Unique Boatmobile moved a generation
Reporter worked with the Cambridge Museum to remember the Boatmobile.
With uneven wheels that gave passengers the sensation of bouncing over waves, the Boatmobile was a popular attraction to the annual Lions Market Days.
It was built by Selwyn Kirkby, who was fondly known as Mr Fix It. He died in 1990, but his legacy of the Boatmobile lives on in the memories of people today.
Research did not reveal the date it was built, but Cambridge resident Betty Busst, 77, remembers the Boatmobile distinctly and believes it was built in the mid-to-late 60s.
‘‘My eldest was born in 66 and I took him on the Boatmobile when he was about three,’’ she said.
The Lions Market Days ran from 1963 - 2003, and the wagon was a popular hit with the kids.
It was given to the Rotorua East Lions Club in 1979.
‘‘It’s a shame it was gotten rid of but the market days were getting big, and that would have made it hard,’’ said Busst.
‘‘We had 150 to 200 stalls, which would have made it difficult.’’
She also remembers she calls ‘‘the wobbly train’’ which was similar to the Boatmobile in the way it moved.
Selwyn Kirkby was a Lions member for 20 years, and Cambridge man John Milne remembers him fondly.
‘‘He was a farmer, and he was a very adaptable man. He and his wife moved to a house on the corner of Thornton Rd and Victoria Rd, and they kept the Boatmobile in the driveway,’’ he laughed.
‘‘It would have to have been at least six metres long.’’
Kirkby attended Maungatautari School and then Hamilton Technical College before training as an electrician, returning to Cambridge in 1930.
Eight years later, he married Lorna Waite. They were together for 52 years and had three daughters.
A death notice published in the Waikato Independent explains he was the a foundation member of the Cambridge Power Boat Club.
‘‘Selwyn’s uncanny ability to fix things were not confined to the district he lived in,’’ it said.
He also gained a reputation as a mender and maker of clocks and radios.
Following a stroke in 1990 he entered Raeburn Private Hospital until he died.
If you have information regarding the Boatmobile, such as the year it was built, contact emma.james@ fairfaxmedia.co.nz.