08/10/2026
Bruce Matthews
Yesterday, we attended the funeral of Bruce at the Marlborough Vintage Car Club at Brayshaw Park Blenheim. Bruce died suddenly on Sunday 4th October 2026 after a short illness.
Our involvement with Bruce was at Omaka Classic Cars (OCC). Bruce was very much an integral part of the Omaka Classic Car team as a ‘behind the scenes man’ – his knowledge on how to fix almost anything with a focus on things low voltage electrical and the Morris Minor vehicle was unbelievable – if there was not a part to fix it, Bruce would make it – a craft and skill fast disappearing these days.
Bruce would be at most morning tea gatherings at OCC and his knowledge on Marlborough history was amazing (his family goes back to 1860) – if Bruce didn’t know the answer he would find it - but not only was Bruce well versed on history, he was very much in the here-and-now and could hold a discussion and comment on many ‘breaking news events’.
One of Bruce's passions was clocks and OCC is lucky enough to have a clock on display that is part of New Zealand and Global timekeeping history; it is known as a ‘Gents Clock’. These clocks were placed in most Govt and Private situations where timekeeping was paramount. We have the ‘Master Clock’, which literally means that there was a ‘Master Clock’ in each location and this unit kept the time and sent signals to numerous ‘slave’ clocks around remote locations within places like Hospitals, Railway Stations, most Govt workshops and other industries in the Private sector. Bruce kept the ‘Master Unit’ at OCC on time. Although we don’t have any of the ‘slave’ clocks at OCC, the ‘Master’ clock is still in working order and a very unique piece of New Zealand and Global timekeeping history.
Bruce, it has been a privilege to have had you on the team, and although your ‘time’ is now over, your presence and memory lives on at OCC…
