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BEADED IBBBLSN.Z. VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORING

MARCH, 1969-- .~ . !

(

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We may play aroundwith old cars in ourspare Time! !

But when we makesomething, we like itto be modern and upto date, like the .. .

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Bead ed Wheels is the v oice of the V intage Car Mov ement in N ew Z ealand and of th e Clubs whose eff ortsa1'c fo st e1'ing and ev er w idening the inter est in this mo vem ent and form. 1'allying points for that everinc/'easin,g band of en thusiasts . T he fascination of age i tself 0 1" r evulsion from the flashy m ediocritu ofom' pr esent day is drawing atu inm'easing number Of 1notorist.~ back to th e indiv idu ali ty , solid wor th,and functional elegance that was demanded by a m ore discrimina tin a generation and i t is to thes e thatwe dedicate-

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VOL. XIV, No . 57 MARCH,1969 DI RECTORY OF OF FICERS

Beaded Wheels is Publi sh edQuarterly by the

Vintage Car Club of N.Z. I nc.f r om its Editorial Office at

.20 Hackthorne RoadChristchu rch, 2, N ew Zeal and

Yearly Subscript ion $1 p ost f r ee.Individ ual copies 25c each.

Editor : Mrs M. J. ANDE R SON

Assistant E di tor:Mr M. J. PO YNTON

Copy mu st be se n t to the editorconce rned, Ty ped double s pacing andon one side of pa per only to reachthe m as fo llows :

NOTE: A decision as to whether topublish bi-mo nthly or quarterly infuture will be ma de by a ClubEx ecutive Meeting to be held on~Iarch 22nd. T his will mean a clos­ing date of eithe r Ap r il 15th for aMay issu-e OR May 15th for a Juneissue. A circ ula r to Branc h Sec re ­t aries will advise which alternativehas been adopted and will be se ntout befor e t he end of March.

IN THIS I SSUE

Grea t Days of Gr assWh er e Have all th e

Veterans Gone ?Le J oie De Vivr e ......Rothman's 24 Hour RallyHudson -Essex Gr oup No tesBra nch Event. Ca lenda rBelt Slip ..... ...... ......Pageant of Moto r ing 1969Otago ClassicsBranch Notes . .Vallis He nde rs on "K"

ImpressionsAu st in Book R-eviewMore About JaneLetters to the E ditorClassified Advert.isernents

Page2

89

10131618212425

303132

32-34:J4-36

Nationa l Execut ive: Presid -ent, J . Sullivan (Sth Cant.);Hon. Sec., J . S. P. Palmer (C h.Ch.); Club Captain,A. K. Wright (Wanganui); Vice-Captain , M. J.Ander son (Ch.Ch.); Committee, F . E. Gill (Auckland) ,R. Ha sell (Ch .Ch.), J . B. Loughn a n (Ch.Ch .), L. B.Southwa rd (W ellington), A. A. Anderson (Ch .Ch.)Ex Officio. Club Regi strar : E. R L. GaIt, 63 HoonHay Road , Chri s tc hurc h, 2.

Auck land: Chairman, J . Lewis; Secretary, C. F . Keenan,Box 3382, Auckland.

Bay of Pl en ty: Cha ir man, B. Janes ; Secretary, Mr R.Ward, 60 Fourt'h Avenue, Taur anga.

Ca nte rbury : Chair man: L. W. Humm; Secretary, N. Skev­ington, P.O. Box 5, Belfast, Christchurch.

Hawke's Ba y: Chairman, R. Scarrott; Secr etary, Mr s B.Kelly, Box 946, Ha stings.

Ma nawat u : Cha irman, G. S. We eke s; Secretary, B. Po ole,Box 385, Palmerston North.

Ma rlborough: Chairman, J. May; Secr etary, D. C. KiI­patrick, 25 DiIlons Pt Road, Blenheim.

Ne lson: Chairman: G. Toplis ; Secretary, D. Pickering, 24aKingsley Plac e, Richmond, N elson.

No rth Otago: Cha irman, K. Perry; Secr etary, T. E.Steph ens, 5 D.R.D ., Oa ma ru.

Otago: Chairman, K. Oakenfull; S-ecretary, Mrs E.Bissland, 72 Royal Tee, Dunedin, C.2.

Sou th Ca nterb ury: Chairman, R. Montgorn ery ; Secr etary,E. R. Robins, Sutherlands R D., Pleasant Point, SouthCanterbury. .

So uthland : Cha irman, N. A. McMillan; Secr etary , MrA. M. McIntosh, Rakiura Av enue, Otatara, 9 R .D.,In ver cargill.

Taran aki : Chairman, D. Moore; Secretary , N. D. Leu­t hart, 515 Ma ngorei Road, New P lymouth.

T aupo : Chairman, G. Mock ; Sec re tary, J. Hindess, Box522, Taupo.

Waikato: Cha irman, R. I. P eace; Secretary, M. Quayle,P .O. Box 924, Hamilton.

Wairarapa: Chairman, G. Bull ; Secretary, P. Smith, 79Camer on Cr es., Masterton.

Wanganui: Chairman, A. P . Tonks ; Secretary, P. F.Rivers, 49 Duncan Street, Wanganui.

Wellington : Chairman, M . Warner; Secretary, K. Wil­kin son, 78 Coast Road, Wainuiomata, Wellington.

Wha ngare i: Chairman, E . Music; Secretary, N. Ganley, 8Eden Tee, Kamo.

COVER PHOTO:

The ill-fa ted 2 litre Alta dri ven byBob Beardsley a t Inverrnay, 1969.

Adv e rti sing e nquiries to be ad dres s ed to th e Ad v er ti sing Man a ner ,20 H a ck th orn e R oad . Christ ch urch . 2 . P u blish ed by Vin tage Ca rClub of N .Z. In cor pora t ed a nd p r in t ed by P urse. W illis & Ai k enL t rl. , 32 Alien Street. Ch r is tc h u rc h , N ew Zea la nd . R eg is t ered atthe G.P.O., W e JIington . for tra ns mission as a ma g-azine. e tc .

The Great Days of the Grassby GEOFF HOCKLEY ---

Part 5

THRILLS AT TAKAPUNA

Where nowadays is heard nothing moreexciting than the "smack" of club meetingball, the whistle of a well-driven "pill" asit rockets down the fairway, the politeapplause from spectators as a playersinks a long-distance putt, or the clinkof glasses at the "19th" after a closely­contended match, the air once resoundedto the roar of highly-tuned engines andthe babble of thousands of excitedspectators. For on the site of today'sWaitemata Golf Club on Lake Road oncestood Takapuna Racecourse, considered bymany to be the finest and fastest grassmile in the country, and for a decade thescene of some of the most exciting duelsin the history of grass track racing, whererecords were made and broken, and madeand broken again, until as the nineteen­twenties were drawing to a close Takapunaclinched its claim to fame as theDominion's fastest track by being thescene of the fastest mile ever ridden on afiat grass circuit. Few, if any, of thecelebrities of the grass-track sport failedto tangle with each other on Takapuna atsome time or another during the "roaringtwenties", and many Takapuna pro­grammes read like a "Who's Who" of thegrass miles-Percy Coleman, Steve White­head, Henry Moller, Ben Bray, Reg Ranby,Roy Crawley, Len and Harry Mangham,Neville Souter, Tui Morgan, Tim Wilkin­son, Oscar Lundius, Frank Sykes, StanOsgood, "Tiny" Gaisford, Jim Dawber,"Mad Mac" lYIcGregor, Bill Davy, Cass

TWO

Goodwin, Tim Bell, Bernie Shearsby, SidlYIorrison, Dave Managh, Spencer Stratton,Wally Claringbold, Bill Herbert, H. V.McCready, A. J. Roycroft, Jack Sweeney­in fact, a complete list of "Takapunatriers" would require more space than ourindulgent Editor could possibly allocate,so we must apologize to the many whosenames we are forced to omit. Again, todetail all the happenings at the dozen orso race meetings held on this famouscourse would fill a reasonable sized book,so we will have to be content with narrat­ing the "cream of the crop", and, drawingupon our memory and aided by clippingsand reports of these fascinating events,we'll try to pinpoint the highlights ofTakapuna track battles.

The Takapuna course found instantfavour with both spectators and competi­tors from the first time that motorcyclesappeared on the track in January 1920.The Auckland public, witnessing motor­cycle grass track racing for the first time,took to the sport as the proverbial ducktakes to water, and the large number ofcompetitors-nearly 50 in all-were loudin their praise of the course, which wasunanimously pronounced to be the finestin the country. Percy Coleman, recentlyreturned from his American tour, gaveas his opinion that with the exception ofthe board speedways and banked asphalttracks overseas, Takapuna was the finestcourse he had ridden on. It was at thisfirst Takapuna meeting that was instituted

what was to be the "piece de resistance"at nearly all subsequent meetings on thefamous course-the 15-lap Great NorthernHandicap. If a New Zealand ti tle eventhappened to be on the programme itnaturally took pride of place, but even so,the sight of a couple of dozen or moredetermined competitors roaring throughthe dust in a "Great Northern" was asight t o be remembered. No accidentsmarred the day at Takapuna's first motor­cycle races , in spit e of some sensat ionalslides as competitors were getting accus­tomed t o the extremely fast course, andthe only incident approaching a mishapwas when a jaywalking specta tor decidedto cross the track during a race and madean ignominious leap over the railings afterbeing mi ssed by the proverbial hairs­breadth by Steve Whitehead on hi sflame-belching Excelsior. Indian s andHarley-Davidsons shared the spoils at thisfirst Ta ka puna meeting. The 15-lap" Great Northern" went to Coleman, whoslashed 50 seconds off hi s own previousrecord time by covering the distance in13 minu te s dead. Len Mangham, whofinish ed second, was the only competitornot lapped by Coleman. St eve Whiteheadfinished th ird on his "Ex." However, inthe 12-lap Victor y Handicap, Mangham,off the 40sec. mark, reversed the "GreatNorthern" placing's. Coleman "reversedthe charges" yet aga in in the 8-lap Epsom

Handicap , while "Tiny " Gai sford on afour-valve Indian scored a dou ble by t ak­ing t he Auckland and Alexandra Handi­caps. A 7-lap sidecar handicap wa s wonby R. E. Champtaloup, cap tain of thepromoting Auckland Provincial MotorcycleClub, and M. Paul won the 5-lap A.P.M.C.Handicap. Both were Harley-Davidsonmounted. After the day' s events, Colem anmade a special attempt on hi s own milerecord of 51 2-5sec. It seemed fairlyobvious that he would be successf ul, asin the Great Northern Handicap he hadbeen lapping in between 50 and 51sec., soit wa s hardly a surpr ise when the time­keepers announced 49 3-5sec. Colemanwa s presented with a special gold medaland received an ovation from the crowd.Len Mangharn also came in for a big handfrom t he spectat ors f or the game wa yin which he had battled with Coleman,while to a large extent being handicappedby riding a stock-type engined machineagainst Coleman's eight-valve. At theconclusion of the day, officials and publicexpressed the hope that the event wouldbecome an annual fixture. And so endedAuckland's fir st grass-track venture,which wa s destined to become one of thehighlights of t he motorcycle racingseason in the ens uing years.

The fame of Takapuna had evidentlyspread, for at t he 1921 me eting at t endancewa s up by almos t 50 % on that at the

THE DEVIL IS DRIVING! - S teve Whitehead on hi s supe r -fas t Excelsior leads a furiously-pursuingColeman in the 1922 N .Z. Heavyweight Cha mpions h ip.

THREE

club's initial venture the previous year,and the crowd was not disappointed. Someexciting riding was witnessed and spec­tators were on their toes from the startto the finish of the day's big event, the15-lap Great Northern Handicap. Colemanfailed to repeat his previous year's win inthis event, but his riding as he graduallyworked his way through the field fromthe scratch mark earned continuousapplause, and excitement was intensewhen on the last lap he was withinstriking distance of the ultimate winner,IVI. C. McGregor, who had started fromthe 1l0sec. mark. Coleman failed by 2sec.to pip McGregor on the finish line, whileSteve Whitehead finished third. Asensation in the 10-lap sidecar handicapwas provided by H. D. Lincoln, one of theseven exceedingly willing competitors inthis event. He hit the fence halfwaythrough the race and reduced his Harleyoutfit to a sorry-looking wreck, fortunatelywithout serious injury to himself or hispassenger. R. E. Champtaloup repeatedhis previous year's win in this event. A. J.Roycroft (Triumph) had a handy win inthe 5-lap President's Handicap, Tim Bellriding a Harley-Davidson won the 7-lapTakapuna Open Handicap, Coleman took

PAGE FOUR

the 5-lap Victory Handicap and recordeda 50 4-5sec. lap in doing so, while theconsolation event went to Jack Sweeney.

One competitor at Takapuna that daywas destined to achieve fame in anotherfield than grass track motorcycle racing,though he undoubtedly possessed the sortof temperament which might have helpedhim to make his mark in this sport hadhe continued. He was M. C. McGregor,affectionately known as "Mad Mac", who,13 years later carved himself a niche inaviation's Hall of Fame when in collabor­ation with co-pilot "Johnny" Walker, hebrought a little Miles Hawk home in fifthplace in the great London to MelbourneAir Race, the greatest event of its kindever held. "Mac" was killed in an aircraftcrash at Rongotai, in February, 1936.

Steve Whitehead, always a top-flightrider in the big machine class, neitherasked or gave quarter on the grass miles,and no race could be considered as wonwhile Steve was still in the running. He~'as perhaps seen to best advantage atTakapuna, and at the 1922 meeting hewas at the peak of his form, and inaddition, his new Excelsior was packingtoo much punch for Mangham's Harleyand Coleman's Indian eight-valve. The

finishing in

pattern of the day's racing was seen whenWhitehead won the 7-lap Takapuna OpenHandicap from off l 5sec. in spite of ter r ificefforts by Coleman to catch him. White­head's handicap was still further reducedin the l 5-lap Great Northern, hi s 20sec.handicap giving him only frac tionallymore than a second per lap over thescratch men, Mangham and Coleman, andthough they rode like bat s out of hellt hey could make little if an y impressionon Whitehead and hi s flying "Ex", whowon comfortably in the fast t ime of 13min. 10sec. Mangham came in a goodsecond, and Maxwell, a comp arativelyunknown Excelsior rider, took third fromthe 105sec . mark, while Coleman finishedfourth. Whitehead's time was 10sec.slower than the best time of l 3min. forthis event recorded by Coleman at aprevious meeting, but the somewhat heavytrack condition ma y have had a bearingon this. Excitement ran high whenMangharn and Whitehead, in specialrec ord attempts, both sha ved l-5sec. fromColema n's 49 3-5sec. mile record, and whenWhitehead in a second attempt recorded49 l-5sec . he was given a standingovation. The crowd figura tively licked itslips at t he thought of wh at could beawai ting in the day' s biggest even t, thel 5-lap N.Z. Heavyweight Champions h ip.Would t he defending champion finally bedethroned? Coleman had with good

Coleruan and Moller in the 1925 " Grea t Northern"

N.Z. 500 e.c, CHAMPION - Reg. Ranby afterwinning the title event in 1929, in the courseof which he established a new 501> c.c. class lap

record of 47sec.

reasons become to be regarded as unbeat­able in championship events, barringmachine tro uble, but it was evident thathe would have to use every piece of t r ack­craft he kn ew t o stave off Mangham andWhiteh ead. A pin could have been heardt o drop while the five riders (tw o otherstarters were Tim Bell (E xcel sior) andHarry Moeller (Harley) awaited the"go" signa l. Coleman shot away into thelead and led both hi s rivals fo r three laps,but amid te rrific excitement Whiteheaddrew level with him right in f ront of thegrandstan ds and in the ba ck st r aightgradually drew away from him. Withmore than half the race over, Whiteheadwas leading Coleman by more than 300yards , with Mangham a simila r distanceastern. But Whitehead wa s f orced to easehis meteoric pace due to an oil-pumpdefect, and Coleman had closed to within50 yards of him in the last lap but one.Going out of the st r a igh t in the final lapColernan drew level and the two racedinto the bend and down the back st r aightwheel to wh eel, Coleman finall y establish­ing a slight lead which he retained to t hefinish , while Man gharn overhauled theslowing Whitehead t o take second place byabout 20 yards . Thus ended one of themost exciting t r ack battles yet seen onthe famous course, and enthusiasticspecta tors grabbed the three riders fromoff the ir machines and carried t hem

PAGE FIVE

shoulder-high to the grandstands. Fatedealt Steve a rather cruel blow on thisoccasion, as there was no doubt that hehad the measure of his opponents untilbeing forced to ease his pace, but suchis the luck of the game.

