The Visit of George - A Morris Cowley Tale

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A Whiteman
Posts: 992
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:36 pm
First Name: Adrian
Last Name: Whiteman
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1926 TT, 1924 Colonial Roadster, 1924 'Bullnose' Morris, 1925 'Bullnose' Morris, 1936 JD AR
Location: South Island, New Zealand

The Visit of George - A Morris Cowley Tale

Post by A Whiteman » Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:42 pm

Christmas in New Zealand is summer time, time for the BBQ, gatherings and family holidays. This year the holidays have been domestically focused. No shooting off to Fiji for a week or the Gold Coast for a few days. As a result many ‘Kiwis’ have been discovering the beauty and spectacular landscapes quite literally at our own back door.

A benefit of this has been the meeting up with distant and rarely seen extended family. It has been great having nieces and nephews and cousins and aunts and uncles drop by for a cup of tea or to stay a day or two. I live in the South Island and most of my family live in the North Island, so we form a handy stop off point in their travels south.

Recently I had a cousin and her family call by. The kids have grown so much and, my cousin told me, George, who is now 10, would like to see my cars (his Grandpa had visited a few weeks before and the report back had sparked his interest).

So off to the garage it was for a visit to ‘Aunty’. “Wow! That’s so shiney!” “Is it a hot rod?”

Hummph! Off to a good start! So we started chatting but it soon became apparent that George (who had just turned 10 he told me) knew a bit more than he let on, and also that my cousin was the one who perhaps really wanted to see the cars. It seems her husband is not that very interested in cars, despite running a car dealership for many years (or maybe because of that?).

The best place to start, it occurred to me, was to start with the starting, so off we went to see how that worked: “Do you turn the handle out the front?” Well, yes you can, but the electric start is a little easier on the arms. “Wow I didn’t know they had electricity back then” (meaning the starters).

1: open the door and turn on the fuel tap under the scuttle. “What’s a scuttle and why is it called that?” – ahhh – it’s this part – sketchy wave of hand at dash.
2: go and open up the bonnet (hood),
3: reach in and tickle the carb. “But you’re not tickling it – and it can’t laugh anyway!” yes, well that is the old way of saying to lift the float – this thingy - can you hear the petrol gurgling in?
4: back to get in the car. “But there is no door here!” too true, you see Mr Morris thought it might be dangerous to get out of the car on the traffic side, so he only put doors on the footpath side. “Oh”. (And it made the bodies cheaper to make I should have added).
5: check that it is out of gear (waggle the gear shift) – pause – no response – “Oh yes I’ve seen cars with gears before”.
6: adjust the choke lever – that makes the mixture of air and fuel richer so easier to start (blank look).
7: adjust the spark lever – that make the spark fire later (even deeper blank look).
8: Now if you think that push button start is for new cars – reach over and give that button on the dashboard a good push – look of startled wonder as Aunty quietly bursts into life. ”That’s cool!”

A quick demonstration of the ‘cruise control’ (idle adjustment) then on to point out that here is a thing to see! We have air conditioning! “I didn’t think old cars had that”. Well, watch up front here (while turning the scuttle vent screw). As the vent lid rises on the scuttle – “That’s not aircon!” Yes it is, it brings nice fresh air into the car to keep you cool. “What if its raining?” it still works with the top up! “What if it’s hot and humid and raining?” (where did this lad come from!) Well, then you can decide if you would rather get out and walk in the nice hot and humid rain instead…..

Looking around the snug interior I asked George where do you put the luggage? “Under the seats?” A quick look there, not much room George, any other thoughts? (puzzled shrug). How about on this nice rack here at the back. We can fold it down like this “And then tie the suitcases on to it” – quick lad. 
This has another purpose too you know? When children get a little naughty or cheeky they are made to sit here and ride along out the back. They might get sore sitting on the grate but they might also decide to be well behaved and back inside after a mile or two!

The temperature gauge (Calorometer) raised some interest and so we had a look at the bits and how it worked to show the temperature. The fact that it is all mechanical – not a ‘wire’ in sight was of interest to this 21st Century lad, as was the fact that the car was made of wood. George did not really believe that until we pulled back the seat and showed him the frames (later when we looked at ‘Uncle’ – my 1925 project car we could see the wood framing more clearly).

Finally we need to fill up the car with petrol – how do you do that I smugly asked. George had a quick look around the car, then pointed to the bonnet (hood) and asked “Under there somewhere?” Deflated, but impressed, I had to admit that George is a pretty smart lad .

Later that day George was busily scrabbling away in the box of 30+ year old Lego while we enjoyed a catch up and a cuppa round the table. Great children and interesting conversations with all of them, including the 16yr old discussing the Classics (her preferred reading) and her goal of becoming a journalist – wow! Great to see there is a new generation under way with brains and pleasant attitudes. After fond farewells I set to pick up the Lego to find this standing on the table:
Untitled.jpg
2019 July 30 (2).png
So, it was well worth spending time explaining and asking questions with George, he was a ‘good keen man’ as we say down under. Who knows what seeds we may plant in the youngsters when we get a chance.

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perry kete
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1922 Coupe 1927 Touring
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Re: The Visit of George - A Morris Cowley Tale

Post by perry kete » Fri Jan 08, 2021 5:58 pm

What a very enjoyable story, thanks for sharing.
1922 Coupe & 1927 Touring

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