Morris and his trusty Bedford ready to go on show in South Taranaki

Bryan Morris used to wrangle cows, but now he’s rounding up exhibitors from Taranaki’s 40 car clubs for a fundraising show in South Taranaki.

The aptly-named lifelong car enthusiast and retired farmer, 89, is organising a show to raise money for Daffodil Day, on August 26, in Hāwera.

Last year, the event got cancelled at the last minute due to Covid, so he’s hoping to see a good turnout this year to help boost the Taranaki Cancer Society’s coffers.

The two vehicles he is taking along are both older than himself – just – a 1932 chocolate brown Bedford truck and a rich crimson 1931 Vauxhall Tourer.

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His father bought the Bedford new, and he has a photograph of himself as a toddler on his mother’s knee on a family picnic beside the truck.

By the time he was seven, he was behind the wheel, helping his father on the family farm at Normanby.

“I’d steer it around the paddock while Dad fed out the hay from the back,” he said.

He inherited the truck along with the farm, and used it for many years.

“It’s done all sorts from sweeping hay to harrowing, manuring and feeding out, and taking the milk to the factory.”

A newer model replaced the old workhorse in the 1970s, and it got parked in a shed for about 15 years, until Morris retired and had time to restore it.

It looks like new, except for the addition of indicators and windscreen wipers, but still doesn’t have any locks.

“You didn’t have to lock your doors in those times,” he said

He put a box on the back for luggage when he drove it to Invercargill to a rally some years ago.

Morris said he started restoring old cars after he employed help on his farm, when he was in his 70s, including the Vauxhall Tourer.

He and his late wife, Lesley, enjoyed going to vintage rallies together, and he still enjoys the outings, although these days he sticks to closer destinations.

“It’s a social outfit and a good way to see the country,” he said.

“You go back over the roads and see how they have changed, the road through to Auckland now has changed no end.”

• The car show is at Hāwera Primary School from 10am-3pm on August 26. There’s no charge to the public at the gates, but the exhibitors will pay a small fee and there will be Cancer Society volunteers collecting on the day. There will also be a range of food and drink stalls, and spot prizes.