However, in retaining his title in thechampionship event at the next year'sTakapuna meeting Coleman asserted hissupremacy in no uncertain fashion byreturning the sizzling time of 12min.29sec. and pruning his own previous besttime by no less than 31 seconds. SteveWhitehead, still very much in the picture,finished second, and Neville Soutar(Indian) third. Len Mangham had amajor blow-up, wrecking his eight-valveHarley engine. Coleman deserved theovation he received from the large crowd,for earlier in the day when competing inthe Great Northern Handicap he hadcome off on a corner, fortunately escapingwith nothing more serious than a shaking.Steve Whitehead suffered the same fateat exactly the same place during practice.T. J. Laughlin, off the 135sec. mark, wonthe "G.N." on a Harley. Len Manghamran into second place and Steve Whiteheadtook third from scratch. Incidentally, atthis meeting the "Great Northern" wascut to 12 laps. Not content with annexingthe title event, Coleman flabbergasted thehandicappers by beating all his previoustimes, and 10 other competitors as well,in winning the 6-lap President's Handicapin the phenomenal time of 4min. 49sec.,or an average of a fraction over 48sec. alap. To top off the day, Coleman madean attempt on Whitehead's mile record of49 2-5sec. and returned 48sec. dead. Itwas truly a Coleman day!

But the pendulum invariably swings theother way, and in the next year's titleevent (billed as the Australasian Heavy­weight Championship) Coleman, leadingthe event by more than a third of a lapand pruning his previous best lap time to47 3-5sec. in the process, wrecked hispocket-valve Harley engine when aconnecting rod broke, letting SpencerStratton into the lead. But the lucklessStratton had no sooner taken over first

PAGE SIX

place than he was out with a loose mag­neto, and Dave Managh, riding the ex­Coleman Indian eight-valve, went on totake the title. Such is fate! At this meet­ing, five riders attempted to reduce the500 c.c. lap time of 55sec. They wereMoeller (Norton) 52 3-5sec. Stratton(Indian) 53sec. Sykes (Triumph) 53 3-5sec. McCready (Douglas) 53 3-5sec. andBlackrnore (Douglas) 54sec. Moeller, thenew record-holder, earned a well-deservedreputation through the years as beinghard to beat on any track. He rodevarious machines at different times, butin latter years he was, perhaps, moreresponsible than any other rider for put­ting the Norton "on the map" in thegrass track sport. He won one Austral­asian 500 c.c. Championship at 'I'akapuna,and piled up an impressive number ofvictories on other tracks over the years.

Coleman had planned an assault ontrack records on the day his engine blewup, but the catastrophe naturally put paidto any further activity there and then.Nothing daunted, he rushed the machineto the Auckland dealers and commenceda post-mortem, and spares having beenobtained, a painstaking engine rebuildwas commenced. In the meantime per­mission had been obtained for the use ofthe track on the following Friday andthe services of the official timekeepershad been retained. Late on the Fridayafternoon the completed machine waswheeled out onto the track, which was atrifle greasy and somewhat heavy, butafter inspection and a few practice lapsit was decided to carry on. The officialtimekeepers, Messrs Douglas, Ray andWhitehead, took their places, and theattempt got under way. Just 12min. 42-5sec. later Coleman roared across thefinish line, reducing his previous 15-lapfigures by nearly 25sec. and establishingnew figures for intermediate distances inthe process. These were: 1 mile, 47 3-5sec., 5 miles, 4min. 7sec., 7 miles, 5min.42 1-5sec. 10 miles, 8min. 4 4-5sec., 12miles, 9min. 40 2-5sec. At the conclusionof the ride he again attempted the onemile, but again recorded 47 4-5sec.

But records are only made to bebroken, and less than a year later-onFebruary 7, 1925, Coleman knocked 5 3-5sec. from his five mile figures in a specialrecord attempt in the course of that year'sTakapuna meeting. This was the year inwhich Henry Moeller put his Norton firstacross the line to take the AustralasianMiddleweight Championship and clinchedhis claim to be listed among the top menon the grass. The years rolled by. Newriders made their appearances and newmachines were pushed out to the startingline, and new faces appeared among trackhabitues and spectators, but Takapuna'spopularity never waned. British machinesbegan to appear in increasing numbers­Velocette, Rex-Acme, Douglas, Norton,A.J.S., Royal Enfield and others-increas­ing interest and entries. Among some ofthe newer and formidable contenders forgrass track honours there comes to mindHarry Mangham, younger brother of thefamed Len, Bill Herbert and Reg Ranbywith their new and potent Indian four­valve singles, the hard-riding Jack Arnottand the dour and determined Tui Morgan,Bill Alien, Jack Ratcliffe on one of thefirst "cammy" Velos seen on the grass,Len Southward, Wally Kilmister, CassGoodwin, and others too numerous torecall. Among the great old-timers of thesport Coleman continued on his seeminglyinvincible career. At the 1927 Takapunameeting yet another "Great Northern"fell to him and his Harley eight-valve,off, needless to say, the scratch mark,and shaving 20 seconds off his own recordtime in doing so. Ratcliffe notched up awin for his KTT Velo in the TakapunaOpen Handicap, Bill Herbert on hisIndian took the 10-lap President's Handi-, .cap, Ben Bray made It a Douglas doubleby winning two events and Bill Alien onhis Norton came home a winner in theSports Handicap. And for good measure,Ben Bray skittled the 500 c.c. lap time byscreaming his Douglas around in 48sec.And the crowds just lapped the show up!

But Takapuna's swan-song was draw­ing steadily nearer, the only consolationbeing that the approaching end of racing

on the great old track was not in theslightest way due to any slackening ofinterest in grass track racing on the partof either competitors or the generalpublic-in fact, the last Takapuna meet­ings drew record attendances, except atthe 1928 fixture, at which the attendancewas down for some reason which escapesus at the moment. The Auckland news­paper reporting the event said, "Therewere fewer spectators than the highstandard of the day's sport deserved, andthe absentees missed a treat." But themoderate crowd got its moneys-worth inexcitement, starting with a sensationalcrash in the second lap of the Members'Handicap. Down the straight tore Herbertand Williams wheel to wheel, and in try­ing to cut in behind Herbert to get in hisslipstream, Williams touched the rearwheel of Herbert's Indian and in a secondtook a terrific purler, while Herbert con­tinued down the straight in a hair-raising"tank-slapper" which ended in man andmachine parting company. Things lookednasty for a time, but both riders wereonly badly shaken. Ben Bray on a Velo­cette won two events, Percy Coleman alsonobbled a double, Tui Morgan won theTakapuna Handicap and Stewart Robertson a Rex-Acme won the Alison Handicap,and thus ended another day of grass trackthrills.

Entries and attendances broke allTakapuna records at the 1929 fixture."The thousands who thronged the courselooking for thrills were not disappointed,"commented the Auckland daily paper."The daring riders had the crowd on tip­toes throughout each race and the speedat which the corners were turned wasastonishing." The extra crop of entriesnecessitated splitting the President'sHandicap into two heats. Tui Morgantook the first on a 350 Harley and DaveManagh (New Hudson) the second. Thefinal went to Coleman, who had justfailed to catch Managh in the secondheat. The main event of the day, and oneof the most exciting events ever seen atTakapuna, was the 10-lap N.Z. Middle­weight Championship. There were six

PAGE SEVEN

starters-Managh (New Hudson) BenBray (Douglas) Smith (Norton) RegRanby and Bill Herbert (Indians) andCass Goodwin on a J.A.P.-engined RoyalEnfield with which earlier in the day hehad won the Auckland Handicap. We'realmost certain that we're correct in statingthat Cass's mount was only a 350, too,whereas the rest of the field were 500's.But the R-E was crammed to the muzzlewith horses, and in about two bounces ofan exhaust valve a ferocious battle wasbeing waged between Goodwin and RegRanby which had the crowd fairly hop­ping with excitement. For six laps theyplayed nip-and-tuck, Ranby passing Good­win in the straights and being headed byGoodwin on the corners, while Bill Herbertheld a watching brief in third place. Goingout of the straight in the seventh lapGoodwin got into a wobble and in a flashRanby passed him while he was making arecovery. From then on, Ranby was neverheaded in spite of Goodwin's terrificefforts to regain lost ground, and hefinally won by about 100 yards, with Her­bert a similar distance back fromGoodwin. Ranby covered the 10 miles inthe fast time of 7min. 55sec., lapping at47{sec. to the mile, and his fastest lapat 47sec. dead handsomely skittled thebest previous 500 c.c. mile record time of48sec. He was shouldered by a cheeringcrowd, while Goodwin also received anenthusiastic reception. Ranby told us thathis speed down the straights in this racewas more than 95 m.p.h.

But the climax to a red-letter day ofgrass-track thrills was yet to come. Thehuge crowd was silent as Coleman circledthe track preparatory to an attempt onthe lap record. Down the back straighthe went, his speed building up through thecurves and into the front straight anddown past the timekeepers like a cannon­ball, with flame glowing in the openexhaust ports of his eight-valve Harley,and the spectators held their breath ashe roared around the track faster thananything before seen on the famous oldcourse. Down the front straight hehurtled, and over the finish line, and aroar which could have been heard acrossthe harbour went up when it wasannounced that six stop-watches hadregistered 44 3-5sec. for the lap-anaverage of 80.3 m.p.h., which to this daystands as the fastest-ever time for a mileon a flat grass track.

Hail and farewell to old Takapuna! Anda salute to the riders who made grasstrack history over the years on its famouscircuit! To those who are still with us,should they chance to read this somewhatdisjointed narrative, we ask their indulg­ence for any errors or omissions whichthey may perchance detect, and we canonly hope that we have recaptured in somesmall measure, for them, and our otherreaders, those times which could truly becalled "the great days of the grass".

NEXT ISSUE: "What they rode on thegrass" - veteran and vintage racingmachines in review.

"WHERE HAVE ALL THE VETERANS GONE?"by A.J.W.

Not, as Peter, Paul and Mary wouldhave us believe turned to dust, but sittingunder dust covers in some backyardgarages. We have had a lot of notablenew additions to our veteran ranks overthe last few years, a handful of Model 20Hupps, a Ford T delivery car, a De Dionand a Humber from Southland. But whereare the veterans that graced the mani­cured lawns of Deans Homestead some 10

PAGE EIGHT

years ago. I recall although not then amember, names like New Pick, Zero Fiat,Argyll. There was an F.N. a 1914 Humber,Unic van, Reo, Rover motorcycle and aSinger M/C also. I think that the NewPick, Reo and Zero Fiat are still in thehands of local members, likewise theSinger M/C. As for the others, I knownot where. While we appreciate that afew cars find their way into private col-

lections viz., Len Southward's Museum inWellington, these cars are at least being

Latest Southward addition - Len with hisPhoenix Quad at the November Rally in

Wellington.

seen and enjoyed by thousands of visitorsannually. The club Registrar has many,many veteran cars on his cards yet onlya small percentage are ever motored inclub events. If it was not for the handfulof members who are the real evergreensas far as getting out and doing the miles,we might never see a veteran car fromone year's end to the other.

Are the owners of these forgottenvehicles short of parts to make themmobile? are they concerned about usingthem because of their fragile nature? orare they no longer interested in the move­ment and its ideals. It is a great pitythat instead of getting more and moreveterans to swell the numbers, for everysix new ones on the road three othersseem to get put into mothballs. Canter­bury Branch has a Veteran Rally shortly.It would be grand to see names like Tal­bot, Dodge, King Dick, Bradbury, Humber­Roe, Overland, Renault, Clement Garrard,Dufaux, etc., back on the programme.

IILE JO'IE DIE VIVREII

by G.Y.

At the conclusion of the recent success­ful Motor Show at Hastings and Napierwhich enslaved our cars over the Christ­mas and New Year period, it was decidedto take advantage of the fine weatherwhich was prevailing at that time. Willinghands soon removed the pipe railingswhich "were not there to keep the carsin" and the lYIG was carefully eased outfrom the long row of shining Veterans,Vintage and Post Vintage cars. Out intothe night where the air was warm andthe stars bright above. We soon donnedwindjackets and set off on this late nighttrip home. Driving along the MarineParade, the vast array of street lightstogether with those in the beautifully litNorfolk Pines turned the night into day,the bright reflections slipping by along thelong black bonnet as we passed quietlythrough the built up area.

With the open road ahead, and theengine warming up, we soon settled into

the comfortable seats, the speed rrsmgto the usual cruising gait of 55-60 m.p.h.The warm air wafted the smells that areonly associated with an open car. Thesalty tang along the waterfront was soonto be replaced by the strong sulphurousair surrounding the bright lit FertiliserWorks, only to be replaced by warm freshwater smell as we passed over two bridgesat Waitangi. Headlights probed into thedarkness ahead, and soft lighting of theinstrument panel told us that all was wellwith the car. Bright stars above made awelcome change to the ordinary roof ofa saloon and it is only at times such as thisthat we realise what we are missing inthe modern closed car. Turning offthrough Farndon, we accelerated throughthe gears, watching the rev counter care­fully, soon regaining our cruising speed.In front of us the long shining black bon­net stretched out ahead, flanked by thehigh mounted chrome headlights. Atop

PAGE NINE

the long flowing front guards sit thesidelights with their small red light show­ing us that they are still functioning andgiving us a guide line for the width of thecar. Runs such as this are always remem­bered far longer than any similar run inan ordinary saloon. After passing over thebridge at Pakowhai, we gave the car aburst along the straight and soon camethe 30 mile per hour area, to slow to thelegal limit. Shortly we arrived home,fully satisfied with this wonderful nightrun.

Having promised to return on Sundaymorning to clean up the Exhibition HallI found that none of the family wereinterested in coming with me to Napier.The morning was beautifully fine, a cloud­less sky, and a light sea breeze blowing.A short way down the road it was obviousthat this was the day to really enjoy whatthe MG had to offer, so I stopped by theroadside and folded down the windscreenand carried on. Being dressed only in apair of shorts and an open neck shirt, thewind tore through my hair in a mannerthat has been quite uncommon for manyyears. First thing to do was to put cottonwool in my ears to avoid the old earsgiving trouble. After being slowed downat a Give Way sign it was noticed that'with the screen down it was all too easyto have the rev counter well up towards

the 4000 mark in the gears, and this isone occasion when this instrument wasmost welcome. Looking down I noticedthat the speedo was up around the 60-65m.p.h, mark and my eyes were not water­ing (my glasses giving sufficient pro­tection), but I must admit that I wascareful to keep my mouth shut. In thedaytime, the scents of the countrysidehad changed from that of the night, fornow, there was the sweet smell of newlycut grass, freshly harvested peas, andonce up on the waterfront, the smell ofthe sea. The sparkling water was awonderful sight with small boats sailingalong the seafront. All too soon the 30m.p.h. area loomed up again, bringing usback into the built up area, and soon toMcLean Park to help clean up.

Many willing hands soon cleared thehall and made it tidy again, leaving us freeagain to return home for lunch. Thereturn run was as enjoyable as the tripin, with the sun even warmer. Driving asports car such as this with hood andscreen down is not an experience which isenjoyed all too often these days, and reallyearns the title of "le j oie de vivre".

Oh, by the way I almost forgot, was Icrook for the next few days ... a terrificcold in the head, but it couldn't have beenthe open air driving! It must have beenthe 'flu. Perhaps there is a moral here.

ROTHMAN1S 24 HOUR RALLYThe idea of this trial, run on January

25th and 26th, the Saturday and Sundayof the Auckland Provincial Anniversaryholiday weekend, originated in July lastyear as a possible pu blicity stunt to adver­tise a big gymkhana we were holding atWestern Springs. By September the clubwas committed, and planning started inearnest. About this time, the suggestioncame forward that we could probablyobtain sponsorship for the vehicles enteredin the rally from firms connected with themotor trade, moneys th us secured, goingto our building fund. The proceeds of thegymkhana were being shared with the

PAGE TEN

Auckland Sheltered Workshops Inc. Afterpreliminary investigations and unfru itfulinterviews with oil companies, thequestion of sponsors was left in the handsof Chris Wood, who made a splendid jobin the short time at his disposal, includ­ing the Christmas break, and he wassuccessful in obtaining individual sponsorsfor many entrants and best of all, thebacking by Rothmans for the entire trial.

