F Buchanan Rally – Visit to Catch Up
By Fraser Buchanan, Wellington
9th May 2020
Today’s the day! March the 8th. Easy to remember two months before VE Day! The beginning of the National rally. Today Wolseley’s from around New Zealand would arrive in Wellington and gather at the Capital Gateway Inn for the start of the rally.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be part of the rally this year as restoration of my Wolseley is still in progress but progressing well. I was, however, able to drive across to base Camp and see some of the Wolseley’s that were partaking. It was great to meet many of the club members and particularly people whose names appear frequently in this publication and be made to feel so welcome. It was really good to put faces to the names. I was pleased that I had been able to complete the re-fitting of the heater unit (it was a close-run thing) so that I didn’t poison myself with carbon monoxide and was able to drive my Wolseley over to the Capital Gateway Inn.
Being able to talk to club members and to see and admire the cars that were there was like getting a shot of B12 in the arm! Restoration of these projects is a time-consuming activity. Sometimes I have asked myself, why am I doing this? Particularly when things aren’t quite going to plan and a small 30-minute job turns into an eternity!
After seeing the other grand Wolseley’s on display and talking to like-minded people, I am now well and truly focused and remain passionate and re-energised to complete the journey with my car.
Needless to say, when I did come home I could talk of nothing else to my wife, Fiona, we aim to partake in the next national rally. It took a further G&T for me to calm down a bit!
I got a real boost from the interest shown in my car too. Sadly time didn’t permit me to capture names and contact details I spoke to the husband and wife team with the very tidy and original cream 16/60 also originally from Dunedin. I would love to make contact again so we could continue to compare notes on our respective cars.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to last month’s Wolseley word. I really enjoyed reading all about the rally and the exciting activities that took place. Of course, I was green with envy that I have not been able to partake but this was certainly the next best thing being able to read all about it, that’s the beauty of belonging to a club of like-minded people.