A Winning Combination

John and Sheryl Glass are winners, and in more ways than one.

Words: Grant Shanks Images: Carmen Peter Photography

Former top smallbore shooters, Sheryl has won multiple International titles and medals in NZ, Oceania, Britain and competed at Commonwealth Games & World Cup level, while John has held and still does hold records at National and Provincial levels, and has also competed at World Cups. However, they are winners in another completely unrelated area - namely the automotive one. A car salesman and panel beater by trade, John is largely responsible for this fantastic car/caravan combination.

This stunning pairing was the winner of Best Car and Caravan at the 2018 Timaru Rock & Hop Show, and there’s a lot of history behind them, as John explains. “The Vauxhall PASX is the 1961 version. It was purchased by Sheryl’s father, Doug Findlater in 1973 however, years later when he got company cars, the Vauxhall spent about 35-years quietly rotting away in a cellar in Dunedin,”

Upon Doug’s passing what had been the family pride and joy for many years, Sheryl felt it would be a great tribute to Doug to restore it and asked John if he would do the honours. What followed was a nightmare vehicle retrieval from one of Dunedin’s steepest streets, Montague Street, two over from Baldwin Street, the world’s steepest street on record.

“We had no brakes and used bricks in front of the wheels to ease the Vauxhall out a brick at a time so we could trailer it. It was a pretty hairy operation,” John recalls. “The engine was totally seized up and no amount of coaxing could free the pistons. Eventually, the pistons were cut out and as a result the engine capacity was increased a wee bit over its normal 2.6 rating.”

After about a year in which John did all the restoration work and panel beating, Ashley’s Peter Bachelor added the glorious paint job.

John stripped the caravan down to its bare bones and rebuilt it, doing all the bodywork himself. A year later and with another visit across the river to Ashley, the little 12-foot caravan was complete and a perfect match to the Vauxhall. “It’s not just for show,” John says. “We use it and in fact we’ve taken them on a run as far north as Tokomaru Bay north of Gisborne.”

While John and Sheryl haven’t got any plans for another caravan run in the near future, they will be attending the next Caroline Bay Rock and Hop.

Keep an eye out for them.