Vintage Car Club of New Zealand - Southland Branch

Veternan and Vintage Rally 2nd March 2024

The Southland Veteran and Vintage Rally replaces the prevous Veteran Rally. The Club Captains hope that bringing together the Veteran and Vinatge vehicles will boost the number of entrants. Results below:

Michael Rickerby - 1931Ford Model A Tourer - Overall Rally winner

Howard Kingsford-Smith - 1914Ford T - First Veteran Field Test

Ashley Bell - 1912Renault AX - First Veteran Road Section

Bill Sheddan - 1914Saxon Model A Roadster - Second Veteran Road Section

David Sycamore - 1907Darracq Service Vehicle Model LS - Second Veteran Field Test

Michael Rickerby - 1931Ford Model A Tourer - First Vintage Road Section

Michael Rickerby - 1931Ford Model A Tourer - First Vintage Field Test

Katherine Welsh - 1926 Buick Standard 6 - Second Vintage Road Section

Katherine Welsh - 1926 Buick Standard 6 - Second Vintage Field Test

Geoff Timpany - 1927 Chrysler - Hard Luck Trophy

Paul Herron - 1911Ford Model T - Veteran Concours

Wayne Calderwood - 1929 Hupmobile - Vintage Concours

Veteran Rally 5th March 2022

Once again, we have been able to have a successful event on the form of our Veteran Rally. We had 19 entries with nearly half from out of town.

Oldest was the 1900 Wolseley of Colin Winter, from Dunedin - it was also good to see two cars from Ashburton. We motored in fine weather to the Thornbury Vintage Machinery Club for our lunch stop; where entrants had the chance to view their display that included the very large stationery steam engine.

It was then on to Riverton for the field tests, returning to the club rooms for the prize giving.

Name Year Vehicle Class Certificate Place

Casey Lyons 1912 Humber Field Test 1

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T Field Test 2

Katy Parish 1914 Napier T68 20hp Field Test 3

Ken Officer 1907 Darracq Service Car Time Trial 1

Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac S Time Trial 2

Ray McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick Time Trial 3

Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac S 1 & 2 Cylinder Cars Road Section

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T Best Performance by a 4 Cylinder

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T Best Performance by a Model T

Casey Lyons 1912 Humber Motorcycle Field Tests

Casey Lyons 1912 Humber Motorcycle Overall Winner

Frank Brookland 1912 De Dion Bouton Motor Vehicle Concours

Greg Eunson 1902 Ariel Motorcycle Concours

Hunter Kingsford-Smith 1914Ford Model T Hard Luck

Casey Lyons 1912 Humber Overall Winner of the Rally

Veteran Rally 2021 6th March

15 vehicles including 2 motorcycles and the Darracq converged on the Windsor street church car park to find it mostly full of modern motor vehicles, this challenged some in there reverse parking abilities with some taking the option of parking on the street.

There was good public interest with many people waving as the 1^st vehicle left at 10am at two-minute intervals. It was a nice drive in the sun winding out through Myross Bush finding the start of the timed section outside the Makarewa school. Everyone was pulled in and sent out once again at two-minute intervals just to keep spaced apart, this worked very well in keeping a good distance between vehicles until the finish check point on the Waimatuku - Thornbury highway.

Continuing through Thornbury, back out to the Riverton highway we soon turned off to do a quick lap of the Riverton rest home, with a majority of the residents lined up outside to give us a well-received reception. From there into main street Riverton finding our way to the RSA who warmly welcomed entrants to use their facility to have lunch. During this time, the publican looked over the fleet picking the publicans choice for prize giving, well done Phil Toomey.

After lunch, the usual ritual of field tests was run through, it did seem like there was a fierce competitive streak this year. Once completed a straight run home where everyone returned to the club for an early prize giving.

