Sunday June 5 2016
Celebrating Her Majesty’s ninetieth birthday , British Vehicle enthusiasts gathered, as usual at the Caroline Bay North Carpark some arriving as early as 9am.
The weather had smiled upon us and it quickly became apparent that this was shaping up to be a bumper turnout. Based on previous musters, 120 rally packs had been prepared, and these were soon exhausted. A further 20 instruction sheets printed “just in case” also found homes as did the master sheets from the organisers clipboard. In all, 143 entrants were ready to hit the road at around 10:30am.
It was probably fortunate that 2 routes had been prepared this year, as cars were able to exit the bay area by both North and South exits with little or no congestion problems in the adjacent streets. The routes were both designed to cross some-where between the Pareora West and Sutherlands areas which gave participants the opportunity to see other British traffic on the move, and exchange the mandatory friendly wave with their fellow enthusiasts. Some became anxious that either they or those other folk may have been lost, but following the in-structions given gave reassurance that they were still on track.
The end venue was the Albury Hotel, a traditional country pub of the style that was once so commonplace but is now becoming rare. Our host had made what arrangements he could to prepare for the expected influx, but unfortunately had not had time to move his stock out of the back paddock in time for their deposits to settle, so we were unable to use this for parking. An area across the road was made available for parking, but this was only accessible via a right turn off the main road and this brought about some traffic congestion problems. Nevertheless there was plenty of parking available on the side street and in the old transport yard nearby.
Many took advantage of the meals and snacks on offer, and the small team in the kitchen and bar did an admirable job of catering for the hungry hordes. In the mid afternoon the raffles and prizes were drawn in front of the crowd gathered before it was time to head homeward amid talk of doing it all again next year.
The organizers
1963 Standard Vanguard, one of the last before the arrival of the Triumph 2000
1974 Triumph 2.5 PI
1979 Rover 3500 SD1 – most likely assembled in Nelson
1979 Ford Escort Mk2 1.1 – in its time the lowest priced Ford on the NZ market
1979 Ford Escort 1.1 – in its time the lowest priced Ford on the NZ market
Ross Luscombe’s 1961 Vauxhall Victor
Wayne Jones’ Austin 7 Special
1963 Ford Cortina Mk1
One of the oldest, and smallest entrants, a 1929 Austin 7
Peter Rhodes’ 1984 Ford Sierra Ghia V6 with Morris Minor Traveller alongside
Further Morris 1000s owned by SCVCC members
A Vauxhall Magnum HC receives a pre-run engine check
Grant Stewart’s 1950 MG TD.
Grant Mitchell’s 1971 Mini 850
1955 Ford Zephyr Mk1 Convertible
Zephyr-Zodiac club members vehicles at Albury
British cars taking over Albury’s main street
And filling the side streets
Vehicles covered the Albury Village Green
Vehicles covered the Albury Village Green
Charlie Cook’s 1957 Daimler Conquest Century Mk2
1976 Vauxhall Magnum HC
Triumph TR8s are a rare species – it was interesting to see two.
Caroline Bay
Ford Cortina Mk4 2 door, a Cortina version never sold in NZ when new.
Lex Westoby’s 1930 Alvis
A Ford Sierra, a Humber Sceptre and two Morris Minors
1984 Ford Sierra XR3
Tony McGillen’s 1952 Austin A70
Triumph TR8 x2
3 classic Fords
Two Morris 8s and a Triumph Spitfire
One of the newer entrants, a 1996 Morgan Plus 4
1975 Ford Capri Mk2 2000
Prizegiving ceremony, at the end of the run at Albury