Vintage vehicles make their mark on SC roads

Scores of cars, motorcycles and trucks, all over 100 years old, took to the road in South Canterbury at the weekend, in a celebration of more than a century of motoring.

The South Canterbury Branch of the Vintage Car Club hosted members of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand for the National Veteran Rally from Friday to yesterday.

Rally director Alistair Day said more than 50 vehicles, covering the entire country from Auckland right down to Invercargill, participated in the event.

‘‘When the weather is awesome it makes everything really good. As far I know everybody’s had a lot of fun.’’

The rally was held on scenic, gentle country roads with low traffic in the South Canterbury region, especially suitable for vehicles with single and two cylinder engines, and included a trip to Geraldine yesterday, he said.

Day said they were thrilled with the attendance at both Caroline Bay on Saturday and Geraldine yesterday.

‘‘The oldest car on display is a 1903 Darracq.’’

Day said because the vehicles have been restored many of them were kept in storage and only displayed at events such as the one at the weekend.

‘‘They don’t do thousands of miles a year. They’d be lucky if they’ve done over 100 miles (160km).

‘‘The cars run on only one or two cylinders so they’re not very fast. They would have done about 80 miles this weekend tops.’’

He said being of old technology these vintage vehicles needed lots of care to keep going. ‘‘You’ve just got to keep on top of them. A lot of the owners do their own maintenance.’’