Vintage Vroom visits Marlborough

Some of New Zealand’s oldest vehicles gathered in Marlborough for a two-day display of motoring history.

The Marlborough Vintage Car Club will play host to the national Vintage Only Rally this Waitangi Day, with opportunities to admire some of the oldest living vehicles across the region.

Forty-five rally entries, all dating from before 1931, will be at Brayshaw Park on the 6 February as part of the Vintage Car Club’s Heritage Day display.

The rally takes to South Marlborough’s roads on the 7 February.

Outside of the local Club’s collection of the Model T, the Model A and Roadster Pickup and the collection of motorcycles, most of the vehicles attending are privately owned, coming from as far as Auckland and Dunedin.

“There’s going to be some pretty interesting cargo on the ferries over this weekend,” says Marlborough Vintage Car Club secretary Chris Bull.

“We hope anyone interested in the vintage or veteran vehicles come along and have a chat, because these vehicles have so many interesting stories behind them and it’s great to see them still out there on the road.”

Veteran vehicles describe pre-1919 creations while vintage vehicles are those from 1920 to 1931.

One story includes the Club’s Ford Model T, which club members suspect was part of a shipment of 13 Model T’s that were shipped up the Ōpaoa River to Blenheim in 1913.

“A few of the features in our model are aligned with the model that produced in 1913, so we think we still have possession of one of the regions oldest vehicles – and she was still carrying Father Christmas at the A&P Show last year running nicely,” Chris says.

“It still uses the old acetylene gas lights, dripping water onto calcium carbide to produce gas for the headlights on the side, so it’s wonderful to have still everything in running order.”

With a variety of cars and motorcycles on display on Patchell’s Green alongside the wider open day across Brayshaw Park, it promises to be a hive of activity for the whole family.