VINTAGE CAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26774, 18 May 1948, Page 4

VINTAGE CAR

AUTOMOTIVE RIP VAN WINKLE REVIVED AFTER 34 YEARS Special Reporter ALEXANDRA, May 17. A total mileage of 5000 still entitles a car to be regarded as new. but one vehicle in Alexandra wh’ich has completed only this modest mileage is actually 34 years old. This unique car is a 1914 model Ford, and when it changed owners last week it was taken from the garage after several decades and found to be as good as new. Although a few of the rubber fittings had perished, the tyres held when they were blown up and a garageman told the Daily Times that “ it just flew out of here laughing all over.” Maximum View of Road Riding in this automotive Rip van Winkle one is a man enthroned, for the idea of body styling in 1914 was to permit the maximum view of the surroundings, while wind resistance was a technical foible still some years in the distance. From the brass radiator two iron supports run back to prop up the lofty windscreen, which is in two sections. The mudguards are functional rather than elegant—a statement which holds true of the entire design. There is no question of one being overcome by the soporific effects of lolling back in shielded comfort—the seating provides for a rigidly upright position with little back support, while the dullest of drafts could be expected to find its way past the sliding side curtains. No spare wheel was supplied with the 1914 model. If the driver was unfortunate enough to get a puncture it was a case for amateur engineering on the roadside. The tyres are fitted to the wheels without rims, and to mend punctures the tubes had to be cautiously levered out from the covers and fixed on the spot. Fairly satisfactory progress could, however, be made if the temporary expedient of stuffing the tyres with grass was resorted to, but this was a remedy which could only, be resorted to when such a substitute for air was available. It has been suggested that a new set of more modern wheels might be fitted to the old car. Future Uncertain The new owner is not certain what he will do with his unusual purchase. It is doubtful whether a warrant of fitness could be obtained for it. despite its mechanical excellence. The lighting, for instance, is acetylene and kerosene—in fact, some kerosene still remained in the side lamps when the car was uncovered—and this is a feature which would not appeal to to-day’s examiners. Steering on such early vehicles was also a hazardous matter—the wheels had a tendency to oversteer and lock sideways in the same manner as a sofa castor. It is. however, sometimes possible to obtain a licence for daytime operation only on application to the Minister of Transport.

Local residents suggest that, with the addition of a flat platform, it would be an ideal orchard truck, for the staying powers of these vintage vehicles has been exhibited in several Central Otago orchards. Whatever its role in its reincarnation is to be, the venerable car should provide many interesting miles of running for its new owner.