Team ZDDT taken down memory lane by VCCM (Vintage and Classic Club of Matabeleland) organised event

Written by Lewis Jones, ZDDT Field Correspondent Friday, 09 September 2011 11:10

BULAWAYO – When invited by Mrs. Nesisa Mpofu, Senior Public Relations Officer at the City of Bulawayo, this writer tried to fathom the possible link between the work that the Trust is involved in and an event celebrating old cars. Upon reflection however, it became apparent to me that being part of local society, ZDDT is intricately and irrevocably tied to activities and occurrences affecting that very entity.

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Mrs Charm Rutledge posing with a friend next to a classic car

On arrival at the court-yard of long established motor car dealers, Dulys (Pvt) Ltd., Field Correspondent Lewis Jones was met by an array of ancient and interesting vehicles, and if I may say, equally interesting elderly owners. As I discovered, a little later, during  discussion with Jenny Leach, the event was called to mark Duly’s one hundred years in the Ford Dealership fraternity.

Mrs. Leach incidentally, is the first ever woman to chair the Club. Besides providing some of the more technical details regarding her organisation and its links with the celebrating firm, Leach pointed out that VCCM, made up of vintage and classic car  enthusiasts, conduct “runs” once every month. These she said comprised of short distances such as from Bulawayo to Marula, for instance. Referring to her gang of old banger lovers, she remarked; “They are a great bunch of people, who are very much together.”

Mrs. Leached revealed that in the spirit of the celebration, VCCM had organised a “run” to centrally placed Masvingo Town, 280 kilometres east of Bulawayo, where they would link up with their counterparts from Mashonaland, the Midlands and Manicaland.

A most interesting observation was the innovative improvisation which the car owners practice whenever original spares are not available for the old vehicles. One such person is Mr. John Apps, who bought his 1928 Ford Model A Roadster Pick-up from a farmer at Daisyfields many years ago. On discovering that he could not get the original collapsible top for his vintage, he simply had the car’s roof thatched, a sight that provides considerable mirth for curious onlookers.

Before the start of the main function, there was time for a chat with several elderly enthusiasts who had quite a few intriguing reminiscences to share. Among these is Eddy Doleman who joined Dulys at their Livingstone branch as a young mechanic, in what was then known as Northern Rhodesia.

He later transferred to the firm in Bulawayo. Eddy recently lost his right leg as a result of injuries sustained in a freak accident in 1991 at the starting line of a racing event, where as the flag man, he was run over by one of the competing vehicles.



A fine specimen of a 100 + year old Ford

Mrs. Charme Rutledge had her own story to tell. She remembered a time in the early 1960’s, when she and some friends got stuck fast in mud on the Lourenco Marques, (Maputo) to Beira Road, then only a rough track. Mrs. Rutledge recalls how they had to get the assistance of a bulldozer to extricate their vehicle, a Zephyr Six; similar to the shining specimen she stood next to, during this recollection.

The “run” or rally as it is correctly known, began at Duly’s Jason Moyo branch in Bulawayo, where the City’s Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Amen Mpofu gave a motivational speech, before flagging the ancient heaps ... sorry, cars on their way. The Councillor arrived for the occasion in the ceremonial Mayoral Car, a fine old early sixties Bentley which itself is a classic in its own right.

In his speech Cllr. Mpofu commended Dulys and VCCM for successfully enduring their momentous sojourns through history, which he noted, were in some instances littered with trials and tribulation. He wished them many more years of prosperity.

With the speechifying over, the assemblage of fine vintage and classic specimens puttered off on the long journey which would take them to the magnificent Great Zimbabwe Monument, a few kilometres outside Masvingo Town.

Getting back however, to the significance of ZDDT’s presence at the great event, one would be tempted to ask what the relevance was for an organisation involved in Community Restoration to be participating in such an occasion? To start with and as earlier mentioned, the Trust attended at the invitation of the City of Bulawayo, represented by its Senior Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Nesisa Mpofu.

For those in the know, so to speak, this aptly demonstrated the strengthening relations that exist between the Local Authority and ZDDT. The two Organisations are signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding in which the participants have agreed to work together with a view to improving service delivery. In light of this, the Trust has over the past few years been playing its part in this concurrence through various interventions which include training and implementation programmes.

Another essential reason for the people centred ZDDT’s presence at the occasion, may quite simply be put down to the fact that this multi-faceted entity possesses many interests, some of which can be found in the domain of more leisurely activity.