Club Corner: Daimler & Lanchester (Jaguar) Owners in New Zealand Spare Parts Club

10 April, 2016

 


The Daimler & Lanchester (Jaguar) Owners in New Zealand Spare Parts Club was founded back in 1971 by Gordon Somerville and the late Laurie Wason, and became an incorporated society in 1971.

Today the club, based in Christchurch, provides parts sales to members only, and has a wide inventory of spare parts, new and used, available in stock for most Daimler/Jaguar motor vehicles from Jaguar Mk1 and XK120 right through to modern Jaguars and Daimlers as well as Lanchester vehicles. The club carries approximately 3500 individual line items, all available ex stock for the above vehicles. The club also caters for more modern X-Type, S-Type, and XJ Jaguars.

The club is run by a group of volunteers, and is open for business and parts orders and information on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.30am to 1.00pm. The majority of orders ex stock are shipped the same day, with competitive overnight freight rates. The club can also provide hassle-free shipping from overseas for those hard-to-get parts, offering a price advantage for parts supply for more modern vehicles over most local suppliers.

Join the club

If you’re interested in joining one of New Zealand’s largest one-marque car clubs, then join the Daimler & Lanchester (Jaguar) Owners in New Zealand Spare Parts Club.
Visit the website — daimjag.org.nz — for further information and to download a membership application form.

This article originally appeared in New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 299. You can pick up a print copy or a digital copy of the magazine below:


The Great River Road

A few years ago my family, knowing my fondness for driving, gave me the book Unforgettable Road Trips: Thirty-Six Drives of a Lifetime by Martin Derrick. Most of the road trips listed take less than a day in places like Scotland, Monaco, and Australia, plus one in New Zealand. Most of these places were too far to go just for a short drive but four of them would take several days. My interest was piqued, and those four drives were added to the bucket list. To date, I have done three of them: ‘Route 66’ (USA 21 days), ‘State Highway 6’ (NZ 10 days) and ‘The Great River Road’ (USA 22 days). You can drive all of them in less time, but you could also fly over them. We wanted a decent immersion in their charms.
The great river referred to is the Mississippi. While the name conjures the deep south, the river actually starts at the bottom of the great lakes, before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico about 3800km later. The great road is more of a concept than a specific strip of tarmac, as you can drive down either side of the river on various routes. Regardless of which side you drive, time should be kept aside for detours to places such as Nashville, which is famous for something or other.

A diamond in the rough

Two years ago, Lew finished a thorough restoration and the impressive ute has taken on a new life and colour. Lew plays down the amount of effort required but, despite his protestations, I suspect he put a lot of time into the project. A few unwanted tenants were evicted along the way.
“It didn’t take me long. There had been mice living in the firewall, which had caused a bit of damage. It apparently broke down and was pushed into a shed. It was 20 years to the day when I pulled it out and it sat in my other shed for 3 years before I started on it. That’s why it’s in such good order — it’s been kept in a shed for so long and still is.”