The quality of his early cars was on show in Oamaru yesterday for the 30th National Model T Ford Club of NZ Tour.
Three enthusiasts have travelled from Australia to take part in the tour, which has 31 cars dating from 1911 to 1930. The later ones are Model A Fords, and there is a mix of Speedsters, Roadsters, Tourers and Pickups, two Tudors, a Centre Door, a Sedan and a Coupe.
Driving a natty red restored 1915 Speedster are Yvonne and David Bell, of Richmond, near Nelson.
Their numberplate, FRONTY, alludes to the Frontenac engine that identifies it as an early racing car.
They brought it to Oamaru on a trailer to speed up the trip, despite its ability to get along at a decent clip.
"Yvonne does all the polishing," her husband said.
"It’s her car."
The tour is a family gathering for sisters who live at opposite ends of the country.
Jane Macklan, of Auckland, and Amy Macklan, of Dunedin, are sharing the driving of the 1915 Tourer their father took 10 years to restore.
Their mother, Alison Macklan, of Christchurch, is also along for the ride, as is Amy’s husband, Glen McConachie.
His parents are in an elegant cream car called "Annie".
Born at Hilderthorpe, just north of Oamaru, in 1876, he established a cycle and engineering business in Christchurch in 1889.
He built the first motorcar in New Zealand and took four days in June 1900 to drive it to Oamaru.
Two of the tour organisers, Tom and Jenny Stephens, were involved in making a replica that also drove into Oamaru to mark the turn of the following century in 2000.
Later in 1900, Mr Dennison moved back to Oamaru to become a cycle manufacturer and motor engineer in Tyne St.
He imported a Ford Model C car in 1904, and was appointed the Ford agent for Otago and South Canterbury in 1908.
He began importing the Model N, followed by the Model T.
Mr Dennison advertised himself as the Ford agent "from Makikihi River to Lake Wakatipu".
In February 1913, his promotional drive was "a 650-mile [1046km] tour round the South Island Lakes, including Milton, Queenstown, Mount Cook, Fairlie, etc, and through the Cardrona Gorges, the Lindis and Burke’s [sic] Passes, Crown Range, etc, in a Ford Car without having a mechanical stop or tire trouble," a publication said.
The rally is taking the same route wherever possible, leaving Oamaru today and returning on Wednesday.
Participants spent yesterday, lining up for photos at St Kevin’s College, having lunch at the Enfield Domain and visiting Brookfield Park near Weston — the former residence of brothers Neil and James Gilchrist, who accompanied Mr Dennison on his 1913 southern lakes trip.