While the financial organisation wasunderway, Norm Dewhurst eo-opted EbanMoffat, and the rally was planned. Thestart and finish were at Western Springs,and within a radius of 50 miles, the

R. ClarkeT. SutherlandK. O'SullivanR. WelchI. Web sterDr J ohn stonW. ShearsG. MihaljevichR. Ball an tyneA. lVI. Pe pperellJ. WiIliams

plot ters f ound 450 miles of roads, verylittle of the distance being on hi ghways.Although a big job, the trial was a verysa tisfyi ng one to plot . Due t o the len gthof the run, t her e were f ew limi t ations onwhere to go, and ear ly in the piece it wasdecided th at t here would be few re stric­t ions on the type of r oad so long as thespeed was su it ed t o t he vehicles . Althoughth is meant a lot of changes of averagespe eds. ra ng ing from 9.8 to 33.2 m.p.h .,th e re sults justified the policy, and withchanging spe eds, navigat ion and mapreading. it "vas made sufficiently h ard tokeep crews alert; there were two touringsect ions t hrown in to give th em a break.

The enti re r oute was am ended. checkedand r e-checked, roads. s igns and evenmaps being alt ered each t ime th e t eamwent r oun d. Altogeth er . 3000 mile s werecovered driving t he planni ng staves. thelast ti me r ound being a f ortnight beforethe run . when. havin g th e blesainz of th eCommiss ioner of Transport. evervtb in cwent t o th e printers . Meal breaks. ca ter­inz f acilit ies. provisions f or refuellinz atcdd hours and places, marshals (60 ofthem al1 to ld ) , advertising. were allarranged. F irestone provided a t yre van­they had a competitor's puncture to mendbefore the start-and spa re batteri es werecarried in case t hey wer e needed. Theyweren't.

Six teen mot or-cars. one fire engine, andthree motorcycle combina t ions started.Th ese are th e st ar te rs. in the order inwh ich they set off at 1 p.m.C. Wood ] 924 Aus t in 12-4B. Birchall 1926 Wh ippetP. Wood 1929 Harley

Davi dson1929 Indi an1930 B.S.A.1932 Dermis1914 Ford T1929 E ssex1921 Star1931 F ord A1919 Hudson1926 Ford T1930 WiIlys Knight1929 Ford A

A. Roberts 1924 VelieE. Gill 1915 Tal botB. Wal ton 1929 Vauxh allW. Johansen 1939 lVI.G.D. Win terbottom 1922 An saldo

Very briefly, t he ro ute was Auckland,Pokeno, Ngatea, Rangar iri , P ukekawa ,Tuakau, New Lynn, Waitakere. Mur iwai,Warkwor th , Leigh . Pakiri , P uhoi, Pare­m or emo, Alb an y, Harbour Bridge, West­ern Spri ngs .

There were no accidents , th ough ma nypeople had to dr ive faster at t imes tha nth ey wanted to. Afternoon te a was par­tak en at Rangiriri, and supper at NewLynn , about midnight. By this time ther ehad been a few breakdowns and oddboth er s, and people also were tiring:al th ough it was glorious weather for thewhole run, it was very warm. It was afterth e New Lynn stopover. on the lonely andpoori sh roads of t he Waitakere-Muriwaiarea tha t some people got lost, or, at least,well behind schedule.

Breakfast was partaken at Warkworth,by all accounts a splendid meal, and bythis t ime most folk, and pro bably thevehicles , either had their second wind,or were warming to the task, or both.

PAGE ELEVEN

The Mayor of Auckland leaving his late brother's Sunbeam to open the Gymkhana. Horace Robinsonwas a foundation member and ear ly chairman of the Auckland branch.

Neither the roads nor the hills were easyon Sunday morning's run, and for dozensof reasons the scenery went unnoticed.Down to Puhoi Hotel for a welcome anddelightful lunch, in really vintage sur­roundings. They arrived back at WesternSprings sometime after 2 p.m., there toundergo a garaging, braking and acceler­at ion test.

Bill Shears in his Model A won, havinglost 180 points only, second was PeterWebster in another Model A (330 points)and Alan Roberts (440 points) in his Veliewas third. From there on there wereincreasing penalties up to the last man,6410 points lost, so the place getters didvery 'well indeed.

Troubles? Not many, really. One car,the Ansaldo, did not finish, and one bike,the B.S.A. Both were jolly bad luck-theAnn y broke the skew gears, and theB.S.A. broke into verse ! ! (See Belt SlipSection.-Ed.) Alan Roberts blew ahydraulic brake cylinder cup and had somehair and crew raising moments with thebrakeless Velie.

PA GE TWELVE

Ian Webster had bearing trouble (butfi xed it) on the Essex, with a new enginerebuilt by an "expert", Dr Johnson hadlighting bothers with the Star, and theWillys Knight blew a head gasket, butmade it; and that's about it.

Highlights? The Veterans-Rod Welch,Model T, gas lamps (one mandatory elec­tric spot ) no speedometer; came fourthwith 1090 points; and Earl Gill, Talbot,electrics but no speedo, t yre problems,fifth, 1240 points down. The smart turn­out of Peter Webster's crew and car.The bikes; they must be bonkers.

Comments? Straight after theyfinished, "it wasn't a piece of cake, itwas a mighty long way, it was tough onthe cars," and so on. As I write this, fivedays afterwards, "Well ... not next yearperhaps, but certainly the year after, ifwe can run to it."

We still think it was the best 24 hourvintage club run there ever has been.

(Photos by entrant, Bryan Walton)

HUDSON-ESSEX GROUP NOTESNoel Roydhouse

With the good weather there seems tohave been an upsurge in demand for in­formation and parts for Hudson andEssex cars. A recent acquisition is a1930 Essex which is complete but inpieces and as it would be too great a jobto restore it, four or five people's wantshave been satisfied. It would appear aconsiderable number of Hudson and Essexowners are not only aware of this group'sexistence but have been making use of it,so the organisation is to be set on a firmbasis. Accordingly I remain as Convenerand now have a Secretary, Mr Geoff Clark,72 Scotia Street, Wakatu, Nelson, who willmaintain the list of parts available andparts wanted. In future letters addressedeither to him or to myself will receiveswifter attention than letters have in thepast. In fact, I am just now answeringletters written to me six months ago. Tocontinue the improvements it is proposedto charge all those members interested anAnnual Registration Fee of $1; forsupplying any but minor parts, a fee of20 cents will be charged to financial mem­bers and 50 cents to unfinancial members,all payable on the 1st of June each year.This will also cover the cost of providingcopies of Workshop Manuals or any otherinteresting publications. Herewith theusual report.

Library: 1931 National Service Manualwith Supplements being the property ofMr Bruce Anderson, 305 Remuera Road,Auckland 5. The information about Hud­son and Essex cars has been typed outand copies of this are available and dealwith Marvel carburettors and theiradjustments, Hudson ignition, timing,starter, generator and lighting. Theoriginal of this Manual with diagrams isonly available for viewing at the aboveaddress, deals more with post vintagemodels and weighs about 141bs. If anymember wishes a photostat of a diagramthis can be arranged. Mr Trevor Mitchellhas a Bear Brake Manual with details on

Hudson and Essex brakes. It is proposedto get hold of this manual and copy outthose parts which may be of interest orneed to members. Copies are available ofthe Car Instruction Books for 1929 and1930 Essex. It will be noted that thevarious types of Essex models of 1931included a Coach (1l3in. W.B.) with twodoors and two large windows at the side,Coupe (113in. W.B.) two doors and no sidewindows, Standard Sedan (1l3in. W.B.)four doors with no side windows, TouringSedan (1l3in. W.E.) four doors and twoside windows behind the rear doors, anda seven-passenger Sedan (1l9in. W.E.)four doors, two windows behind the reardoors and auxiliary seating between theback seat and the front seat.

Mechanical Accidents: More inform­ation of cracked oil pipes by Geoff Clark.This occurred on 24 to 28 Essexes, thepipe to the gauge cracking at thejunction at the pump. Caused usually byexcess vibration from worn universaljoints, loose engine mounts, or supportingrivets, etc. The 29's had two coils in thispipe to absorb vibration, and a ferrulebrazed onto the pipe and coupling.Modification to this set-up overcomes theproblem. Brazing with bronze, ezeflow,slivaloy, etc. is preferable to sweatingwith solder. Can be done with a propane(Rockgas) or butane kit. The difficultyin tracking the problem before runninga bearing, is that the pipe cracks insidethe coupling nut, and only a drip of oilis lost on each pump impulse. This doesnot register on the gauge, which is reallyonly an indicator to show that the pumpis working. The pressure reading isirrelevant. If anything, more oil is dis­placed with a low reading than a high,due to absence of back pressure in mainfeed to timing case.

Vibration, of course, must be elimin­ated. Essex engines were the mosthighly and delicately balanced engines oftheir era (excepting Hudson) and should

PAGE THIRTEEN

Through the years of automobilehistory, from veteran and vintage to

the present day.

ftH$ie.IS YOUR SYMBOL OF

QUALITY AND SERVICE

~MORE NEW ZEALAND MOTORISTS

DRIVE ON fIRESTONETHAN ON ANY OTHER BRAND

run vibrationless. Vibration from runninggear can be caused by worn universals,gearbox bearings, or pinion bearings.Caution. If adjusting drive pinion bear­ings, measure the amount of fore and aftmovement, tighten bearing by looseningthe lock nut, tighten the adjusting nutuntil play is just eliminated, retightenlock nut and lock washer tab, then, re­move shims from between pinion andcrown wheel housing equal to the playbefore adjustment. Failure to do thiseventually leads to broken teeth, astightening the adjustor nut draws pinionforward, increasing backlash. (I dis­covered this the hard way).

For the following years there are carsavailable for spare parts if anyonerequires them. Essex 1923, 1925, 1928,19~9 and 1930 also Hudson 1922, 1924,1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1917.This list is mainly of people who havethis type of car and have a few spareparts. Usually the most needed part isthe one least available. Sidelight bracketsare one of the most sought after itemsbut rarely available.

Cars for Sale: There are always one ortwo cars about for sale and if anybodyever hears of somebody who wishes topurchase a Hudson or Essex car especially,they can get in touch with me direct.There are two Hudson Hearses for sale.Very commodious, both in good order andmany spare parts with the one in Hawke'sBay.

Spare parts: The parts list has beenunder review and many parts are neededespecially sidelight brackets, Marvelcarburettors, door handles, horns, hub­caps, petrol tank caps, radiator caps, head­lamps, tail lights. If you have any sparesof any year of these let me know or sendthem to me direct. Many inquiries havebeen dealt with and could all these returnthe form forwarded to them when thetransaction is complete.

Correspondence: Towards the latterpart of last year the attention to this sidelapsed somewhat but it is now up to date.I acknowledge the receipt of letters fromKelvin McBain, Myles WaIters, PeterCallender, A. D. Dassler, N. Dewhurst,

Barrie Belk, T. M. Greeaney, lan Som­merville, Mark Pothan, Philip Peach andL. A. Jenks. Any items in these lettershave now received action and any inform­ation necessary has been entered into therecords. From these letters I learn thatthe first Hudson F-head had plugs on theleft hand side of the motor and there isan unrestorable one somewhere inTauranga.

Kennedy Bros Ltd., Garage and Omni­bus Proprietors (in voluntary liquidation),Guinness and Boundary Streets, Grey­mouth, N.Z.

"This firm originated as a carryingbusiness in the 1870's by my grandfatherwith horses and drays and then carriedon by my father and his brother andeventually by five brothers and myself.Always being solely a family business ascartage contractors, coal merchants, pas­senger bus services and taxi operatorsalong with our garage and service station.However, I will not dwell on a detailedhistory, knowing you are mainly con­cerned with Hudson-Essex early modelcars. We were never selling agents forthese cars but we did undertake theservicing for Dominion Motors for theiragencies in our area from 1931 until 1958".

"Our firm had the first motor taxi-cabin service at Greymouth in 1912 this beinga Model T Ford Sedan, then Overlands,Wolseley and more Fords. An Essex wasadded to the fleet in 1921 being suppliedto us by Hayward Bros. of Christchurch,who were at that time if I remembercorrectly the agents. From 1923 to 1931it was all 7-seater Studebakers then from1935 we went 100% Hudson-Terraplaneand having had eight of these cars andall doing between 300,000 and 400,000miles each."

-J. A. KennedyPostscript: What was the make of the

only car in the Rothman's 500 mileReliability Trial held by the AucklandV. and V.V.C. that was received at theend at Western Springs with a cheer?What was the make that received a cheerat No. 5 check point? Why the Essex ofcourse. The Hudson also receivedattention.

PAGE FIFTEEN

Ruapuna Invitation Races - Beardsley's 3 litre being rapidlyMaserati.

VINTAGE CAR CLUB - BRANCH EVENT CALENDARSOUTH CANTERBURY

1 MARCH - ANNUAL MID-ISLANDRALLY:

Followed by Social Evening. ContactBrian Goodman , Phone 80-505Timaru.

16 MARCH - PICNIC RUN:For Veteran, Vintage and Post­Vintage vehicles, star t ing from Ti­maru Motors Ltd., Washdyke, at10.30 a.m . Contact Russell Paul,Phone 27-330 Timaru.

10 MAY - SECOND ANNUAL SPEEDDAY:

At the Timaru Motor Raceway.Contact Brian Goodman, Phone80-505 Timaru.

P A GE S IX 'I E E N

MARLBOROUGH4 MARCH - WARRANT OF FITNESS

NIGHT:7 p.m. Testing Station.

6 MARCH - BOROUGH CENTENNIALPROCESSION:

Afternoon.15 MARCH - WARD A. & P. SHOW:

10 a.m.23 MARCH - WHIMP TROPHY RUN:

10.30 a.m. (Full Day).26 MARCH - MEETING NIGHT:

8 p.m., R.S.A. Meeting Rooms.

For Information ring:Club Captain, 89-166 Home; Secre­tary, 6707 Home, 3359 Business.

CANTERBURY8 MARCH - VETERAN RALLY:

Leaves New Brighton approx. 9.30a.m. Social at night. Rall y organiser,Ivan Taylor, Phone 527-311.

11 MAR CH - LADIES' TRIAL:No more information available.

22-23 MARCH - SPEED WEEKEND:Ruapuna Raceway, Saturday. HillClimb, Sunday. Welcome at BranchRoom s, 55 Colwyn St., Friday night.Social Saturday night (admission byt icket only). Organiser, Ross Haynes,Phone 496-431.

REGISTER'S RUMBLINGSWhile not overwhelmed with books, manuals,

et c., a ppeal ed for in la st Decem ber's BeadedWheels , so me valuable addit ions have beenplace d in the library copied from books whichhav e since b~n returned to se nde rs. Th ere mu stbe a weal th of accurate data sit t ing on book­shel ves throughout th e country in books whi ch ifsent to me (Eric GaIt 63 Hoon Hay Road,Chr istchu r ch , 2) will be copied a nd the booksreturned by r egi stered post within a few days.

Last year some 180 memb ers were written tofo r Phot os and or ot he r inf ormation. So f ar

AUCKLAND BRANCH16 FEBRUARY - HOSPITAL RUN.

Starts 1.30 p.m. Mt Albert Borou ghCouncil Memorial Hall.

13 MARCH - CLUB NIGHT:At M.O.T.A.T.AUCTION.

16 MARCH - AFTERNOON RUN:1.30 p.m. at Cornwall Park.

10 APRIL - BARBEQUE RUN:Starting Papatoetoe Hotel Car Parkat 1.30 p.m.

3 MAY - EXPERTS' RUN:Details later.

ab out 80 'hav e not r epli ed and this in it self makesa lot mor e work f or those who give up a greatdeal of time and effor t for club members as awh ole.

WILL MEMBERS SENDING IN REGISTERAND DAT IN G FORMS PLEASE NOTE" PHOTOGRAP HS MU ST BE INCLUDED".

La te la st year details of all Sunbeam s, Au stin12 /4 s and 16/ 6s were se nt to the res pecti veR egisters in E ngl and fo r confirmat ion of dat ing.Th is inform a ti on has bee n re turn ed so ownersof these ca rs can expec t news-good or bad-inthe near fu ture.

Levin Sprint Meeting - Roy Southward's Type 57 c Bugatti on the circuit.

PAGE S E VENTEEN

BELT SLIPEDITORIAL

To our surprise a quiet Christmas wasexperienced this year with very fewcallers so the news this issue is a littlesparse. How many times have we allheard the same old commen t that goodbikes are hard to find nowad ays. Thiswriter inspected a Militaire late last yearwith a view to adding it to the stable, buta few last minute hitches put paid to thatidea for a few months. We hear thatBlenheim's Garry Turner has acquired adirt track Douglas, not quite complete butenough to start work on. In the Aucklandnotes, more new members and desirablebikes are mentioned so we venture tosuggest that the country is not quitecleaned out yet.

