New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club Inc - The Enthusiasts ...

Southern Region Report
Geoff Walls, our National Secretary, had the idea
for a summer picnic run, incorporating a drive
home to take advantage of the long summer
evenings, when the countryside blooms in
the late light. Original plans were for a Banks
Peninsula event, but we instead went north,
through the limestone country of the Weka Pass,
meeting at cafés at Leithfield and Amberley.
With four Rolls-Royces, six Bentleys, and
twenty-three people, we gathered for lunch at
Waiau and on the Leader River to the north. We
descended upon our National Chairman to see
progress on his house, and had an early dinner at
the Rotherham Hotel.
The long daylight was particularly appreciated
on the drive south to Christchurch, as Geoff’s
Mark VI Bentley kept cutting out at the most
inconvenient times, and the hazard flashing
system on one of the more modern Bentleys on
the run was useful for letting traffic know that
we had a problem. The problem was solved by
George Calder, who found that a second capacitor added to the
ignition circuit beside the distributor seemed to be fighting with the
probable original equipment still installed, and after elimination of
(Above) Southern Region cars, six Bentleys
and four Rolls-Royces, three from Derby and
seven from Crewe, parked in the small North
Canterbury town of Waiau.
(Left) Ramon Farmer, in his copyrighted shorts,
is pointing out the differences between the
Lucas R100 headlamps on Gavin Bain’s 1935
Bentley 3½ litre Thrupp & Maberly saloon
B29FC, and those on his 1937 4¼ litre Park
Ward saloon B175KU, to Karen and George
Calder. That is their Mark VI H.J. Mulliner
saloon B67HP in the background.
(Below) Our Past Chairman Dr Henry Green
and Joy had an early start from Ashburton
in their Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, chassis
CH57139, to join us at Amberley, so elected
to stay the night in Culverden, after dinner at
Rotherham.
surplus bits, and thorough cleaning of contacts, Geoff has enjoyed
flawless running from B274MD.
Thanks, Geoff, and to all members and friends who attended.
NZRR&BC Issue 12-1 4