ROY and Shirley Benton chugged around Taranaki on the weekend in the oldest car entered in a local vintage car rally.
Their 1910 Alldays and Onion (yes, that's really the name of the car) is no speed machine. Roy said it can cruise nicely at 40kmh but there's no hurry whenyou drive such a machine.
The car was one of 80 entries in the rally, organised by the Taranaki branch of the Vintage Car Club. After running through Eltham on Saturday morning the rally stopped at the Stratford Showgrounds for lunch. The cars were from all over the North Island.
As well as the line-up of vintage cars (pre 1931) there was a good turnout of classic cars as well.
Roy has owned the 100-year-old veteran car for 35 years.
He purchased it in Hamilton and it had no wheels and virtually no body. There was a complete chassis, engine, radiator, gearbox and diff.
Roy, a roading contractor from New Plymouth, patiently restored the car for many years, and six years ago it was back on the road.
Mr Allday and Mr Onion began making their cars in England in 1906, and turned them out until 1914, when World War I began. The company is still operating, making industrial fans these days.
Restoring the car was a retirement project for Roy and he and Shirley have taken the little machine on 46 runs since. These include big rallies as far south as Invercargill and from Timaru to Mt Cook.
Roy said the car has a two cylinder, side valve, 1600cc engine with a long stroke. It is slow revving, up to 1600rpm, and is a bit slow in the hills, when the tank has to be pressurised with a manual pump below the dash. It has a brass inlet manifold, a standard diff and drive shaft and a four-speed gearbox.