The Annual rally of the Canterburybranch last November attracted 18 motor-

cycles and from all accounts was a splen­did turnout. The Harleys drew the biggestone-make machine at six, with one or twomodels from eight other factories. Onemake that is still very few in numbersaround the country is the Scott marque,wrucn is surprising as they were alwaysa popular macnme, m fact to own one wasto ne a "ranatic", 'l his could partlyexpiain tne lack of these bikes as we havenearn over the years of elderly gentlemenWHO enough well past the age 01 rrdmg abike, SWl refuse to part WIth the "oldI.HKe m the shed."

L,0pIeS 01 'I'rrumph transfers to suit allVeteran models and early vintage modelsare obtamable from this writer at King~dward ::>treet, Masterton, The se areperrect copies and sell at 50c per pair.

Motorcycle Musingsby Geoff Hockley

TWO RARITIES. A few weeks ago wehad the pleasure of attending one of thebest shows we've ever been to-the firstannual r ally (at least, we hope it will bean annual event in future) promoted bythe Ashburton Section of the CanterburyBranch. No doubt the Ashburton boyswill have their own scribe covering thedetails of this event in "B.W.", sowe won't poach on their preservesand will just conclude our referenceto the event by congratulating themon putting on such an enjoyable show.However, a couple of machines makingtheir debut in the motorcycle sectionwere of more th an passing interest,and we thought that a brief rundown onthem might be of interest. We'll deal firstwith the 1913 41- h.p. "big single" James,ridden by Norm Sisson. This interestingmount seems to be one of the few surviv­ing specimens of this once-popular make,which was seen in large numbers through­out New Zealand. We remember as aPA GE EIGHTEEN

schoolboy often standing with noseflattened against the window of MessrsPitcher Bros. in Colombo Street, theChristchurch J ames dealers, who gener­ally had a display of the brown-tankbeauties. Norm's machine is a develop­ment of the 1911 London Olympia Showsensation-the James 3t h.p, single withall-chain drive, two-speed gearbox withkick-starter, frame with dropped toptube (when most makers still stuck to theold straight top tube with correspondinglyhigh saddle position) and enclosed frontand rear chains. We have a picture ofthis machine before us as we type this,and there's no doubt that it was a mosthandsome job, in addition to being oneof the most advanced, in its day. Inci­dentally it also introduced the staggeredcylinder firming which became a Jamescharacteristic for many years. Norm's1913 model, incidentally, has an internalexpanding rear brake-surely one of theearliest examples of its kind. But back to

the 1911 machine, for we have omittedto list a couple more of its many advancedfeatures-a multi-plate clutch withalternate steel and bronze discs, and asegmental spring-type shock absorber inthe rear hub. Oh yes-just for goodmeasure, the magneto was mounted highup at the rear or the cylinder and drivenby a train of four pimons from the inletcam wheel, mstead of being stuck out onthe front of the engine, which was thegeneral practice in those days, andexposed to water and dirt from the frontWHeel. m U'14, m acdmon to the popularand proven singtes, the J ames Co. mtro­uuced a bUU c.c. twm, WhICh made aninstantaneous hit - a sweet-running,smooth ana erncient little job WIth inter­Changeable bU degree cynnuers t64 x enmm.) three-speed box, encioseu chainsana superiatrve nnisn. 'I rus was perhapstne most popular .rames mouei ever pro­uuceo, ana It went through a period ofsteauy development right up to rsso, byWhICh time an o.n.v. version had beenIntroduced. Hut the great depression ofthe ll)i:SU's made sales of the moreexpensive type of machine few and farbetween, and It was reluctantly uecidedto concentrate on row-prrced ugntweignts.rxow, alas, tne once-ramous make IS norouger WHn us, but It 'S nice to Know thatat least one example has been preserved,Anu wasn't there a rumour going aroundtnat somewhere m lihl'lstcllurcn there'san eariy ::>.V. DUU c.c, twin ana tne nrts oroue or tne later o.n.v, models Of

The other machine which excited con­sruerame interest at Asnnurton was ahorse 01 another colour (speaking bothIiterany and nguratrvely) . LIterally, it'WdS nmsned 111 royal blue as compared tothe J ames mack-anu-nrown, and a greatercomparison WIth the "Jimmy' it wouldbe hard to imagme-yet It was every bitas mterestmg. I've're referring to thel!:J21 Ace tour owned and ridden byRussell Cross of 'I'imaru. Russell hasonly recently completed rebuilding theAce's big four-cylinder power unit and therally was by way of a shakedown cruise,which, from what we saw of it, seemed to

turn out very well indeed. The Ace,though not seen in such large numbers assome other well-known makes, neverthe­less had a considerable following in the1920's. One in particular which weremember was the beautiful "Sport Solo"model owned by H. D. Singleton-old­timers may remember this great motor­cycle enthusiast. The "Sport Solo" wasa high-speed version of the standardmodel and was equipped with alloy h.c,pistons and modified camshaft, plusplenty of nickel-plating. It was capableof speeds around the century mark andwhen fiat out on Brighton beach, with a3in. diameter open tail pipe, it wouldmake a Harvard sound like a humming­bird, The Cross model is the standardversion. The Ace was designed by W. G.Henderson, who some years previouslyhad designed the famous four-cylindermachine bearing his name. In 192'1 aftera somewhat chequered career, due not tomechanical shortcomings but mainly tolack of finance, the Ace was purchased bythe Indian Motorcycle Co, and marketedas the Indian Ace (an immaculate speci­men of one of these models is owned byNorm Hayes of Invercargill) and wasfinally developed into the Indian Four. It'snice to see rcusseu's job going so nicely.When Christchurch's Bob Entwistle,another Ace enthusiast, completes hisrestoration, there will be at least twoexamples on Canterbury roads to ensurethat this once-famous name doesn't lapseinto oblivion.

After reading the above story on theJ ames, we would like to add our little noteto the effect that up New Plymouth wayTrevor Kearns has practically a complete1915 500 c.c. side valve twin model andlying in a shed north of Wairoa is anothersimilar job less wheels and magneto.Efforts by several club members to pro­cure this have been to no avail, the ownerseems adamant in his decision to use themotor as a compressor. To round off thelist mention must be made of the 1914Big Single 600 c.c, Combination in AndrewThompson's collection. -Glen Bull

PAGE NINETEEN

OTAGO BELT SLIPby Cammy

Since the last notes things have at lastmoved and the machines have appea redfr om out of nowhere.

The Brighton Run saw the appearanceof Colin Winters' 1912 A.J.S. 2 !~ h.p. anda fine little machine it has turned out tobe. This machine was the first chain­driven motorcycle to be in the Ohai areain Southland. Can' t have been a Yanktank lover there at that time. The TeamGoodman are very quiet over the perform­ance of their Douglas which caused themale member's beard to turn grey beforeit went on the two pots. Alan Brehaut'sHumber kept its jinx by breaking the lugon the foot brake, rendering it useless.

After fitting police barrels to his Indian,Des Ruddle is still disappointed when alittle Velo left him for dead. Not to worryold chap the Veteran New Hudson will bea big improvement. Stewart J ohnson,after yarding in enough Rudge Ulsterparts has laid it aside for a thirtyishTriumph. Shame!

With the Branch running a Motor Showone must be impressed at the array ofmotorcycles that has been displayed,ranging from a '05 Minerva to the latestKawasaki 350 and D.S.A. Lightning. Alsoincluded was the Norton Manx that wonthe Isle of Man T.T. in 1952 and a CAtrack Harley Davidson which was loanedby an outside member. The motor cyclistscan be justly proud at the amount ofmachines offered for this show causingBill Veitch a headache choosing the 20that were needed.

Merv Winter is still working on theSloper B.S.A. which cannot be far fromgoing, while David Goodman is starting tomove a little faster on the Super Scottsince the arrival of more parts.

AUCKLAND BELT SLIPby Barry Williams

We now have some 40 motorcycle mem­bers in Auckland with recent additionsbeing IV!. Lahaye with a 1928 model 9Sunbeam, J. Holland with a 500 C.c. 1927A.J.S., and 1. Sutherland with a 500 c.c.

P AGE TWENTY

B.S.A. Sloper and sidecar. About six orseven are hoping to attend the NorthIsland rally at Tauranga at Easter. Arecent visit or the other day to my homecame looking for a 1916 Thor frame hehad heard I had, as he needed it to com­plete a machine having the engine andgearbox, etc. The frame was in a sadstate but not altogether past restoration.

Ray Clarke having seen the light at lasthas acquired a 1921 Harley-Davidsoncombination. Guess who talked him intoit.

Your scribe is currently restoring a1920 stock close coupled racing ILD. 7/9for some of the Southern Hill climbs andspeed trials, perhaps. As regards GeoffHockley's count in the last Belt Slip itappears that Harleys are tops; not so inAuckland where Indians outnumber anyother make about two to one.

BELT SLIP'S BLANK VERSEDEPARTlVlENT!

Rothman's 24-HourTHRU' THE EYES OF AB S.A. COMBIN A'nONI am a trusty steed all shiny and brightLeaving Western Springs restored and

tight,No nuts and bolts or anything looseWith a toot on my horn like duck or a

goose,Away in the sun my rider and navigator

satHoping above all that my tyres will not go

flat,It's not everyday that I get ridden 24

hoursSo I'll surprise my boss and get out with

the cows,It's lovely to know the cars are here tooAnd my fellow Americans Harley-Indian

who,I lost all direction not long after the startBut who cares when you see in the dark,This dust and heat is choking my throatI wish my rider would throw me in the

moat,Late at a checkpoint a quick afternoon teaMor e gas in my tank and away like a fleaVery small I am in a field of roaring cars

But I guess they won't run over me underthe stars

The roads are rough and bendingI'll fool my boss for he doesn't know

what's pendingWaiiti Road a no exit nameI'll toss this sidecar and rider the sameA sad and sorry sight I must beA difference of opinion between us threeFor I sat on the hump of a roadWith my sidecar looking like a dejected

toadBut a three-quarter Whitworth is hard

to wearJubilee clips and Firestone helpI made Rangiriri with a whelpFood in my tank and new Whitworth nutI set off to try my Waikato luckIt wasn't long before I threw a shoeMy Boss this time knew a thing or twoHe found the footrest and tied it onWith wire and the usual swearing songLost in the back country with those dark

cowsI wish I had some more horsepowersNew Lynn for supper without a stop

To park myself near the clockI'm not content to stand abackSo I threw my spare petrol tin out of the

backIt's nice to see the sparks all flyingBut the look on their faces I thought they

were dyingDejected and tired there wasn't much

more I could doSo I said to my sidecar have you had it

tooMy Boss kicked my tyre in the middle of

the nightSo I disliked his antics and dropped out

my lightThis I was sure would end the runBut no, home he went and began his funHe began to re-restore me there and thenI think he was after No. 10Away in the morning to meet the gangI joined in the run just for the hang.No wash or clean was I allowedIt was my job to please the crowdSo dry up my tears lads it's been a mighty

fine timeBut 24 hours boys is a mighty long time.

IKE

Report on the Otago Branch

PA.GEANT OF MOTORING 1969On February 1st, the Otago Branch

drew to a close the sixth and final day ofthe carefully arranged and brightlystaged Pageant of Motoring 1969. Timedto coincide with Dunedin's annual FestivalWeek, the Pageant ran for six days from10 in the morning till 10 at night, drawingtremendous crowd interest.

This Motor Show had been in the mindsof the Committee for some years, andunder the Chairmanship of Mr Ken Oaken­full, the idea was finally brought intobeing. Some 20 motorcycles and 40 carswent on display in the spacious ArmyDrill Hall, these being divided into classesfor Early, Economy, Fast Touring, Sports,Racing and Luxury Car sections.

Among the Racing section were MrNye's Ulster Austin, impeccably restoredto the condition in which it was first racedby Bruce McLaren, Mr Archibald's C-type

Jaguar, the Stanton Special, and IanMcKellar's 4 CLT Maserati, emerged fromthe hands of Brian Middlemass in rever­berating form. Economy cars included thebeautifully finished Briton from lnvercar­gill, first in its class in the precedingBrighton Run for Veterans; an Austin 7and a modern product of the samemarque, a Ford T, and one of the firstWolseleys to come from the factory in1900. Somehow, after the Pageant hadprogressed a few days, a certain Bradburyand sidecar insinuated itself into thissection, with excellent effect. Early Carswas also the situation for some unusualvehicles for which a general headingcould not be easily found. Apart fromsome beautifully restored vans andtrucks of various natures, there residedthe strange and wonderful hot-rod belong­ing locally, a mass of chrome and polish

PAGE TWENTY·ONE

General view of the Show with Touring category cars in the foreground including the Collis 540KMercedes-Benz, Jim Sullivan's 4t litre Bentley, and Emerson's Chrysler.

Economy Car Corner - Briton, T Ford, 1900 'Yolseley and Austin 7 at Dunedin Show.

P AGE TWENTY·TWO

II

and standing hub-deep in a pool of flash­ing trophies. Fast Touring contained MrCollis 's splendid 500K Mercedes-Benz; a23/60 Vauxhall, Lagonda, Bentley,Chrysler Imperial 80, 150S Jaguar, Datsunand Holden Monaro, Luxury Cars held agood array of Rolls Royces, a Cadillac, aWolseley Siddeley : Gordon Sharpe's Bent­ley here in chassis form was of particularinterest. Tony Carroll's Frazer-Nash,appear ing at last and recovered from aslight initial tightness of the pistons, wasprominent among the Sports Car s. Thesealso included Bob Oakley's tidy AlvisSpeed Twenty and a later counterpart,Bentley, Regal and Jaguar SS 100, and aneat locally owned Morgan, generouslybrou ght in with practically no notice, tofill very adequately an untimely gap,Inside the ropes surrounding each displa ywas spread attractive gravel , and pottedtrees at intervals lent an air reminiscentof the views one sees of Earls Court.

A major appurtenance to the Pageantwas a display set up by Na tional AirwaysCorporation of aircraft machinery, includ­ing a rather fa scinating turbo-prop eng inecut -away and turning over at abou t 10r .p.m. N.A.C. also dismantled, and re ­assembled in the Drill Hall , a completeTiger Moth, and in addition ran free filmsfor the duration of the Pageant on earlyaviation in New Zealand.

Another attraction was an extra­ordina r ily complete display of some 300Matchbox toys, together with a model ofthe proposed Southern Motorway for theCity.

Adorning one corner rested the Clubdispla y of old-time photographs, and anunrestored Clement-Bayard in man yparts, givin g, we hoped, spectators someidea of what must be overcome to presentClub vehicles in the finished condition thatwas obvious at the Pageant.

A local Book Shop loaned a varieddisp lay of motoring books and ma gazines.

Throughout the Pa geant, music wassupplied nightly by the Dunedin JazzSociety, and magnificent they were .

A dail y occurrence during the Pageantwas a parade of mannequins in period

costume, culminating on the final night inthe Concour s d'Elegance in whi ch some12 cars took part with models dre ssedfor the per iod of the car (the Bradburyand sidecar, try ing an ything once,appeared in this too) judging being onboth car and mannequin. The judges wereof the opinion that Topliss Rolls Roycewas their ideal car, and the lady judgeschose a model from the ' twent ies as thebest of the Show.

However, the greatest crowd drawerwas the nightly Engine Assembly Compe­tition. Unlikely, you say? Had you seenthose tw o teams, each in a raised "boxingring", fitting their Standard Ei ghtengines together in the stand suppliedwhere only crankshaft and camshaft werein place, with a commentator going fullswing, you would have been as enthralledas th e crowds who re turned night afternight to press around the competitors.The fi rst evening saw a Vintage Car Clubteam competing against the Novices, thewinning team taking some three-quartersof an hour. The second night, the crowdincreased, and the t ime decreased. By thesecond-to-last night temperatures werehigh , and t ime-and-moti on st udy at apremium, as the time had been reducedto 15 minutes. On the final night, we sawth e Novices returned and playing offagainst a team from Standard Triumphfranchise holders, and lo! the Novices firedtheir eng ines ju st seconds ahead andt imed eleven minutes , , ,

We finished our Pageant with the tiredbut happy feeling that many more peoplenow think that perhaps we are not simplycranks, not to say, crankers, after all.