A big shout out to Bruce Marshall and his team for a well-run rally, the Riverton RSA for opening specially for us to use as a lunch venue and of course everyone who attended, with special mention to the Gore contingent who always support us, thanks guy’s – see you all next year.

photos of the day’s events available on the cloud. You are welcome to peruse them and download those you wish to keep. Just click on this link: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AFUEYqAx3LOcUQQ&id=2FC366EADC1532E2%21873&cid=2FC366EADC1532E2

Results:
Howard Kingsford-Smith 1914 Ford Model T Veteran Vehicle 1st Field Test

Bill Sheddan 1914 Saxon Roadster Veteran Vehicle 2nd Field Test

Travis Michelle 1917 Moon 6/36 Veteran Vehicle 1st Time Trial

Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX Veteran Vehicle 2nd Time Trial

Robert Eunson 1913 Royal Enfield Veteran Motorcycle 1st Time Trial

David Morris 1914 Ariel Veteran Motorcycle 1st Field Test

David Morris 1914 Ariel Veteran Motorcycle 2nd Time Trial

David Morris 1914 Ariel Overall Winner Veteran Motorcycle

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T Best Performance by a Model T - McKenzie Challenge

Phillip Toomey 1913 Humberette Convertible - Concours - Riverton Publicans Trophy

Robert Eunson 1913 Royal Enfield - Hard Luck Trophy

Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX - Best Performance by a 1 or 2 Cylinder Vehicle

Robert Eunson 1913 Royal Enfield Motorcycle - Concours - North Road Car Sales Trophy

Travis Michelle 1917 Moon 6/36 - Overall Winner of the Time - Trial Cliff Beer Trophy

Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX - Overall Winner of Rally - Toomey Wilson Trophy

Veteran Rally 2020 7th March

My Veteran Adventure, by Janet McCulloch
At the recent Gore Rally my husband kindly offered my services as a navigator to Greg Elder who was wanting to enter our Veteran Rally but didn’t have a navigator. However, it wasn’t until we were travelling to Wanaka from this event he informed me of this!!
So on a cloudy Saturday morn, I duly got the lunch packed, gathered up my jacket and awaited the arrival of Greg. Once he had arrived, the car was unloaded from the trailer and all the relevant gear was packed into the back seat compartment we were ready to set off – however I was then informed that I would need a hat so, not owning one myself, borrowed one of Ray’s beanies.
We all were to meet at the Windsor Community Church, George St for the start of the run. Once getting there, parking the car we got our instructions and duly sorted out the bits of paper onto a clipboard in readiness for our departure at 10.24am. In all there were 14 vehicles parked up ready for the start –there were 6 vehicles from our neighbouring branches; also another useless fact was that 8 of these vehicles attended the original rally in 1975.
At approx. 10am the vehicles started heading off in minute or so intervals. We wound our way thru Windsor out to Bainfield Rd then to McIvor Rd until we reached the roundabout at Lorneville. Here we went thru the roundabout heading towards Riverton. By this time with the roof down it was getting a bit draughty so added the hat to my outer gear to stop the grey hair blowing everywhere and obscuring the views. After going thru Wallacetown we turned off onto the Oporo Flat Rd and wound our way towards Otahuti then onto Fairfax, and Otautau before coming out onto the main highway just before the Bupa Retirement Home on the outskirts of Riverton. While going thru Otahuti/Fairfax we had some rain. Nothing heavy though. On coming into Fairfax we noticed that there had been a heavy rainfall earlier which fortunately we had missed. Once we were on the main highway we turned into the Bupa complex did a lap for the residents who were outside enthusiastically awaiting our arrival then it was once again back onto the main road winding our way along several streets before coming onto Palmerston St heading towards our lunch stop - the Riverton RSA carpark.
After a bite to eat, another catch up and as usual the manly gossip/skite session, we partook in the field tests. These tests were made up of driving a revolution of front wheel, throwing a ball into a bucket, throwing balls onto a Velcro board and guessing how high the top of your radiator was off the ground.
On our way out to Riverton in passing chatter it worked out that both Greg and I visited Riverton quite a lot as children. Him staying in the family crib and myself staying at my grandparents, who lived on the corner of Roy & Walker St and then to Pop’s Uncle Joe’s crib on Hamlet St above Walker St. It was enjoyable reminiscing about the things we use to do – spending a lot of time at the roller skating rink, swimming, fishing just generally having a great time. So after conferring with Ray as to what his plans were we took a drive round to the back beach and then wound our way up and down several streets finding his family crib, where the old skating rink was and my family’s places were – aahh the memories. One thing we couldn’t get over was how flat the yogi was at the back beach. There wasn’t a ripple to be seen.
We travelled back to Invercargill via the main road, loaded up the car into the trailer then out to the clubrooms for prize giving. In all it was a wonderful day, full of memories, no one broke down although there were some slight mechanical problems along the way. My one memory of this trip was sitting up in the car looking around at the scenery, smelling the countryside – some good smells, some not but in general how peaceful and calming it was just travelling along enjoying the day.

