The fabulous images of the stylish Packard which featured in last week’s motoring pages prompted some memories.
Gordon and Una Binsted and their family were our neighbours in Happy Hampstead when this writer was growing up.
And before you say or think it this writer freely admits that’s a work in progress!
And actually it’s not quite true, the Binsted family was over the back fence.
They were our neighbours, but it wasn’t really even over the back fence, because we took it down, so there wasn’t one.
Because of the alignment of the sections the actual boundary wasn’t all that wide and without the obstacle of a fence we – that’s the Binsted kids and us – were able to wander freely between our homes.
Which we did quite often, enjoying wonderful times.
Gordon was, of course, a renowned local photographer who provided many illustrations for this newspaper and has left an invaluable and incredible legacy to our district in the form of a collection of his photographs.
Photographs of huge historical significance, which the family have kindly donated to the Ashburton Museum.
Maybe by now you’re wondering what this has got to do with Packards.
Answer: Gordon and Una had one.
And as a young person becoming interested in cars it seemed quite special because it appeared large, luxurious and powerful.
All of which it was.
And of course its name was unusual.
The Packard was a great family car and this writer recalls several trips – which seemed fast at the time and probably were – going on photographic expeditions.
Chances are there was need to get back quickly and develop photos in time to meet deadlines.
A bit different to these days!
Packards bear the surname of two American brothers who were pioneers of vehicle manufacture.
They founded the Packard Motor Company after deciding they could produce excellent cars.
And they did just that, along the way introducing many innovative features.
During World War Two, Packard engines powered various military machines, including a motor built under licence to Rolls-Royce and similar to the Merlin 66, used as the power plant in the legendary P-51D Mustang.
These days American presidential vehicles are a far cry from the limos of yesteryear.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR as he was known to his friends – well actually pretty much to everyone – did some of his campaigning in a very large open Packard.
They were also the car of choice for other presidents, dignitaries and celebrities.
Beginning in 1899, Packard continued production until 1956 and during that time built some amazing and now collectable cars.
We know of at least one locally owned Packard, so as well as reviving childhood memories last week’s story is a prompt to follow up on that in the New Year.
And there are other fascinating tales to follow next year too.
One being the connection between Jim Lischner’s family and the Todd family, who from humble beginnings in Otago went on to become major players in the New Zealand automobile industry before moving into other activities.
In part the special anniversary recently celebrated by our paper prompted Jim to mention the Todd story to us.
There are similarities between the histories of the Todd family and the Ashburton Guardian.
In a classic case of telephone tag we haven’t quite managed to connect with Jim to confirm the words prepared for that story, but hopefully we’ll do so soon.
While this writer hasn’t managed to speak with Jim he has had the pleasure of hearing him.
That was when Jim and his fellow band members provided delightful easy listening entertainment during the recent very successful Hospice Christmas Houses tour.
There are other stories lined up for the New Year.
So we’ll be back!
This time last year Noel Lowe told us he had asked Father Christmas for a book.
A book called We had One of Those 2.
He told Santa, a.k.a. Audrey, he would like a copy because it included images of an Austin A40 Devon.
Noel’s first car was an Austin A40 Devon.
Noel must have been a good boy during 2018 because the book arrived for him under the Lowe’s Christmas tree.
And no doubt Noel has been a good boy again this year and we hope he’ll be appropriately rewarded.
During this year courtesy of Derek Wilson we have been recipients of editions of South Island Formula Ford Newsletter.
Derek is a committee member of this very active organisation and their interesting and informative newsletters indicate Formula Ford racing in which competitors drive high spec great looking racers is very much alive and well.
The cars are seriously fast.
These pages are the last pre-Christmas motoring section of our paper for 2019.
It only seems like yesterday the last column for last year went to print.
The time in between has passed quickly – about as fast as one of those fabulous Formula Ford cars crossing the finishing line.
But in the process, the old adage “time flies when you’re having fun” has again proved correct.
Thanks to everyone involved; we’ve had lots of fun producing motoring pages this year and are looking forward to more fun in 2020.
Season’s Greetings
Various people in various ways make it possible to produce our Motoring pages.
We thank you all and we wish you safe and happy times at Christmas and in the New Year.
Roger, Bernard, Neil and Steve
The Guardian Motoring Team.