NOTEWoul d all member s and Branch commit tees in

pa rticul ar, please bea r in mind th e fac t tha tnew members now applying', only hav e less th anthree months' service f or one yea r 's subscript ion.

It should be pointe d out that by delayin g th eirapplication un til after May 1st th ey will befinancia l fo r the year 1969/7 0.

The Dating Comm ittee has not met duringthe holiday period but the Cha irman advised thefollowi ng' add it ional veh icles ar e now dated :

514 515 546 547 567 580 583 605 649671 727 744 757 762 820 917 947 982

1032 1045 1053 1112 1131 1144 1147 1211 12341247 1297 1298 1373 1374 PV9

PAGE TWENTY-THRE E

-

OTAGO CLASSICS - Dunedin-Brighton, 25th Januaryby A .A.A. Invermay, 22nd February

-

Your scribe has always been officiallyinvolved with the Brighton Run for thepast 14 years and, as usual, attendedalmost out of force of habit. On findingthat his sole official duty lay in doing theTV commentary in the Octagon at thestart, he duly accepted a proffered driveof the Oakley 1912 Regal and thusofficially competed again after a lapse of12 years t

In all t ha t time the event has onlychanged slightly each year and is one ofthe few of the Club classics that is stillrestricte d to Veteran machines only. The1969 event was as enjoyable as any pre­vious one but attracted a sma ller entrythan usual- the only new appearance wasAllan lVIeredith's Briton of 1909-nowfaultless ly restored .

The larger cars were given an altern­ative and longer route to the Taieri Mouthlunch spot by way of Henley and over thehills which was muc h enjoyed by thewriter. and the "T's" of Morley and Moirbut all the others "chickened out" on thismagnificent piece of shingle motoring!

Grand weather, plenty of motoring,good tests and hospitali t y galore coupledwith almost total absence of mechanicalderangements made the "Brighton" itsusual success.

Class WinnersClass 1, A. D. Meredith, 1909 Brito n.Class 2, G. C. Pearce, 1911 Sunbe am .Class 3, lVII's R. E. N. Oakley, 1912

Regal.Class 4, W. H. Veit ch, 1910 King Dick.Class 5, R. D. Cross, 1918 Excelsior .Out right Win ner, City Corporation

Festival Challenge Cup : A. D. Meredith,1909 Briton. .

A .A . Challenge Cup (Concours): J. R.Lindsay, 1909 Renault.

Field Tests : A. D. Meredith, 1909Briton.

Age Milage : D. Morley, 1911 Ford.Motorcycle Concours, McIver and Veitch

Cup: W. H. Veitch, 1910 King Dick.T W E N T Y· F OUR

Overall (Alan Crighton Challenge Cup ) :W. H. Veitch, 1910 King Dick.

Motorcycle Field Tests : W. H. Veitch,1910 King Dick.

At Invermay, the whole Vintagetradition and the raison d'etre of the Clubreceived one of it s greatest vindications.For 1969 a formidable array of mach inerywas present; from the Crop Duster out todefend its hill record for 4 whee lers, to ­gether with McKellar's 4 CLT Maseratiand Ray Archibald's C Type Jaguar tocha llenge it, rang ing down to a bevy oflVI. G.'s bot h L. & J. types, in addition t otraditiona l Vintage mach iner y.

That t he Vintage machi nes, notablyTimm's lovely 12/ 50 Alvis, Ross Hayne'sAustin, and of course Haggit t an d Brow nwith Bentleys, t urned in creditable timeswas to be expected as was the fact thatthey adhered properly to the road! Notso the M.G.'s-Austen Hadler made someverv fast and smooth climbs in his L tvnebut the others all lost cont rol completelyand suffered da mage fortunately withouthurt to their drivers.

Times were generally down on last yearand whilst Mauzer managed to stave offthe opposition with a final resounding run,prior to that McKella r was in fact leadingwith a run of just over 34 seconds andArch ibald was "breathing down his neck" .Among the larger Post Vintage cars IanArchiba ld in the SS 100 and Oakley withthe Speed 20 Alvis were having a lot ofsport together and as usual Peter Henryand his side-chair and B.S.A. provided allsorts of thrills and, again as us ual, BillVeitch and the Norton were absolutelyfantastic and worth going twice the dis­tance to see ! !

Th e organisation was impeccable inevery way and it is to be hoped that thisyea r's example will ensure that peoplebring out their Vintage machines again,which are both f un and safe, and reversethe t rend towards concent r at ion on themore unmentionable products of the1930's!

SOUTH CANTERBURY NOTESby Daniel George

Sunday , Dec ember 15, was a mil estone in thehi stor y of our Wai ma t e sub-br anch , fo r on thatday th ey or ganised their fir st daylight outing,wh ich took t he fo r m of a picn ic run , st art ingf ro m the Waimate clock tower, and proceedin gt.hro ugh Lu ndv's Gorge to Kelcy 's Bu sh fordinner . Th en later on, th e cars moved over toHook Bu sh fo r afternoon tea. In all , about 15

All is r eady for th e North Island Easter rally,th e organisers , Bill and Terry J an es r eport.Entries , whi ch officially closed on January 31,a re sti ll pouring in as this is being written inmid-Feb r ua rv . So far there have been 93 ent r ies ,an d all indications are that t he century mark willbe pa ssed wi t hin a f ew days. Demands foraccommodation ha ve been light and much of thatbooke d in 'hot els and motel s had to be can celled .The br anch has secure d a complete F irestone tyrese rvice for the durat ion of the rally. An engine erwill be on duty at the officia l service sta t ion,Robson Motor s, f ro m 3 p.m, on Good Friday,a nd will be available " on ca ll" durin g the r ally.The bu s to ur on Sat urday afte rnoon has be ena lmost fully booked , but the or ganiser s ar e happyto lay on anothe r bus if it is needed. Th ere willbe some "h ome-brewed" entertainment at th eSatur day night dinner, dance and soc ia l an d a90- minute programme of light music has beennr of'esaiona lly arra nged f or t'he Sunday evening .While some members of t he branch hav e beenbusy ensur ing ou r visitors will be well looked»f'ter socially , club cap ta in Dave Sha nd has beenlit erally out on th e road checking an d r e-check ingth e Saturday and Sunday ru ns. H e or ganis ed aspot che ck of th e Sa t urday run during a down­1J0ur last Sunday with half a dozen vintage ca rs .It turned out to be something of a reliabilityt r ia l. J ack Hoven 's 1924 Studebaker six wen tint o the garage for r epa ir s , J ohn Inder lost so meof th e exh aus t sy stem f ro m his Model T doctor'scoupe and Bill .Janes swears it will take him amonth of Sun days to ge t all the mu d out of hi sVauxhall tourer. Bu t don't be put off by t hisr epor t, for quite a nu mb er of odd factorsacc ounted fo r the "reliability trial" aspect of it :Th e weather wa s atrociou s, the sections of met a lroad had not been graded recently. and t he routesneeds were too high. Dave f ound . To overco methis he has : Ord ered goo d weather fo r E asterweekend, made f ri end s wi th th e coun ty engineera nd got him to promise to wor k the grading ofth e routes into a pr ogramme wh ich becomeseffect ive the week bef or e E aster and drasticallyr oduced the r oute spee ds ! l(ou ar e assure d no~'

of some ma cnificent motor ing' during' which wewill show off our magnificent Bay of P lenty t o»rlvan tage . Terry J anes is plea sed t o r enortth a t a lot of th e memb er s who have enter ed fort he rally , more than 50 per cent. in fact, a re new­r omer s, and we are looking forward t o see ingth em a nd th eir ca rs for the fir st ti me.

mil es of mot oring was involv ed-a nice littl eshakedown run for new r estor a ti ons. Th e Wai ­mate boys are a socia ble bunch , and th e arrange­ments for the day were a real credit to them;th ey provided an ample supply of swee ts a ndsoft drinks fo r th e children, and plenty of t ea ,sugar, milk and other r efreshmen ts for t heg rown-ups, as well as furn ish ing a fine sunnyday.

It was very plea sing to see t hat quite a lar genu mb er of North Otago Br an ch member s , mostof t hem in th eir old cars too. had t r avell ed acrossthe r ippling wat er s of Wuit aki to jo in in t hepicnic. On the other hand, it wa s disti nctl y dis­appointinrr to see onl y f our or five club vehiclesf ro m th e Timaru area present. While some m ern­bars had legitima te exc uses f or t ravelling modern(one was only jus t out of hospital afte r an oper­at ion , anot he r is bu sy r e-r estori ng his car withAu strali a , 1970, in view) it st ill seems sur pr isingth at out of the 71 memb er s list ed in th e Timar uarea . only Bill P iddington (R egal) , Terry Wi lson( Ftala ) , Ru ssell Cross (A ce m i c) . and J im Sulli­va n (Ro lls Royce ) t ravell ed t o W aim at e in oldcars, wh ile Dann y Mor an arr ived fo r the af ter­noon sess ion in t he Morris coupe . H owever , quit er>. f ew ot hers f ro m Timaru atte nded in modernca r s , and it 's probably better to go in a modern ,tha n not to go at all . This high light s a problemtha t has been ca using our committee concer n f orsom e t ime, and judging by other branch news­letters, we are not t'he only br anch in the sa menoaition . Why do members of the Vintage Ca rClub pre fe r to t r avel in mod ern ca rs on Clubout ings ?

As mentioned abo ve. Russell Cr oss has at la st,,"at his 1921 fo ur cylinder Ace motor -cycle motor­ing, while two ot he r new veh icles on the roadaroun d Timar u are Arthur H ooper 's 1925 BuickMast er Six. and Ted F ussell 's 1929 Studebaker.Recent restorat ions dow n Waima te way includeneoff Nv e's rat he r rare 1929 H arlev-Davi dsonCol t, motorcycle, which he took on th e Mt CookRally in October, while Colin Malthus is st illkeen to hear from any one wh o can h el u withinf or ma t ion or parts f or his rare Stork-ka r, Arecently published encyclopaedia of mot or cars,lis tin rr over 4000 makes , apnar entl y does notinclude Stork-km'. We und er stand someone atMataura dredged a r adi ator off one out of a r iverdown th at wa y.

Althou g-h no runs wer e organised by thi shr anch during- J anuary or F ebruary, t he keenerty nes have bee n gett ing th-eir mo tor ing- a tnei rrhb ou r ing rallies. Four or five attended t heAs hbur ton sub-branch's inau gural r ally on.Ianuarv 18 (Pro ba bly mor e would have en teredfo r t his , if it 'had not clashed with the LadyWig-ra m Trophy Race ) whil e Russell Cross andAlan Brehaut took th eir moto rcycles t o Otazo'sBr igh ton Rally, where Ala n had t he mi sfor tun eto break down at t he sta r t, and completed t.hecourse as Russell 's pillion pa ssenger, Thesecond Saturda y in Februa r y saw no les s thanseven South Can t erbury veh icles in Inv ercargillfor the start of the Ri verton Rally, and thosew'ho had made the 260 mil e trip south werer ewarded with a sp lendid day's motoring- throughinteresting count ry in wa r m su nny weather.

PAGE T WENTY- F IYE

BRANCH NOTESPLENTY NOTES

by Ma x AveryOFBAY

Ashb ur ton Inau gural R all y - Ve te r an line-u p of H urtu, H uppmobile, Reo and De Dio n.

Ashburton Sub-Branch Rallyby IDT

Despite arrrvmg hom e on the end of a towrope a gain with t he Unic badly crunched aroundt he front r esulting f ro m brake f ailure we en­joye d what was a wonderful week end ' wellorga n ised and I f eel enjo yed by all wh o attended.

Th e e nt r ant s were prom ptly des patched andsent via three diff erent routes to th e lunch venuea t Mt Somers. Following an excelle nt lunchand a wander, look a nd yar n ses si on we left inour own time for the return journey to Ash­burton, As the day wore on the weather gothotter and the shade of the t r ees at AshburtonDomain wh ere afternoon t ea was served was mostw elcome.

T he even ing function was well run and whatmust be the largest array of trophies se en atany rally were duly presented to th e winners.

Our thanks must go to all members of thesub-branc h and . in particular th e organisingcomnlltt~e w ho did a gr and job, espe cially as itwas their first a ttempt.

Thanks Ashburton ! Is it possible to better itnext year ? ? ?

WANGANUI NOTESby Colin Thomas

Our annual Burma Trial has passed on ce againa~d what an enjoy able run it was this yeal:w~th a g ood. deal of ea sy mo toring intermingl edwith some picturesque ba ck coun t ry driving . 'Wit ha spare hour at th e lunch brea k, many took theoppor tu nity to have a cool swim in a filte redpoo l adjacen t to the picni c spot . What a r efresh­mg . and relaxed break this was before onceagam heading off into the heat of the dayAltogether a v ery enjoyable day and all credit i~due to our new Club Ca pta in K en Tipper forth e thorough organisation of his fir st rally. The

PAGE TWENTY-SIX

out r ight wi nner was Bevan Ta sker in hisChe vro let to ure r. I think that he coul d hardlybelieve what 'he heard when hi s win wasa nnounced. Bev an has been a member of theWanganui branch f or many many years withoutwinning a ny thi ng, so it j us t goes to show thata moment of glor y mu st come to all of us ifwe keep on tryin g . J ohn Little ca r ried off theWilliamson Small Ca r Trophy in hi s delightfulSinger tourer and th e Teams Trophy was wonby Dick Lythe and Wattie Watkinson of Wanga­nui drivin g Alvis and Perry respectively.

A night trial is being organised by Iva nKendall and this will take plac e on our nextclub night, T hese runs are a lot of fun anda pleasing div ersion from th e usual Natter.

Sev eral of us have our si ghts 0 11 the NorthIsland Rally at Easter and we a re looking for­ward to partaking of some of that Bay ofPlenty hospi ta lit y and suns hine (or what haveyou) .

New m em bers are still en rolli ng with ourbranch and it seems that we w ill soon have ast ro ng Motor Cyc le contingent. Hope to seethem a ll out soon .

Prep arations have beg-un for our June Rallya nd this year we are including a sect ion forcommercial vehicles . Quite a few of these area ppearing within t he club, so it is hoped thatwe will see some of them in June.-How aboutit cha ps- br ing them along and make it a go odshow.

Happy Motoring.

P .S .-I've just r emembered t o tell you ab out ourCh ris tmas dinner. A fine meal was enjoyed ata .clt y hotel by more than ~o peopl e, including­MIke P ovnton, who once again was in goodfo r m. Liquid refreshments follo wed and theparty r elu ctantly dispersed much la ter w ith alittle not so friendly pe rsuas ion from th e m enin blu e.

- - - Te r r ible f ellows these Vintag e types---

NELSON BRANCH NOTESby Geo. Topliss

Ngatimoti Ce~tenary wa s attended byap proximately nm e cars which a ssisted inco nveying the local inhabitants, complete withpioneer beards and dress, t o t he sc hool gro unds .An other r un to a Ngatimoti hom estead wh erethere were many pi oneer in g item s of in tere stwa s enjoyed by so me a nd we pla n another runth ere in t he f uture fo r those who mi ssed it.

Marlbor ough Branch paid us a weekend vi s ita nd w e had a n enjo ya ble nog gin' a nd natter a tt heir ca mp s ite, a nd a n enjoya ble r un in fo rc eto Kai teriteri the f ollowin g day. H ope the sundidn 't prove too overbear ing f or you folk f ro mMa rlb or ough ?

Our la st r un to a n old Ruby Bay hom est eadnow owne d by t he Tyndale-Bi scoe' s, was enjoyedby a ll present . The owne rs cla im this home to beover 120 yea rs old and we were fortunate inbe ing a llowe d throu gh to adm ir e the antiqueswithin.

A 1968 wi nd-up party was held in my vinta gegarage, suitably decora ted by willing help er s fort he occasion . Bar bec ue d sausages, a long withplent y of ot he r t a st y ti t -b its wer e wa sh ed down,ei t he r by poo l water or th e usual beve ra g es.Jus t to p ut th e r ecord st ra ig ht, Denny King ,en te re d the swim ming pool, cont r a r y to r umo urs,n ot uncloth ed bu t comp letely so from lightedpip e t o shoes a nd soc ks . H ow Pi e ca n swim andsee wi t h g lasses p uzzled all, pe rhaps w indsc reenwi pers are a n unn ecessa r y luxu r y after a ll. Aneig hb ouring a larm cloc k shattered the pea cefula ir- my, so me peopl e do lik e to ge t up ea rly.