Veteran Rally 2020 Results:
Veteran Vehicle
Time Trial 1st Greg Elder 1917 Cadillac Tourer. Time Trial 2nd Ashley Bell 1912 Renault AX.

Field Tests 1st Tony Warren 1907 Darracq Service Car. Field Tests 2nd 2nd Ashley Bell 1912 Renault AX.

Veteran Motorcycle
Time Trial 1st Casey Lyons 1912 Humber.
Field Tests 1st Ray McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick. Overall Veteran Motorcycle: First Equal - Casey Lyons & Ray McCulloch

Best performance by a model T: Paul Heron 1911Ford Model T.

Best performance by a four-cylinder: Tony Warren 1907 Darracq.

Concourse Vehicle: Phillip Toomey 1913 Humberette.
Concourse Motorcycle: Ray McCulloch 1911 King Dick.

Overall Winner: Ashley Bell 1912 Renault AX.

Veteran Rally 2019 2nd March

It was as if the old girl did not want to go on the Veteran Rally. The bike has been difficult to start since the Southland Rally. I pulled out of that rally when I got a puncture. Starting was a real issue a fortnight prior to this rally, culminating in a major overhaul of the magneto. It was finally all go at 6 PM the night before the rally. Cutting it finer than I like.

Our day started at 7 PM when the grandkids awoke. The bike just refused to start again and finally backfired and severely stretched my Achilles tendon. An SOS to our daughter and son-in-law and I fitted Glenn to the bike as a semi-permanent starter. The bike had no resistance left and started after taking some skin off his shin just to let him know who was boss. The bike was loaded on the trailer and the kids and food loaded into the car and we were off to the 2019 Veteran Rally.

It was good to be leaving from a public venue again. We need to be seen and the vehicles are as much things of beauty as they are mysterious to the younger generations. The youngest of this class of vehicle is now just over a hundred years old (some of their owners are getting close too) and worthy of showing off.

I heard it said that we covered in excess of 40 miles on the drive that took us from our Windsor starting venue out Queens Drive and into Myross Bush and on to Makarewa where the time section ended at the Makarewa School. This was my first trip out on the Singer since the veteran rally of 2005 and it took a while to make friends with the old girl again. There were a number of things I had forgotten about but I was reminded fairly quickly. I had a rather interesting time playing leap frog with Ashley Bell on Flora Rd until I gave up and followed him for quite some time. As it turned out it was probably a good thing I did. Ashley is very experienced at veteran motoring so I decided he knew more about the average speed than I did and he did a great job for me. Thanks Ashley.

There was some degree of attrition with the first vehicle being loaded on the trailer on Retreat Rd. Well that was one I didn’t have to worry about beating me (sorry). The last casualty was Howard when the Model T apparently broke the crankshaft. It is unfortunate when you have to pull out of a rally. I have had a lot of experience at that over the years. I hope the damage was not too great in both cases. I heard that Stewart had a flat tyre on the BSA and suffered a bit from clutch slip throughout the trip. In good old Stewy fashion though, that did not prevent him from completing the rally and taking out the concourse trophy. Well done. That bike is an absolute picture.

It was disappointing that there were only 3 bikes entered but it makes the odds of winning something 2 to 1. The total of 22 entries was slightly down on last year and considerably down on what I remember from the last time I entered the Veteran Rally in 2005. We were well supported by the Gore Branch with 4 entries and 1 entry from Dunedin. That doesn’t leave many of our members on the rally. Please everyone, start preparing those veterans for next year’s rally. Let’s have a big one. If you can’t manage to compete any more, how about encouraging some genuine interest from your younger generations so you at least get to pass on all that knowledge and experience you have stored up. Don’t leave it to them to find things out the hard way.

