In 1972 Ron Wilson competed in the International Rally Held in New Zealand. He was so pleased with the event he volunteered to organise an Alvis contingent to travel there once again for the International Rally held in 1980. His story is below.
To The Land of The Long White Cloud
After savouring the delights and horrors of the 1970 International Rally which ran from Sydney to Melbourne over 7 days, I happily accepted an invitation from a good Rally friend who resided in Auckland, N.Z. to ship my 12/50 (Albert) and to come over to compete in the 1972 International Rally. That I did and it was certainly a great Rally. You could choose to start from any of 8 different points to finish in Nelson at the top of the South Island. It was mildly competitive over the 5 day run them finished with 5 days in Nelson with great tours and wonderful hospitality. The organisation was superb all the way in distinct contrast to the chaos and total mismanagement we endured here in 1970. Space won't permit a full report but I had such a great time and made so many new friends that soon after I started to make plans to organise a Team from this Club to be part of the next International Rally which was due in April 1980. I received good vibes when I put the scheme at a meeting, so in 1978 I started in earnest to organise. In 1979, I flew to Wellington which would be the port our cars would be shipped and with help from Alvis friends there and the Rally Organising Committee, mapped out a route to take 5 days to get to Rotorua and see as much of the wonderful scenery on the way.
The Wellington Branch of the Vintage Car Club agreed to disembark our cars, clear them with Customs and agriculture and look after them in a garage until we arrived. Then I booked accommodation for the time en route, the 5 days in Rotorua during the Rally and went on up to Auckland to book accommodation and plan for a final party for we would ship our cars back from there and also depart from that City. I also arranged with another Branch Club to look after our cars, arrange shipping and book space and do all the details.
So it all looked very rosy but experience warned me to watch out.
While on that survey trip I found that very few locals liked their local brew which was made by Lion Nathan and was called "Lion Brown". It didn't take much time for our guys to change this to "Lying Down" Beer and with good reason in some cases later on. I also found that our Vic Bitter was regarded like gold but was in extremely short supply. So I suggested that it may be a good thing to pack a few large cans of VB in our cars but do so in a fashion that couldn't be detected by NZ Customs.
I don't recollect the total amount that arrived safely but the 10 cars accounted for something in the order of 18 dozen. I got 24 in "Albert's" battery boxes. Later we found out it was better than currency as on one instance to pay for a complete new main leaf spring for a certain 12/50 Beetle back was 6 large cans. With all arrangements made I called a meeting at our Club Rooms and went through dates, times, costs etc and finalised with 9 desperates to make a Team of 10 cars. The next job was to arrange shipping documents, insurance, triptyques, a host of forms to complete plus book 20 economy seats at the best price with Air NZ. Came the DAY and we drove our cars to Victoria Dock to be there at "8.30 am Sharp"/ The ship was there-a roll on roll off job-but at 4.00pm that day we were told there would not be any loading due to a machinery malfunction (sic). Come back tomorrow they said-we did and went home again at 4.00 pm. Next day was the same but the following day patience was wearing very thin and I went to the "leading hand" and threatened to contact the media. He called a special meeting with his "brothers" (in the canteen) and after a while came out and said "OK, we'll start loading your cars…..give us the keys", I said "we don't have keys, anyway we will drive them on." This called for another special meeting (in the canteen) because if we drove on, then they (the stevedores) would not be in charge of the cargo. They compromised by letting us drive, as long as we had one of their mob sitting beside us.
The ship sailed the next day and 2 weeks later we flew into Wellington. Arriving there, we were feted by local Club members and taken to a reception in the members vintage cars. The following day we took a train up the Hutt Valley to where our cars had been cleaned and garaged. Two days later we set off for the Rally in Rotorua picking up 4 more local Alvis cars so we made a very impressive convoy of 14 Alvis. The day before the Rally was due to start we arrived in Taupo leaving about 40 miles to go. Driving on the Taupo/Rotorua Road the next morning was just incredible. With over 4000 cars entered for the Rally it seemed half of them were on that road. Try to visualise it…...as far as you could see were cars all proceeding in the same direction. Veterans and slower cars and motor cycles were crawling along bumper to bumper with a few sportier types travelling down the centre. Naturally we chose the centre and were bowling happily along at around 45mph when a 41/2 litre Bentley slid alongside with the late "Jumbo" Goddard smiling and making rude signs followed by a 30/98 using the same shorthand. This was JUST TOO MUCH and down went the centre pedal. So, there was a Bentley, a 30/98 and 14 Alvis's all giving chase. I was later informed by some locals who had been on the road At that time, that it was a wonderful sight to see. I was also told by another, "we had blown him into the weeds in his Morris 8/40 Van". The Rally itself was wonderful with over 4000 cars with may from overseas and from Edwardians to the Forties.
After the Rally we drove up to Auckland to out Motel for 2 nights before we flew home. But first we had to find the officials of the Club Branch that had agreed to take charge of our cars, arrange the shipping and book space, and do all the paperwork. But then CRASH. They were nowhere to be found. So my good friend rounded up a lot of his Rotary Buddies in Auckland and took charge of the cars while I had an extremely hectic 8 hours looking after all the documentation etc. The next day we flew home and 2 weeks later our cars arrived. Now all this shows what is needed in general to organise a Team to cross the Tasman and it takes a fair bit of work but it is so rewarding and to tour The Shaky Isles in an Alvis with the lid down with mountains all round…….superb scenery and excellent roads is something you will never forget, and there must be someone in our Cub who will undertake another tour of New Zealand. You will never regret it, it will keep you young and stop wrinkles.
Ron Wilson.
| Email me at dparsell@ozemail.com.au |
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