ON THE ROAD: Andy and Gladys Anderson’s motorhome, a 1928 REO Speed Wagon, which in its original guise served Gisborne as a bus.
Chris Gaskell, editor of the Motor Caravanner magazine, tells the Weekender of the determined efforts of local caravan fans to restore a 1928 bus to its proud role of New Zealand’s first motor home.
An enthusiastic group of Gisborne residents has played a key role in the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association’s (NZMCA) purchase of a historic vehicle from Gisborne’s East Coast Museum of Technology. Thanks to their initiative the vehicle, New Zealand’s first motorhome, is going to be restored — and is expected to become a major drawcard for NZMCA members from around the country to visit Gisborne. The locals are thrilled that once restored, the motorhome will be on display (along with other NZMCA memorabilia) back in the East Coast Museum of Technology. “That’s going to be great news for Gisborne,” says NZMCA Eastland Area Chairman Fergus McKenzie.
“There has already been a lot of interest within the association about this project,” says Fergus.
“Once it’s restored we believe it will be another great attraction in Gisborne for the association’s 65,000 members.” The vintage 1928 REO Speed Wagon motorhome was originally owned by the association’s founders, former Gisborne couple the late Andy and Gladys Anderson.
Its purchase by the NZMCA is particularly fitting as the organisation celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The REO had begun its life as a bus in the Gisborne district — apparently on the Whatatutu to Gisborne run — and was understood to have covered something like 750,000 miles before Andy bought it and converted it into a motorhome. In the years since the Andersons built the motorhome in the 1950s, time has taken a toll on the vehicle.
Somewhere along the way the motorhome body was dismantled and what remained of the vehicle — the original chassis, motor and running gear — ended up in a Tauranga museum, before being donated to the local museum in 1992.
Eastland Area NZMCA members had long been aware of its history, but believed their region alone wouldn’t be able to fund such a major restoration project.
Then it was suggested that the national association should stump up with the money. With the 60th anniversary year looming, the idea gained momentum in October last year when local NZMCA members met with museum representatives to seriously consider the project. Last week the locals’ long-held dream became reality when the NZMCA took ownership and members towed it to local plumber Brian Hall’s workshop.
There it will be completely rebuilt to the standard it would have been in the days when the Anderson family travelled the country in it. Fergus says the local members are excited about the project — ‘‘with a little bit of trepidation too, I think”. “We got it the other day and we sort of sat back and thought ‘my goodness, what have we done?’ But there’s a lot of excitement, and things are starting to pop up now that will make it go really well.”
First priority — cost estimationFergus says the group’s first priority is to accurately assess the time — which is expected to run into thousands of man hours — and costs involved in the project. Locals will lead the restoration and as much of the work as possible will be done by volunteers.
“Brian Hall is going to drive the mechanical repairs; we’ve got a couple of other guys who are retired mechanical engineers and they’re right into it; and Murray Winmill, who is a retired builder/joiner/draughtsman, will drive the reconstruction of the motorhome body,” says Fergus.
“We have been able to track down quite a few photos of how it used to be — including some from Heather Pearce, the Andersons’ daughter. Murray has already drawn up a plan from the photos we have and sized it to the vehicle. “We’re planning to do the mechanical repairs and the building of the motorhome body in tandem, alongside one another.
All help welcome“We’re hoping that once news of this project gets around, other NZMCA members with the necessary skills from elsewhere in the country will be keen to come along and help us. We’ll certainly be encouraging that,” he says.
Asked how long the restoration project is expected to take, Fergus says: “We’ve set ourselves the target of October 2019, because that’s the 250-year celebration of Cook’s landing in Gisborne. We’re hoping we can do an official launch of the vehicle as part of that.”