Recen t find s have been a 1929 O.H.C. f a br icbodi ed Morri s Min or Saloo n . This has been ina ba sem en t , these last 20 ye a rs, a qu a rter mil ef r om town a nd ac ross the road from a wellkn own V.C.C. member's hom e wh o was com­pletely unaware of it s ex is te nce . I hav e f ounda 1924 3~ h .p. B.S. A. in a she d at Tahunanui,near complete, wh ich ha sn't been out s incearound 1938. Just goes to show fe llows , t hey'res t ill a r ound a nd you don' t necessarily have togo too fa r. J ohn 'I' ids we ll has bought in to ourdi s trict a S.V. 4 cylinde r 1924 Cross ley Rouds ter,a nd th e fir s t Plymou th 4 Sedan to come t oNelson, a one owne r ca r, is no w in the hands ofprospect ive member, David Ar ms trong. DermisKing has a very or ig ina l 61,000 mil e, 1930 TudorFo rd A Sedan which is in r emarkable co ndition,pa r t icula r ly bod y wi se.

Restorations are Andy Beatti e' s Martini, whichis now painted a nd ge t t ing the final trimmings.Th is is r eall y looking a bea uty , and is a rareveteran , well worthy of it s se ve ral yea rs' hardwork. Andy hop es to h av e this r eady for the1969 South Island E aster Rally. The 1928 Willys­Kni ght of Lou McDowell's is now comple te up tothe t r im min g st age a nd by all accounts is anexcelle nt restorat ion . N orm Gorclon is progress­ing stea dily with his 1904 Darracq a nd manyhours have go ne into repa iring and makingmechanical parts for this one so f ar. H ennyWaldner 's de lig htful li t tl e 1930 S.V. MorrisMin or R oa dst er ha s n ow joined the road ranksafter a comp lete resto ration, a nd H enny and Di ckeasi ly fill ed t he cockpi t , on a recent ou t in g, mak­in g quite a chummy pa il'. P hil Griffiths' Chrysle r66, Bevan McNabb's V8 Ca dillac and TheoSmit h 's P ontiac T ou r er a lthough unobserved f or

some months, a re a ll kno wn to be ma king s teadyprogress. Jack Wa rne's Chrys ler Imperi al 80,ha s had a t rial run on the road and Jack seemsquite im pressed with its power. Wi ring, paintinga nd trim ming has s ti ll ye t to be done. Di ckBie rs' 1927 Olds is ma kin g stea dy progress a ndBob Helm is ge t t ing on well with t he 1915 Dodge4. Bernie Byers' 1907 Ca dillac keeps progressingbut these old Vets. certainly take a lot of ti me .La urie Leyd en now has mos t of the m echanicalpa r ts of hi s 1908 4 cy linder T h ead Bees t onHumber and ha s started p utting it together.These were qu ite a fas t Vet. in t he ir da y .

We are so rry to see t'hat K en Iv ory 's 1933Rolls Royce ha s left t he dis trict, t his ca r ha sa t te nde d many of our eve nts and will cer t a inlybe conspicuous by its a bsence in the f ut ure. Kenwill now have more time t o dev ot e to hi s An atoki"A" and Mod el T F ord.

NORTH OTAGO NOTESby Bill MitcheII

W e a r e pl ea sed to be ba ck in the notes a g ainand would ha sten to a ssu r e everyo ne that la ckof activity ha s not been t he reason fo r ourmo desty, because f ro m the tim e of t he Can terburyBranch Ra lly in N ovember wh en ten of ourmem bers made t'he trip (and enjoyed it) therehas been something happ en in g on t he localvin tag e scene .

N otable " firs ts" amon g our Br an ch Goings-Oncould be bri efly these-

On Sunda y,' 24t h November, A ndrew K eith,son of our worthy Chair ma n K eith, a nd wi f e,Kathleen , was Chr istened. No t so unusu al , yo usay . Point is that t he Service, from St Paul 'sChurc h, Oamaru, was telev ised by DN TV 2, seenby thousands , a nd widel y comme nde d. Parentsand so n emerged fro m t he ir experience withcredit; could this be the fir s t such in t he V.C.C. ?

R ecently the culmina t ing effor t of the NorthOtago Floral Fes ti val was prese nted, namelyt he F estival Processi on, the Branch be ing r epre­se nte d wit h a float mo unted on the well knownModel T commerc ia l of Ji m Boarderi's, escorte dby on c baby Austin a nd one larg e Hupmobile(now referred t o as " the Hu p and t he Pup! ").

Th e wh ole P r ocession was a sp lendid affa ir ,voted the best yet, whil e our acti ve pa r ti cipa t ionca use d mu ch favourable public comme nt, ma kingus f eel so me wha t r ewa rd ed fo r ou r efforts ; thecont r ibut ion of our ladi es in particular wa smagnificent in this , "second" fir st!

"Third" is a Club weekend in Om a rama(remember-the fir st lunch stop leavin g Mt Cookon the Haas t Rall y ? ) t o be held March 22nd ,wh en we will ba se a t t he Ca mp ing Gro und a ndHo stelry a nd launch a f ew expeditions into thesurr ounding t -errain while t'here. A fam ily a ffa irwhich should be wor th wh ile, probably t he startof an a nnual fixture.

As far a s normal Club R uns a re co ncerne d,holidays hav e caused a slight pause, a ltho ugh la stSu nday the fir st of our two J a ck Crurnp MemorialT im e Trials was held with a good turn -o ut ofmembers, the Vinta g e Sec t ion ~o ing t o one ofour newer cha ps, N eil Williamson, closelyp ursued by s ta lwarts Wilson Spite a nd Re xMurray, while Mod em s fini sh ed wit h Bob Rea ,fir st, followed by RusselI Goodsir a nd Mu rrayTait.

P AGE TWE NTY-SEVEN

It was very fitting to see the late JackCrump's Model A out and taking part in the run,piloted by new owner, Mis s F. Wilson-yes ,another "First"-our number one lady member!

With the Mid-Island Rally looming up (alwaysa popular fixture with us) and the South IslandSp ecial on at Christ.church in a few week'stime, indications are for some good motormg.

WAIRARAPA NOTESby Glen Bull

Taking advantage of the fine spell of weatherover Christmas, several members have beenex t ra busy discovering or working on theirvehicles. A very new member, Dale Wadham,has discovered a 1915-16 Buick which is mo r e orless com plet e. This ca r has been a local vehicleall its life and remained in practically the samefamily. A committee member whil-e working onhis 1927 Au stin 12/4, heard of and purchaseda 1924 Packard 6 and though the body is missingthe chassis and engine, etc., dept is completeand in good order.

Neil Skeet of motorcycle fame is currentlyworking on a very. original 1~29 Chevrolet 6cylinder coupe, and lik ewise chairman Glen Bullis busy rebuilding a 1929 Chrysler 75 roadster.The a'im of these members is to take part insome of the bigger events not suitable forveteran bikes, and in the la st case the recentaddition to the family of a son presented toGlen on New Year's Day, brings home the f'actthat four wh eels ca r ry more than two. Even ma roadster which is close to a bike anyway.

Two runs have been added to our calendar ofevents for the year and it is to be hop ed theywill become annual fixtures. The first is acompetitive run to a local beach resort, Rivers­dale and the second a Club Captain's run . Abus 'trip to Len Southward's auto museum isalso scheduled for the near future as sever a lmembers have not yet been able to attend. InMarch a combined motorcycle rally with Welling­ton is oruaniscd to be held a t Masterton, andwill take "'the form of the previously successfulmotorcycle rallies. This time we should see somebik es out for the first t im e and we are rashenough to say that two of them, Don Laing 's1918 Henderson and Gavin McLachlan's similar1.916 model will be concours winners no matterwherever they compete.

Amonz th e several prospective members wehave in ~l1ind, is one chap cur re nt ly r ebuilding acirca 1913 Trumble . Though we have not seenthe vehicle we gather it is of American originand is classed as a runabout being a two-seater.

AUCKLAND NOTESby Doug Wood

The December run was our annual pre­Christmas Gymnic held at Murphy's Bush, a verypleasant spot only about 'half an hour from thecity. Well over 50 cars, bikes and commercialsturned out for what was a full day's picnic, andit was a grand family day. There were runningraces lu cky dips, raffles and all the fun of awell 'r un club picnic. Santa Claus arrived byDermis Bros ' fir e eng ine, and dispensed sweetswith gay abandon to the multitude of k.ids(evidently restoring old ca r s does not blind

PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT

fa t hers to their marital responsibilities). Evenlight rain in the afternoon did. not spoil the day.There were some "new" vehicles there-s-DavidPorter brought out his partly com plete d 1913Model T chassis, and Michael Davis has com­pleted a truly excellen~ res.toration of the e~­

Bailey 1923 Packard BIg SIX two-seater. 'I'h ishe tells me is the first of their models with four­wh eel brakes, and he has spent two years gettingthe car to its present condition. It's a big car.1 took my 1912 Austin Ten along in the afternoonand it was duly admired on its first time outafter th e usual two-year overhaul. It went well,but as I had several members swinging on thecrank-handle on a humid afternoon before I dis­covered the switch was "off", some people werepleased to see me go! Barry W illiams had hismuch prized 4 cylinder Henderson bike there,the bikes generally being enthusiastically dis­played and ridden.

The w eekend nearest the end of January marksthe obs ervance of the provincial birthday, andmany and varied are the attractions traditionallyarrarured for the three-day Anniversary weekend.Thi s 'Year there was somet h ing diff erent-theRothman's 500 mile, 24-hour trial for V. and V.cars and bikes organised by our club, and runon the 25th and 26th. Blessed by perfect weatherconditions, 18 cars and bikes started, and onlyone ca r and one bike D.N.F. As it was quite amarathon, both in the organisation required andthe distance covered, this run, unique in thehistory of vintage car club motoring, at leastin New Zealand, if not elsewhere, deserves afull write-up , which appears elsewhe r e in thisissue of Beaded Wheels. As a climax to anda fitting conclusion f or this t r ia l, we had organ­ised a g y mkha na at Western Springs Stadiumfor the purposes of raising funds for ourselvesand the Auckland Sheltered Workshops Inc. Thepublic, who paid for admission, r~sl?ond~d w ellto the considerable amount of publieitv given toour twin efforts, even the pilot of Radio lZBsha rk patrol aircraft giving us a mention fromthe air wh en commenting on the progress of the24 hour rallyists. The Mayor of Auckla;nd, D. :L\!.Robinson, Esq., opened the proceedmgs, HISWorship having being dr !ven onto a';1d ~round

the arena in a most befitting manner m hIS latebrother Horace's Sunbeam 1925 Saloon, nowmagnificently restored by Frank Benson. N?tonly did the public turn out m force, but so didour members and many of us saw ca rs andbikes we had'not seen for a long time, if at all.Altocether there were 102 vehicles on display­all Auckland Branch vehi cles-w'hich the crowdwere allowed to exam ine later in the afternoon.Events su ch as the Rural Mail Delivery, balloonbursting by the bikes, and the "wig g le-wog g leproved very popular with both the entrants andthe spectators. \Ve even had a two-lap racebetween four enthusiasts on penny farthingbicycles. And of course we had the fini shers ~f

the 24-hour do to be applauded on and for theirarrival, dusty, tired, bearded, and many witheye-ba lls that looked like ordnance survey maps.Altogether a jolly good start for 1969 and onewhich reflects a high standard of morale club­wise. And the building fund is coming up­g ra dually.

Old restoration hint: Most of our vehicles hadan 18mm. demountable spark plug of mediumheat range as original equipment. Until

-

recently K.L.G. were the so le r em aining sup­pliers of a p lug answering in eve ry r espect, barth e t erminal nut, to the or ig ina l type, in a t lea sttw o heat rang es, M.30 a nd M.50. They no lon germarket these, wh ich were one inch across theflats. Th e r epla cemen t SM30 a nd 50 , while stilldemounta ble ( this m eans you ca n pull t he mto bi t s f or cleani ng) , are m ade f ro m mu chsmalle r stock with a very small hexa gon andthe y look a ll wrong. If you are a s tickle r forcorrect de tail, I suggest you ge t cracking andbuy yo ur requir ements while there a re s t ills tocks of the old type on some re tailers' she lves.

Th ey 're still around you kn ow. A f ew weeksago I was f erretting out a private bea ch on t heM anukau as a su it ab le venue f or a club run ,a nd I ca me across a comple te 1926 United tw oton truck . The owner, absent a t th e time, hasca red for the vehicle suff icien t ly. The motor iscove re d with a polythen e she et , and th e bonnetis w ell and tru ly wired down t o di scourage thelight fingered gentry . The tyres , a ll s ix , hadair in th em, a nd the chassis, though very rusty,would r estore easily. I al so found at Onewhero,three-quarters of a Morris Commercial one tontruck-about '27 or '28 I think. Suitable on lyfor parts, it is free for r emoval. Then there isth e amazing 1917, 8900 mil e Moon tourer, exW.W.I. , U .S. Army Stock, which Bill Sh earshas re cently purchased . Fact or y conver te d t oR.H.D. bef ore ex po r t , it was not a comp le te lyun kn own ca r loca lly, but it was a surprise t oBill to find it within tw o hundred yards of h ishom e ; this, after a trip as far a s Invercargilllooki ng fo r an old ca r. This Moon must beuniqu e f or its a ge a nd condition; one headlamplen s is mi ssi ng, so me of th e side cur tains a rebeyond repa ir, but panels , a ccessories a nd so onare all we ll above aver a g e. The radiator is aplea sant ova l shape , and ha s a much bet te ra ppearance than the later m ock Roll s R oyceaffa ir ad opted by th e m ak ers.

Our Soc ia l Commit t ee are an a ct ive unit andto prove it th ey put on a Chr istmas Soc ia i andprize-giving which wa s very well a t te nde d. Thelarge cro wd thoroughly enjoye d themselv es andthe re were some very fine fan cy dres s cos t ume s.Major trophies awa rde d were the HurlinghamTroph y fo r the mo st con si s tent trier to B.Birchall (Whippet); P ride of Own ership to E .Gill (Talbot ); Best Restoration t o H. Bu sh(M odel '1'); Husband and Wife Trophy, Mr andMr s Ralph Vine (Gra'ham Paig e ); SeabrookTrophy for Rally Skill, C. Wood ( Aus t in 12-4)a nd Points Trophy to P. Web ster (Model A) .

As our "Scrib e" , in hi s report on our AnnualGyrnnic, will exer cise his usual m odesty, it mu stbe fo r so meo ne else to pay a w ell deserved tributet o Doug a nd Chris W ood, and a ny others whohel ped on the truly ma gnificen t restoration ofth e 1912 Austin wh ich , after ma ny months ofdevoted a t te ntion, made its debut today.

Th e deli ght on Doug's f a ce was a joy tobeh old , and no Debutante was more t enderly ordevot edl y sq uired.

Good lu ck Doug , and may yo u 'hav e t he manyyears of motoring your r estorati on ha s earnedyou. .

H.H .W .

EGMONT EPISTLEby Karl Hamson

Although our voice ha s been sile nt in thisco lumn for a lon g time, it is no indication of th esta te of aff a irs in Taranaki branc h. On thecontrary, membershi p is gr owing a nd planningis at a high pitch fo r the Nationa l R a lly of1.970 , fo r wh ich Taranaki is yo ur hos t . Thecommittee is al so hard a t work ens uring th atthe 1969 Maung a Moana (Apr il 25-27) is go ingto be th e bes t ever .

T he res tora t ion front has bee n active a nd twocars have recent ly been complete d. Royce Kitneyhas done a beauti ful a nd typi cally thorou gh jobon hi s 1929 Erskine Ca br iole t (quite an unusualmod el boasting wire wheels, twin sid e mountsand a dick ey seat) . Gordon Martin (a newmem ber ) ha s don e a very ni ce job on "Emma "a 1928 Au stin 7 Tourer and hop es to s ta rt on ~1926 Chrysle r 4 To ur er in the near future. RobThompson is making s teady progress on the 1931Che v 6 Tourer and th e running gear is nowcomplete. Rob als o acquired a 1913 Sunbeama couple of week s a go . Bill Shannon, after hav­ing new timing ge a rs cut for th e 1927 Talbot,ha s decided that's th e way to do it and is havinga complet e set of g ear box cogs made. JohnMeuter is working on the 1925 Dodge 4 Roadsterand ba dly needs so me body panels . N eil Whit­taker is making ex celle nt progress on the ChevSuperior K Tourer and this on e sho uld soo n beon the r oad. Neil can hardly wait to ge t towork on the Type 1500 1910 F .N . a nd wouldappreciate any information regardin g parts, etc.(address 11 Sey mo ur Street, Waitara ). Secre ta r yBill So ut'hg ate, is doin g a f antastic job on th~R iley 12/4 Kestrel but unfortunately is preparin gt o tow it t o Chris tchure h as he has been tra ns ­f erred. Neil Leu thart is taking over th e sec re ­tarial chores and hi s address is No. 519 Ma ng or eiRoad, R.D . 1, New Plymouth.. Th ere seems t~ be quite an interest dev elopingIn pre-war America n open ca r s here in Taranaki.Des Moore has a 1938 Bu ick 8 Conve r tible Seda nTre vor Simon s a 1937 Nash R oadster, Ian Sifflee ta 1934 Chev Road ster and your s cribe a 1938Hudson Terraplane convertible.