Lunch was at the Riverton RSA. It was good to see a few families having lunch together. We need to promote Vintage Motoring as a family affair. This is where Vintage Motoring has it over the likes of Track Racing and Drag Racing etc. We need to capitalise on that and not appear as a group of stayed old fa..s living in the past. We all know that is not true but are we perceived that way? I hope not. Some of us are active in other motoring clubs as well.

Field tests were held over the back fence from the RSA, at the Squash Court grounds. The tests were typical, tried and true tests with no surprises (throwing the horse shoe, throwing a ball at a target, moving forward one and a half wheel revolutions and guessing the number of washers in a tin). They are good standard tests that rely on a bit on luck on the day. At least all the tests could be done by a motor cyclist without a pillion passenger.

The certificates are the only record we have of the achievements on the day as the trophies reside at the club these days. The certificates are very good and we as a club should be very proud of them. Many organisations do not pay enough attention to their quality or the awarding of them. The presentation ceremony and the quality of the certificates are something we need to preserve.

It was good to see the workers who made this rally happen being rewarded with their own rally plaques. That was an excellent gesture as those people are all too often taken for granted. My personal thanks to all those involved in the organisation and running of the event. It was a great day, made even better for me by riding the whole event. Winning was an added bonus for me and unexpected.

My sincere thanks to all those veteran owners who stayed at home. You greatly enhanced my chances of winning this year.

Veteran Rally 2019 Results

1-2 cylinder Road Section Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac

1-2 cylinder Field Tests Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac

4 cylinder Road Section1st eq Howard Kingsford-Smith 1914 Ford T & Casey Lyons 1907 Darracq

3rd Bill Sheddan 1914 Saxon Model A

4 cylinder Field Tests 1st Casey Lyons 1907 Darracq

2nd Rob Eunson 1909 Wolsley Siddley

3rd Bill Sheddan 1914 Saxon Model A

Overall Veteran Cars Casey Lyons 1907 Darracq

Overall Veteran Field Tests Greg Elder 1917 Cadillac V8

Veteran Motorcycle Road Section Rae Wilson 1913 Singer

Veteran Motorcycle Field Tests Stewart Russell 1914 BSA Model K

Overall Veteran Motorcycle Rae Wilson 1913 Singer

Publican Concours Paul Herron 1911 Ford T

Motorcycle Concours Stewart Russell 1914 BSA Model K

Best Performance by 4 cylinder Casey Lyons 1907 Darracq

Best Performance by Model T Howard Kingsford-Smith 1914 Ford

Hard Luck Howard Kingsford-Smith 1914 Ford T

Overall Winner Rae Wilson 1913 Singer

Veteran Rally 2018

On a cloudy but warm day with the forecast for showers, thunder and hail, 16 veteran cars and bikes assembled in Esk Street at 9am for the annual Veteran Rally to Riverton. After briefing, the vehicles left Esk Street heading to Moores Road where the time section started. 15 miles later the time section ended and the entrants continued their journey to Riverton enjoying the countryside in their own time. Upon arriving we parked up at the RSA Clubrooms for lunch, field tests and a gossip. Many thanks to the RSA for providing their facilities to us.

After the field tests entrants departed for the return journey back to the Clubrooms for prize giving. Overall the rally went well the only hiccups were Angus Petrie in his 1918 Ford, Graham Boyd on the 1911 Indian and then there were a couple of motorcyclists having to take evasion action as cattle grazing on the roadside behind strip wire got spooked by a couple of cars/bikes and escaped onto the road – a good test for their brakes maybe.

It was great to see visitors attending even coming from as far as Australia – there were the Pearce Family consisting of Grandparents, Children, Grandchildren and In Laws, Brent McKenzie from Perth Australia, Paul Herron from Gore and Ross McCulloch from Wanaka.

Many thanks must go to Bruce Marshall, Barry Keen & Stevie Randell for organizing the route, Trevor and Norma WIlkey for looking after the Time Section and Regan Lyons for providing back up, having these people helping make for a more enjoyable event.

