Cliff Wickham had a habit of dealing with big wheels.

He was at his happiest organising vintage and veterans' car runs as he was mixing it with the nobs of Rotorua. The wheels ceased turning this week when Cliff, aged 70, died after a brief illness.

Cliff ran an industrious business in vehicle upholstery rejuvenation. Neither his garage nor the wide kerbside outside his garage were seldom empty for long.

He was also a bit of a card. Outside his garage hung attractive motoring frippery to mark or sashay his trade. A car chassis cut in half was also a permanent and more emphatic advertisement of his trade. Almost as a dare, a sort of Rotorua garage sale, you thought – yet no one deigned to filch his ostentation.

At his funeral on Saturday, Cliff Wickham was remembered as a loving, caring and kindly soul to whom jollity was a virtue.

Apart from his life-long interest in old cars Cliff Wickham came to the public's attention in 2010.

He had been the intermediary in the return of a Rotorua District Council crest.

The crest was found in a dumpster in Auckland by Cliff's friend, Bob Ballantyne, who was threaded into the NZ Vintage Car Association.

Cliff with the Rotorua District Council's crest.

A furniture polisher, Ballantyne recognised the value of the crest to Rotorua. He sent it to Cliff Wickham. 'Being the weka that he is, Bob took note of the ‘tautou tautou',” Cliff said of a clear Rotorua reference.

That and other, smaller plastic crests were also sent to Rotorua and a grateful mayor Kevin Winters, not unhappy publicity at this serendipitous moment occurred a few weeks out from election.

Cliff's was rewarded with a copy from the mould which he donated to the local vintage car club.

Once in council hands, Cliff Wickham could now return to his first love of vintage and veteran cars.

As befitting a perky disposition, Cliff Wickham was the fulcrum for such ancient but impeccably cared for vehicular traffic.

He served as secretary of the Rotorua Vintage and Veterans' Car Club for many years, a club which began humbly and informally at Ngongotaha some 40 years ago.

Each year, a swap meet organised by the club drew hundreds, then thousands. Today the event, at Rotorua Racecourse, attracts up to 10,000 punters. 'It's bigger than the annual round-the-lake marathon,” Cliff observed.

In one innovation in 2017, the public was invited to drive a vintage car around Rotorua for a princely $10 a drive. The club raised $300 for the local Cancer Society.

With Cliff Wickham's passing, Rotorua has lost another character who put others before self.

His funeral was held on Saturday December 22.