Th e motorcycl e boys have been very activelately a nd a re having monthly ge t -togethe rs atf ellow enthusi asts' homes. I hear that anyon e notarriving on hi s machine is not entit led t o a"cu ppa" , Not a bad idea at that ! !

GISBORNE NOTES by Ben KellyIt is 1969 already and we a re beginning t o

plan for th e Cook Hi-centen ary rally , which willbe t he Hawke' s Bay Safari run this ye a r. W ehope to s ta r t th e time trial from tw o points, onerun starting from Hawke's Bay, and th e otherfro m Whakata ne, conve rging on Gisborne fo r aweekend of enjoyment. We shall be look in gfo rwa r d to meet ing new and old f r ien ds thisOcto ber 25th and 26th .

Heads are clear ing after Chr is tmas and NewYear, so th at res to ra t ion work can begin inearnest once aga in. Ca rs nea ring complet ionare Bru ce McAra's Chevrole t a nd Myl es W alters'Stra ig ht 8 Hudson.

I belie ve about five of our chaps are tak in zth e Club 's '27 Morri s Com mercia l t ru ck throu ght o Tauran g a fo r the Nor th I sl and rally.

PAGE TWENTY-NINE

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE VALLIS HENDERSON "K"by David Goodrnan

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I feel that before I give you mythoughts of the Henderson on the road Ishould let you know how the ride cameabout.

I have had the doubtful privilege ofknowing Jim for several years and as bothof us are confirmed Motor-cycle enthusi­asts with diversified interests and manyand varied are the Pom versus Americanarguments that we have. After one suchvicious altercation Jim said that hecould convert me with a ride on theHenderson. "Ha, ha, B--- yank tanks.Not for this boy", who must admit thatthe last ride I had on one of these thingswas on brother Brian's Harley and I fin­ished sitting in a ditch. Still "Have a go,David" I said, "you can only die once" andthen when Jim rang to tell me that allgoing well, Labour Weekend was the time,I decided I had better take a closer lookat the beast. Hmm, length a couple ofPom motor-cycles end to end, or so itseems. The engine 1300 c.c., I only wantto do fifty odd, what a waste of power.Foot clutch, ugh! foot brake, alright, buthow in the hell can I keep it upright withthe brake and clutch depressed. "Oh, usethe hand clutch," was the reply. "Hmmalright, when and where do we go." Sun­day if fine and perhaps down the PortChalmers Road.

Sunday afternoon was fine but a bitcold, so after Jim had taken the Hender­son to the end of Union Street I wasallowed to mount it, depress the clutchand slip the gear lever forward. 'Heck, lefthand lever', I had better go easy, until Iget the feel of it, and opening thethrottle, I eased out the clutch and theengine exhaust takes on a deeper note asthe load comes on. I am off, and after aqui ck blip, a quick change into second ismade with a change to the long cog,shortly after. Now let's see how it goesand handles.

After a rather rough ride through toMaia, the road evens out and the rideimproves with the engine beating out aP AC E THIRTY

nice even throb. I have heard one or twotalk about the gyroscopical action that theflywheel could cause in such a motor, butI must admit that even when themachine's speed was dropped to 15 m.p.h.and the throttle wrapped there was nosign or feel of such action and the speedbuilt with exhilarating suddenness. Notbothering to look at the speedo at anypart of the trip, I considered that tocruise it at 50-60 m.p.h, it could go onforever and a long touring trip on itwould be a simple matter. I did noticethat when a bump was encountered, thesaddle springing kept on for quite a whileafter, giving one a gentle shake up. Thehandling was quite superb and no troubleto go for quite a way on the straight,hands off, without correcting it, but Inever really got used to the sit up andbeg, position caused by the long handle­bars.

The Henderson took the long sweepingcurves en route with ease and caused noanxiety when it was laid over on them.On the only rise I was baulked by yellowlines and a diddling Mini, so I could notsee how it took it to any extent. A shortbreak was taken at Sawyers Bay and wedecided to head back and try it out onthe Motorway for the climbing abilities.

Homeward bound, I was being paced byan LE Velo, whose rider had his eyes onsticks at the sight of the big four, andas he was trying to ask me something, Ithought it better to stop. This lad hadnever seen such a beast and I humouredhim for a while until he asked how it went,so I told him to follow me. By now, I wasquite confident and the gear changes weremade with the right hand, which I foundeasier than the left, for up changes. Ihad covered a couple of blocks up Cumber­land Street and on looking back, noticedhe had not got the urge to catch me, soI motored on. 15 m.p.h. at the GardensCorner and the throttle was againwrapped on and the Henderson gatheredin the modern tin ware, with no fuss or

trouble. It was necessary to button offon several occasions because of oncomingtraffic, but a change down was at notime contemplated. It was with regretthat I now turned homeward and on thedowngrade to the Gardens I engagedsecond gear, but this I found, held thebrute back to too slow a speed and a littlethrottle was needed to descend at areasonable speed. Up the Valley and into

the Garage went the Henderson with somesorrow, as I had grown to like it quite abit and even its size didn't worry me now.

Many thanks, Jim, for the afternoon'senjoyment, but I guess I will have toemploy someone to kick it over next time,as it had me beat in that respect, but allin all a grand bike for those who likethem. Me? I'll respect them but stick tothe Velo and Scott.

..

"Finding one's way around the engine-room!"

BOOK REVIEWTHE AUSTIN SEVEN

by Ross Haynes

At last a book has been written on theAustin Seven. It has come at a timewhen, in New Zealand anyway, a realinterest is developing in them as avintage car-this being only recent, as upto a comparatively few years ago, theserugged little machines were still verymuch every day transport for many short,enthusiasts and tall contortionists .

The author, Bob Wyatt, is an Austinenthusiast indeed, being the founder of

the internationally supported "VintageAustin Register" of which he is, with hiswife, joint Secretary. Bob, as might beexpected, has been to great pains to seekout factual sources of information-onesource (the best) being the Austin fac­tory who have obviously gone out of theirway to provide much of the data, drawingsand early photos used in the book. Othersources that Bob's efforts have broughtto light, include men employed in key

PAGE THIRTY-ONE

positions in the factory and servicedepartment at the time of the 7's intro­duction and the years following. From thiswill be gathered the hi storical accuracy oft he book.

I could imagine great pleasure beingderi ved from reading th is book by eventhose people who have owned some ver ytired examples with their navigational andbraking problems. They will be amazed atGordon England's lapping Brooklands atapproximately 80 m .p.h. with a fastmotor in a standard chassis ! !

These tales of the ir racing career wouldbe great reading on their own, but whenthey are spread through t he book withso many other facets of Austin 7 h istorythey make reading this book really worthwhile.

The author's style, and his inclusion ofso many quotes from Sir Herbert Austinimpressed me. Proprietary bod y manu­facturers also receive their due attentionand it is pleasing to see many famousracing names who also gained successwi th racing Austin 7' s.

Altogether, this is an accurate, wellwr it t en book with many good illustrations,a host of which have not been seen before.I recommend it as an in teresting historywhich is also an accurate dating reference.

MORE ABOUT JANEby Rex Porter

Recently I met Mr Hubert Rathbone,son of the original owner of "Jane", theMcLaren 8 h.p, compound steam tractionengine that feat ured in a Beaded Wheelsarticle about timber haulage some 50 oddyear s ago.

Mr Rathbone told me that Jane hadbeen bought from Anderson's, Christ­church , at the conclusion of the 1906Chr istch urch Exhibition wh ere it hadbee n in use driving a dynamo for theExhibition lights.

The firs t job in the Wairarapa wa s tohaul a load of sawn t imb er from the topof t he Admiral Hill (Maungaraki Range)t o Car t erton, a dis tance of some 20 miles.Ra thbones then had a bush mill on pro-

PAGE T H IR T Y-T WO

per t y belonging t o Pain & Sutherlanddown on the flats on t he far side of thehill s. Timber was brough t up to thesummit by bullock and horse teams. Janedid make the whole trip ri ght to the bushoccasionally in mid-Summer when thesteep and winding t rack had dried out.

At the town mill they used a 6 h.p.McLaren which broke an axle one da ywhen pulling a string of three heavilyladen wagon s a mile or so from home.J an e was following wi th fo ur wagons butamazed the mill st aff by arriving with arecord load of 28,000 super feet of sawntimber in no less than seven wagons intow.

Georze Corlet t was Jane's driver afterFrank Dixon retired from the job, andhe became so proficient at handling herth at he "could change gears on themove". That must have called for a verynice handling- of throttle and gear lever.

Bv 1918 the rear wheels were wornnear lv smooth and it wa s decided to havethem re-cleated. The job was done byRn enzine er inz firm in Timaru wh o usedalii rlr edze links for the job. The repairedwh eels were sh ipped back by coast er, buton bein g- unloaded a t Wellington. a slinghroke and one wheel fell to the wharf andbo unced off int o the harbour. It la y under20 fee t of wa ter for some three weekstill a diver was able to go down, att acha. eable, and retrieve it.

Some years lat er , with wheels againworn smooth , Jane was used to power alozrrirur-winch at a mill site on theMnungarakis.

Logging fina lly petered out after fiveye ars and J ane was sold. Mr Rathbonedoes not recall who bou ght her, butre memb ers that a special permit had tobe obtained to drive her on the roads inhe r well worn condition.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORDear Madam,

If any of your mem ber s are Hudso n fans, Ith ought they might lik e to k now t hat theMarch-April issu e of the bi-mo nthly automagazin e, "Vintage Vehi cles" , will conta in themost ambi t ious, most compl ete history of Hudson(The F irst 33 Years) ever printed : includingreprints of fac tor y photos, ads, an d figures. Th e

Sa lon Sect ion wi ll f eature mu ltip le phot os ofa u th enti cally res tored 1912 Hu dson "33 " t ouring(p hoto enclosed, the ot her ph oto is of a 1916(ad ) tw o-d oor. Th e left-hand door led t o thedri ver's sea t) , a 1937 Railton Coachcraft SeriesIII conver tible, a nd a 1929 Hudson L (longwh eelbase, th e only " classi c" H ud son ) ClubSedan .

Th ere ar e tw o ac t ive Hudson (Essex-Terraplane) clubs in th e D. S., with a combinedmembersh ip of over 2000.

Each issue of " Vintage Vehicles" is devotedexc lus ive ly t o articles an d pictures of pre-1 942ca rs , mainly Am eri can-built. Sub . $12 D.S. peryea r .

Your s t r uly ,R. C. LENZ,

Staff Photographer.12962 La Cade na Dr. ,Colto n, Ca liforn ia 92324,D .S.A.

Dea r Mad am ,I have ju st found a source of s upply fo r old

model Gene ra l Motors vehi cles, whi ch may beof use t o some of the Club Memb ers. Che vr ole t ,Buick , Olds, P ontiac, etc . (I r eceiv ed toda y tw oax le sha fts fo r a 1930 Chev. ) ,

Anyon e int ere ste d could write to th e fo llowingaddress : Mr Fori-est,

Wai ka to Mot or s Ltd.,P .O. Box 357, Ha mil ton , N.Z.

I would think that th e G.M. Part numberswould be t he best wa y to ge t the cor rect pa r t s .

Looking- fo rward to the nex t issue of Bead edW heels .

Your s fai thf ully ,M. STO RE Y.

29 Bowen Street , Waiuku, Auckland .

Dea r Madam,I a m very g lad to r ead in th e November

" Inte r im Issu e" of Bead ed Wh eels tha t a newstyle of pres entation is visualised. I hope it willb:; successf u l.

In addition t o th e Branch News requ ested, themos t im por tant funct ion of an y house magaz ine ,wh ich a pp ea rs to hav e been overl ook ed in thisinsta nce, is th at a comp lete rep or t of all HeadOffice plan s a nd proposals should be publish edin each issu e together with an account of th eiractivit ies since the last issu e, et c. Th e minutes of;111 Na t iona l E xecutive meetings should al so benublis'hed. Th ese th ings are a mighty help inbinding' a wid e spr ead club together. As it isnow, t here appears to be a wid e gap betwe ent "e cent ral or ga nisat ion and th e bran ches-aba n of silence and sec recy on all head officec pa ra t ions . I see no need for this secur ity.

As a couple of instances of wha t a pp ears t ome to be over -sec urity for no reason, may Imen t ion th e following :

In th e a bove-me nt ioned " In terim Issue" it isment ioned in t he editor ia l, " As previously st at ed

. . it is proposed to produce six iss ue s of BeadedWheels in its mai n form." Wh en wa s th is s ta te d ?If it was , I must ha ve missed it , for th is is th efirs t I have heard of it .

Th en the re are rumours on th e g ra pe vine,that pla ns a r e al re ady made fo r an increa se insubscr ipt ions fo r the next yea r and mem bers a re

to be pre se nte d with a f a it accompli. Surelybefore such a ste p is tak en, members sho uld befav oured wit h a budget, pu blished in Bead edWhesls, com pa re d with pr ev ious figures, sho winghow it is prop osed to us e the additiona l f undsan d inv iti ng comment from those wh o will bereq uir ed to pay.

It is obvious ly impractica l for a ll mem bers toattend General or E xecutive me et ings, but th eya re ent itle d to know what is go ing on an d BeadedWh ee ls is the me dium for th e broadcasting ofin formati on.

Yours faithf ully,DI CK ME SS E NGER.

P .O. Box 161, Aucklan d.

Dear Madam,I am glad to read in t he No vember " Interim

Issu e" of Bea ded Wh eels of a nother H ist oricRa cin g Ca r th at has su rvived from the MuriwaiBea ch days, in th e shape of the Mercer that gav eHoward Nattrass his second victory in th e N .Z.Mot or Cup .

But fo r th e sa ke of keeping the r ecord st ra igh t,th ere are a couple of sma ll cor rec t ions I wouldlike to ma ke: First , th e Mercer that HowardNa t trass dr ove in 1924 was a pus h-ro d o.h .v. 6cy linde r of th e post l(J22 period, th e big 4's weremu ch ea r lie r . However, this e ng ine wa s irrep ar­ab ly wrecked a fe w year s la t er, wh en an oilfa ilure resu lt ed in a connect ing rod comingt hr oug h the side, taking th e camshaft wit h it.Wha t eng ine was fit ted after th is incident I haveno idea . Th e seco nd cor recti on is that of spe ed :I doubt very m uch if Nattrass had a maximumof mu ch ove r 85 m.p.h. I have no r ecord of himbeing- tim ed a t 104 m.p.h. during t he event­a nyway, t here are con si der able techni ca l diffi ­cult ies in the way of t imi ng cars on t he Beach .I somehow th ink that Mist r ess Rumour has con­f used Natt ra ss wit h Bill Hamilt on , wh o a ttained100.27 m.p.h, in tak ing the 5 mil e record thefollowin g yea r, (1925) , in his 1914 T.T. Su nbeam.

It will be a g ra nd day wh en th e Mercer is onthe roa d aga in-so far the only nea r mobil esurvivo r of those g-rea t days, wh en mot or r acin gwas a spo r t, not a business.

Yours fa ithfully ,DICK MESSE NGE R.

r.o. Box 161, Auckla nd.

Dear Mad am,It mu s t be a few yea rs since I last wrut e yo u,

but I st ill r eceive "B eaded Wh eels" and find itthor oug hly enjoyable .

I have a fa vour to as k- would you please pa ssnlY letter on to t he a ppropr iate member? In th eDecember issu e (Gisborne Notes ) , th ere ismention of a vehi cle r eferred to as th e " Ca r lto nca r". Now a club member here in S.A., is a boutt o commen ce restora t ion on a sma ll ca r whi cha ppea rs to hav e been built f ro m propr iet a ryparts and the eng ine is marked "Th e Ca rl t onComp a ny" .

