Hello all,
Before you read this and after I write it the committee will be having its first meeting in a long time, I think our biggest gap ever, at least in my time in the club. We haven’t organised much recently, largely because you can’t, or at least not too ambitious with all of the rules and regulations.
Since I last wrote we did at least manage to hold the Pride of Ownership, results elsewhere in this magazine. Not many of us turned up, but that has been the case before, but the most noticeable thing to me was what turned up, 2x 308s, a RCZ, a 607, a 508 and a 404. That is the first time I have seen only one car show up that represented the 20th Century, I guess we are 22 years into the 21st. Ages both me and my membership years in the club.
Our winner made the effort to come all the way from Tauranga, and picked up a hitchhiker (another member) in Pukekohe to add to the travellers’ element. Congratulations to Graham, your efforts were worth it! Whilst I have no doubt that the winner deserved it and that every car was likely in the right position I would love to know how the judges managed it, what their criteria were etc. Our Patron turned up in his Renault and promptly took John Cooney under his wing and away they went marking the participants’ cars, no sheets, just marks…out of 100. Hopefully all will be revealed in the article in this magazine, because I am wondering!
The rest of us just gossiped whilst the marking went on, that and compared cars, now I can’t remember a single bit of the gossip I was involved in, but it entertained me at the time.
As for Rambles, they have largely been through the internet. In doing so I came across the Monteverdi Tiara which has a rather real but slender link to Peugeot. Monteverdi was a Swiss Car manufacturer that existed between 1967 and 1984. Very specialised (though many of their vehicles were badge engineering of other manufacturers cars) and from what I can make out expensive. What I have seen of them some are fantastic, others not so. Anyway the link, Monteverdi only made three of a model called the Tiara, all being built in 1982 and 83. It was a W126 Mercedes- Benz S Class saloon with no real changes except the front and rear of the cars and the length of the bumpers. In the interior they changed the steering wheel and on request could have a TV and voice recorder added, everything else was pretty much stock standard Mercedes. And the Peugeot link was….505 taillights, apparently chosen to give it a style to resemble the just released Rolls Royce Silver Spirit. For what was close to a standard Mercedes, which some considered uglier than keeping it original they charged twice as much. Perhaps that is why only three were ever ordered!
Anyway that is it from me this time, hope you have good and enjoyable rambles through life and the internet.
Brent