Results:

1-2 Cylinder Section:

1st Road Section Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX

2nd Road Section: Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac

1st Field Tests: Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX

2nd Field Tests: Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac

4 Cylinder Section:

1st Road Section Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

2nd Road Section: Brent McKenzie 1911 EMF

1st Field Tests: Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

2nd Field Tests: Brent McKenzie 1911 EMF

Motorcycles:

1st Road Section: Ross McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick

2nd Road Section: Tony Warren 1910 Humber

1st Field Tests: Ross McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick

2nd Field Tests: Dave Morris 1914 Ariel

Best Performance by a Ford Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

Motorcycle Concours: Dave Morris 1914 Ariel

Publicans Choice: Colin Pearce 1914 Sunbeam

Hard Luck: Angus Petrie 1918 Ford Model T

Overall Best Performance by a 4 Cylinder:

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

Overall Winner Motorcycles: Ross McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick

Overall Rally Winner Ashley Bell 1912 Renault EX

2017: Veteran Rally 2017 Winners

McKenzie Challenge Cup – Best All Round Performance Model T Ford

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

Ray Lindsay Memorial Trophy – Best Performance by a Four Cylinder Vehicle

Nevin Gough 1918 Model T

Winner of the Cliff Beer Trophy – Class 1 Road Section

Wayne Nicoll 1908 Cadillac

Runner up – Class 1 Road Section

Nevin Gough 1918 Model T

Overall Winner of the W. G. Nicoll Trophy – Motor Cycle

Ray McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick

Winner of the D W Jordan Cup – Motor Cycle Field Tests

Casey Lyons 1912 Humber

Runner up – Field Tests

Greg Elder 1917 Cadillac V8 Tourer Type 55

Publicans Choice Cup – Concours

Paul Herron 1911 Ford Model T

North Road Car Sales Trophy – Motor Cycle Concours

Tony Warren 1911 Singer No 1 Roadster

Winged Hard Luck Trophy

Greg Eunson 1902 Ariel

Overall Winner of the 2017 Veteran Rally

Ray McCulloch 1911 Abingdon King Dick

2016:

As part of the 2016 Inner City Heritage Week the Invercargill City Council closed off Esk St. for the start of the Veteran Rally. Eighteen pre1918 vehicles (13 cars & 5 motorcycles) lined up on Esk St. for thestart of the rally. The oldest car was Colin Winter’s 1900 Wolseley (the oldest roadworthy car in NZ) and the oldest motorcycle was Tim Eunson on a 1902 Ariel (one of the oldest roadworthy motorcycles in NZ).

The vehicles started leaving Esk St. at 10:30 and proceeded to Moore Rd. to the start of the timed section (difficult to undertake a timed run through traffic lights and modern traffic in or on Veteran vehicles). Competitors then followed the Riverton highway for a short distance before heading to Thornbury, then toward Gropers Bush before coming into Riverton around the back of the racecourse where the 25 mile timed section ended. The route then went on to Colac Bay, about a 45 mile run in all. A trio of Field tests at Colac Bay, for some in the pouring rain, rounded off the competitive aspects of the run. The competitors then wanded their way back to the clubrooms for tea awards. Although there were a couple of problems, a flat tyre, a wilting contact breaker spring and running out of fuel, everybody made it.

Overall winner was Tim Eunson on a 1902 Ariel motorcycle.

Run Results - Road Section

Class 1 - CLIFF BEER CUP - Colin Winter – 1900 Wolsely

Class 1 Runner up – Wayne Nicoll – 1908 Cadillac

Class2 - not awarded

Motorcycle - Tim Eunson 1902 Ariel

Field Tests Class 1 - Wayne Nicoll – 1908 Cadillac

Class 2 - Nevin Gough – 1918 Model T Ford

Class 2 Joint Runner up – Angus Petrie – 1918 Model T Fordand & Murray Pryde – 1915 Model T Ford

Motorcycle -DW JORDAN CUP - not awarded

NORTH ROAD CAR SALES CUP MOTORCYCLE- Kerry Russell – 1914 Rover

RAY LINDSAY MEMORIAL TROPHY- Nevin Gough – 1918 Model T Ford

MCKENZIE CHALLENGE CUP- Paul Herron – 1911 Model T Ford

WINGED TROPHY (Hard Luck Award) - not awarded

FIRST PLACE CAR

FIRST PLACE MOTORCYCLE W.G. NICOLL CUP- Tim Eunson 1902 Ariel

OUTRIGHT WINNER TOOMEY WILSON CUP- Tim Eunson 1902 Ariel

Vintage Car Club of New Zealand - Southland Branch Inc.