Th e ca r has tw o spee ds, no reverse and see msto be of quite ea r ly ma nufacture- say, between1901-1904, t hou gh the steer ing box is to ta llyenclosed. Th e radi ator is F ren ch and quite sma lla nd inad equa te looking. Th er e is a water tan k,while the pe t ro l tank is divid ed in to two com­pa r t me nts fo r pet r ol and oil.

P AGE T H IR T Y-T H RE E

-

With no in forma ti on-not even a ph otograph,the own er is working comp letely in t he da rk.T heref ore, I would reall y appreciate a letterf ro m th e Gisbo rne mem ber conce r ned w it hr estor ing th e Carl ton in New Zea la nd.

I ma ke th is pl ea as over the pa st 18 months,I hav e wri t ten t o t hree New Zeal an d member sre quest ing informa ti on on other veh icles a ndha ve not had a r epl y.

My husband is making rea dy our 1913 ModelT for th e Interna t ional Ra lly in 1970-our sonis taking t he 1902 F .N . motorcycle.

I do hope someon e over t here ca n assis t usa nd hope to hear so me t hing shortl y.

Ki nd regards,J OAN CL ARKE

1.44 Se aco m be Road , Seac ombe Heights,Sou th Au stralia , 5047.

Classified Advert isementsMEMBER OF VI NT AGE CAR CLUB OF N .Z.

INC: Free f or fir st thr ee lin es (approx. 25words ); thereafter 10 cent s per lin e (8words ) .

NO N-I\I E MBER S : 50c for fir st three lin es or les s;th ereafter 10c per line.

To be accept ed a ll advert is em ents m ust betyped and be accompanied by the necessa ryr emittance an d m ust be in the han ds of theEdi tor not lat er t ha n th e 15th day of th e monthbefore pub lica tio n da t e.

Sp ecial di splay ad vertisem ents of ca r s f or salecomplet e with pho tos may be inser ted at spec iala nd very rea son a ble rates, fo r details of whichse rvice write to t he Ed it or.FO R SALE: One Pai r Lu cas P .I 00 Headla m ps.Wh a t offers? C. Gordon, 10 Mai t la nd Av en ue,Stoke, Nelson.W ANTED to comple te bike. E ng ine f or o.h.v .Dir t Tra ck Douglas or pa rts mai nly rear cylin­del' a nd ca mshaft . Hav e 1910 Indian motor,brand new vet eran gu ard, 1914-1 920 Indian rearg ua rd , 1926 R udze motor , 5 28 x 3 ty res, Indianside ca r f ram e, 26 x 3 r im as swaps if r equired.G. Tu rn er, 45 Old Renwick Road , Blenh eim ,Ph one 6677.WANTED : Trafficators a nd side lamps for 1935Morris 15 / 6. C. E. Wi seman, Wiseman Road,R.D . 1, Ca mbr idg e.FOR SALE: 1933-34 Hudson Strai ght Ei gh t Ca r .Or ig ina l condit ion, plu sh uph olstery a nd paint ­work in excelle nt condit ion. Radio. All originalequipme nt. One own er. Contact Mr s S. L.Harrawav , 408 Gloucester Street, Chr is tchurc h.Ph one 898-762. .SELL : 1929 Au stin 7 Tourer, completely a ndim macul ately re sto r ed, includi ng e ngine re bore .Ori g inal a nd one of the best in t he countr y.$800. F or fur ther pa r t icu lars t elepho ne 214Sor wri te Marie J ones, 29 Revan s St re et , F ea the rs­ton.F OR SALE : One Rim Spreader. R ussell Pa ul ,Totara Va lley , P leasan t P oint, South Cante r bur y.WANTED urgently : Air ad justi ng screw, a irva lve spr ing f or 1930 l\Ia rvel ca rburet to r f or1930 Es sex . Pl ease wri te to D. H eal ey, 83 LongDrive, St Heli ers, Au cklan d; or P hon e 584-098 .

PAGE T H IRTY·F OUR

W AN TED TO BUY : Engli sh or Cont inen talVinta ge or ea rl y P ost Vintage Drop-h ead Spo r t s­ca r, a nyth ing cons ider ed. B. K. G. Sa nd erson,Box 46, Auck la nd , 1.FO R SALE : Tw o only Model T F or d 21in . f r ontwheels and hu bs. Two only R unning Boardlu ggage g ri ds. One only Running Boa r d mounteddouble acting type pump. Th ree only 4 cy linderMagnet os (2 Bosch , 1 S.E.V.) . A. A. Ander so n,20 Hack th orne Road, Christc hurc h, 2.BUY : 23 x 4 ~ , 21 x 4~ S.S. tyres. Hav e va ri e tyfor swaps . Al so want ed, sw itch lever s f or Delcoirm iti on switc h, as on Bu icks , Hav e new 1925Clum swit ch f or E ssex. Rob Kn ight , WiIIiamSt r ee t , Levi n.SWAP : Autova c, Ma gs., Ei sernun 4, Dix ie 4,B.T.H. 12, Bosh s ing le, Ru shmore start er , SmithSin. El ectric headlamp, Wa r sn op El ectric side­lamp, Harl ey Cla xon H orn, 1928-36 Scout H eadGaskets , B.S.A. BI '32-36 Head Ga sk et s, J.A.P .500 Head Gaskets , Da y ton Tank, Ca r Claxons .Tr iumph Super 7 Gearbox, Au stin 16 /6 3-speedGea r box-F OR . . .Ea r ly M/ C St ir r up f r ont brake, Ea r ly M/ C bulbhorn, early Sturmev Archer cra nk handle, 5in .Rev. Counter and Sp eedo by Smiths Cir c, 1933,1932-1933 W olseley 12 h.p, Block or En g ine .1909 De Dion 12 h.p. part s-pressed chass is,cylinde r ba rrel 100m m. bor e, 160mm. st r oke,Risid Axl es , sep arate t ype gearbox, 710 x 900 1' 20 x 3.85 B.E . tyr es , 1927-28 350 A.J .S. s t eer ­ing head pa r ts and seat , M / C Rev. Coun ter .A.J .S. o.h.c . pa rts, a nd top tube moun t ed to olbox. C. J . Chas t on, 255 Cashmer e Road , Chr ist ­churc h, 3. Phone 383-727.W ANTED: Bugg y or Gip: wheels an d anyBuggy parts or whole vehi cle. Also 24in . tyre sin re asona ble or der . Br yan Belcher. 14 Th omasRoad, Man ger e, Auckland. Ph one 543-828.FO R SALE : Singer Coupe . perfec t mechani cally ,borlv rebuild star te d. 1935. $100. N . An drews ,17 Opa l Place, Christch urch. Ph one 599-733.F OR SALE : Rover 3 ca rbo Spo rt Sal oon a ndSpares . Half restored. $250. AND Riley 1935F alcon in workin g order with or ig ina l "pa rtscomplete. $150. Will swan r estor ed car .- C. J.Cha sten, 255 Cashme r e Road , Chr is tch urc h , 3.F OR SALE: Harley Tank Tran sf ers , a nd Tool­box Tr an sfers , exact repli ca s , with "mad e inTLS.A." . Complete set for $2. Al so F ootboardRubbers, now $6 pa ir ; Cable Covers. $1.50 pair.C. J. Cha ston, 255 Ca shme re Ro ad , Chr is tch ur ch ,:l.WANTED , Indian 2-sp eed Gea rbox a nd carbo, 911 T rium ph Ri ccard o S.D. Gearbox or St eel.L. Leyd en , Clevela nd Tee, Nelson.W ANTED : Dou glas 1920-22 3-spee d type clutchas se mbly or parts . Swa p 1912 R.E . chum hub" I' 1914 A..T.S. Twin mot or. B. D. Elk, 7 NorthSt ree t , F eilding.WANTED : Austin 7 (192 7) body parts and ba ckaxle a nd ~uards . r. Ludeman , 16 Konini Street,In g lew ood .WANTED : Vintage or P.V.V. spor ts ca r inmo to rable or der . 'WiII inspect a ny whe re . R.Paterson, Caves Tea rooms , Ka ikour a, PhoneKa ikoura 11.F OR SALE: Model T F ord. 1925. Tudor Sedan.in res torable condition. Pl ea se Phone 556-284or write, Ba r ry Mason, 1'.0 . Box 14, Christ chu rch .Ph otograph s ava ilable .

• • •SPARK PLUGSRIGHT FROM THE START

O n every BUICK since 1908

On every O LDSMOB ILE since 1911

On every GMC T ruck since 1913

O n ever y CADILLAC since 1914

On every CHEVROLET si nce 1916

O n every PON TIAC since 1926

O';g;,,,1 equipment 0" , /I new I GM IGeneral M otors cars and trucks

'IU ~ " CF UQIIlIllI

W7250

·-

WA NTE D: Engine and Gea rbox parts for 1929­193 0 5 / 6 Harley-Davids on. Geoff N ye , Se t tl e­ment, Waimate, S.C. Phone 8345.WANTED: Handbook and Manual f or Rover10 /4 h.p. 1929 / 30. I. Mortimer, McLauchlan St.,Blen'heim.WANTED : Beaded Wh eels issue Septe mber,1968. T. Partridge, Box 161, Wairoa , H.B .FO R SA LE : Two Lucas M/ C H ea dlights withammet er a nd swi tch in back (as fitted to Triumphand A.J .S. etc ) . D. R. Goodm an, 12 Kinvig St.,Anders ons Ba y, Dunedin ,WANTED ; An y parts or eve n com plete o.h.c,Ve loce t tes. Reasonable prices paid or will swapCas t le Forks for sa me ; al so motor and petroltank for a 15 B.S.A. D. R. Goodman, 12 Kinv igStreet, Andersons Bay, Dunedin.WANTED : Ur gently requ ired fo r 1919 500 c.c,Tr ium ph, two 26in . B.E. wh eels, s ide chair f r ameand any information or comple te bike of similarage. John Lee, 57 Te Kawa Road, Auckland, 5.F OR SALE: Chrysler 1924-25 4 cylinder(Model 58) parts. 4.75/5.00-20 tyres or as iscar in running order. N . Pl edger, Waitati,Dun edin .SW AP, 1917 Buick Cr own wh eel a nd pinion whi chI understand to be unused. Comp lete with cageand 4 Pl anetary diff gears. Has been grea sedoccas iona lly but has super ficia l rust. 53-13 te eth.Sw ap for 20/ 60 Vauxhall Cro wn wh eel andpinion 46-9 or 46-11 teeth or Oakla nd ditto both1928-1929. B. H. Walton, 93 Al berton Avenue,Mt Albert, Au ckland.

WA NTED: Cla udel H obson M.Z.P . carbure t torfor 1922 Sunbeam. Doug McL eod, 342 RacecourseRoad, Inver carg il l.WANTED ; 500 x 20 T yr es or Tubes. 600 x 20Tyr es or Tubes. J . Quinn, 9 Tengawar Road,Pl easant Po in t, South Ca nterb ury.FOR SA LE : Tw o 31 x 4 Tyres, on spli t rims.John Quinn, 9 Tengawai Road, Pl easant Point,South Cante rbury.WANTED: M.G. P type block and engine parts.I hav e some D. and J . parts to swa p f or th eabove. Contact Robert Wyber, 384 Stuart Street,Dun edin.WANTED: Vintage Chrysl er Roadster orsimi la r . Alternatively information leadin g tocapture of sa me. F ully or partly r estored .Details to R. E. Blanchett, p.a. Box 658,Palmerston North, Phones: 85-889 bu s., 1696F eilding pte.WANTED t o comp lete restoration of a 1925model P Triumph, gearbox, clutch, mag. dyno,wh eels, handlebars and tank caps. R eplies toTed Fussell, 6 Barnes Street, 'I'imaru, Phone5854.SE LL OR SWAP: Lanchester 1935, Light 6/ 12.Pro-sel ector gearbox , fluid flywheel. In r egularuse until r ecen tl y . Big end s and bronze wheel indiff', need at te n t iog , Propositions in vit ed. Wouldlike small r otary hoe, outboa rd mo to r . Write.D. Lloyd-F'itt, R.D. 1, P apakura.WA NTED: Tourer or Big Sedan, not necessarilyre stored . P lease fo rwa rd an y information to RayGoff'in, 6 Gar land Ro ad, One Tree Hill, Au ckl and.

T H IRTY-FIVE

FOR SALE: A.C. 1925 parts: Chass is withsprings and complete- back ax le gearbox unitwi t h minor controls (6 cyl. o.h.c.).Scr ipps Boot h 1916-18: Comple-t e mechanicalparts, no coachwork . Rebuilt chassis and gear­box, 2 Le Roy 4 cyl, o.h .v. motors, wire wheels(Hook centre lock 760 x 90). This is a verysporting chassis and is we ll supplied wit h mostparts in duplicate.For Exchange 1910 Renault: Chassis wit hbot h axles, re-storable wheels, 2 cy l, 8 h.p , Thisis the heavy chassis with ~ elli pt ic rear springs.Would exchange for lig ht er chassis twin partsof same period. Also fo ur Firestone Tyr es ingood conditi on, 525 x 21.-D. Warren Jordan,41 Venus St reet, Inver cargill.W AN TE D TO BUY : Lucas Convex Rear ViewMirror, exte-rna l fitting, type No . 160, 6tin. x3'lin . Reply to B. R. Way, 8 Nevay Road, We l­lingt on, 3. P hone 883-739.

FOR SALE: 1935 12/4 Riley Kestrel restored,$700 . Phone 484-125 or contact D. G. Williams,34 Tilden Avenue, Birkenhead, Auckland, 10.

FOR SALE: 1928 Morris Minor motor, gearbox,wheels, tyres, steering wheel, radiator surround,etc. 1924 Dodge eng ine, block, doors, hood bows,radiator, steering box and other parts.-A. J.Stutt, 32 Laurence Street, Hamilton.OFFERS WANTED for 1929 Austin 7 Tourer,ha lf restored, including new tyres and uphols ter y.Apply D. Coiling-wood, 24 Mt P leasant Avenue,Nelson, Phone 80-739.

WANTED: Stromberg T2 carbo fo r '29 Hupp.Rod Jacks, Box 889, Palmerston North.WANTED : Now desperate ly needing 1930Harley-Davidson Sidecar chassis (brake model);a lso Dipswitch and Moulded Lamp Glasse-s (4in.).George Woodward, 39 Challenger Street, StHe lie rs, Auckland, 5.WANTED: Berliet Parts, especially 9in. CibieHeadlamp, Cibie Tail-Lamp, O.S. Dash ClockAND ANY 775 x 145mm. B.E. Tyres. PhoneGilroy, 589-530 (Collect), Auckland .WANTED, Veteran Rove-r, Sunbeam, Wo lseleyor similar, about 1912 complete or parts. AlsoVintage Bentley any condit ion . Please write orr ing Brian T. Ran kine, 40 Manawatu Street,Palmerston North.WANTED: Good or bad, for 4 cy lin der 1912Maxwell , chassis and /or running gear, Ford Ttype rear axle, dropped t ubular front axle,motor and transmission sump cover, one pieceCast Alloy. T head Mono block type motor,Cast in 2 sets of 2. Combined front mountedflywheel and fan. 1 Elliptic rear spr ings , ge a rand handbrake levers mounted outside chassis.S. W. F. Bonney, 80 East Tamald Road , Papa­toetoe .FOR SALE: 1925 Maxwell Tour er , restored forthe Haast Rally. Many spare parts. $600 . Con­tact Ray Eunson, 74 Jackson Street, Invercargill.FOR SALE : 1930 Mode l "A" Tourer. Goodcondition. Apply King, 53 Hill Street, Ric hmond,Nelson.

55 KILMORE STREETCHRISTCHURCH

Telephone 69-786

m T l

'Q E~~. ~ "-C. HUMIDM (1967) LID

c.....: 1 --:-:...

Quotat ions gladly given for -REBUILDING VETERAN & VINTAGE CARS

RESPOKING WOODEN WHEELS

RENEWING ROTTEN WOODWORKSpecialists in .. .

NEW BODY WORK CHASSI S STRAIGHTENING PAINTINGDOOR LOCK AND WINDOW REPAIRS

GLASS REPLACEMENTS BUMPER REPLACEMENT SERVICE

WE TAKE THE DENT OUT OF ACCIDENT

THIRTY· SIX

the power 0' Meth~1 Benzine

18] .B

The ProtectorTo overta ke with safe ty yo u need power.Met hyl Benzine overcomes power fade whenpick- up is needed most. Surge ahea d to safetywith Supershell. It has the power to prot ect.

METHYL BENZINE mo re than a pint in every gallon of

Supershell