuesday 5th August
7.30 pm at the RSA Room, King George V Memorial Hall, Library Lane, Albany.
Take Exit 410 Oteha Valley Road. Travel west along Oteha Valley Road, ahead through 2 roundabouts and straight ahead at Traffic Lights into Albany Highway then almost immediately RIGHT into Library Lane then very soon go right again into the parking area. The RSA Room is at the rear.