THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF N.Z. MOTORING

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32803, 31 December 1971, Page 8

THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF N.Z. MOTORING

The Veteran Years of New Zealand Motoring. By Pam Mac Lean and Brian Joyce. A. H. and A. W. Reed. 230 pp.

The enormous interest in veteran and vintage cars shown by enthusiasts and the general public alike in recent years made the writing of some book such as this a certainty. Luckily, the work has been done by two enthusiasts with a knowledge of research methods and an ability to write. Pam Mac Lean is a former librarian; Brian Joyce a journalist with a history degree. Both took part in the re-enact-ment, in November 1970, of the first journey from Wellington to Auckland via the central North Island route. The car used on each occasion was a Ford model T roadster. The 1970 journey went without incident, over roads almost entirely tar-sealed. The 1912 expedition, recounted here at some length from the account written at the time by Arthur Chorlton, was an epic struggle with roads that often did not even deserve the title of tracks. The photographs of the original journey

show mud of a kind no sane motorist today would consider tackling. The pioneers braved it, and in doing so proved the feasibility of what is today State Highway 1.

The 1912, Wellington-Auckland run is perhaps the most remarkable incident in the book, but is only one of a myriad of “firsts” that it recounts. The first cars in New Zealand? Two Benzs imported by William McLean M.P. in October 1898. The first New Zealandbuilt car? A three-wheeled, 2 h.p. model built by Cecil Wood of Timaru in 1901. The first cars in Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Auckland, Napier? The information is all here, often accompanied by a photograph. The illustrations are, indeed, one of the joys of the book. Sometimes very murky, and obviously re-photographed from newspapers, at others showing that superb clarity found in the best glass-plate negatives, they provide a comprehensive visual record of the early days of New Zealand motoring, complementing the very thorough coverage provided in the text.

Mrs Mac Lean and Mr Joyce end their account of the Veteran years in 1918 (cars in the 1919-31 period are of the vintage class). But in a final chapter, entitled “History Resurrected,” they give a brief account of the efforts made by enthusiasts to save what remains of New Zealand’s early motoring history. Taking a handful of restored vehicles as typical, they demonstrate how it can take years of searching for parts, sometimes scattered over the landscape for miles, and years more refurbishing and rebuilding, to produce the shining veteran so admired on its occasional outing. The results are truly amazing, and reflect enormous credit on' the enthusiasts who have resurrected history. So, too, does this book. It has some small faults, including an occasional tendency to tantalise through an incomplete photo caption (that on p. 158 could be more informative, for instance, and the text on p. 160 does not fully remedy the deficiency), but it is nonetheless a fitting memorial to the first, heroic, confused 20 years of New Zealand motoring.