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mother when he was only eight, Graham had a special a nity with students at the Hodderville Boys’ Home (about 15 kilometres from Putaruru, now closed), always prepared to give some of them work experience around the yard or workshop.
Kevin West rst worked for Couper’s Motors on work experi- ence whilst still at Putaruru High School: “One vehicle I always recall was Royal Tiger 81 a er Graham tted longitudinal seats and two lines of oor-to-ceiling bars in the centre. It was registered as a ‘passenger truck’ and licensed to carry 120 school children, which it regularly did.”
e connection with Newmans (and Mt Cook Landlines) remained as Graham lled in for them as a tour driver all over New Zealand. His nickname ‘Spit re’ re ected his no-fear approach to driving and the fact that once under way, he didn’t waste any time on the highway.
“Dad always took the approach that he could x anything” recalls daughter Bev, “and he would never go past any vehicle bro- ken down on the road without stopping to help. He once got our Mum to remove her stockings which ended up as a makeshi fan belt to get a stricken motorist home.”
Former driver for Midland Coachlines Alan Webb remembers that Couper’s were the “go-to” rm for a spare vehicle for break- downs and overloads on the Auckland/Taupo or Auckland/Rotorua services. “In fact at one stage Graham le one of his Leyland Royal Tigers at our Matamata terminal over summer, in case we needed it. It was slow-revving and with that very long gear lever, but the sheepskin covers were still on the seats from the Newmans Tours days.”
Family photos reveal the interesting eet that Couper’s ran in the early days: Commer Avenger, Morris Commercial, Bedford S and Bedford J, Cadillac and a Ford V8. In 1968 an Ansair Flxible Clipper was purchased from Newmans. Australian-made and the pinnacle of American-style luxury, the 1952 Clipper became num- ber 8 and a real feature of Couper’s eet. Graham’s daughter Shirley reminisces: “I remember asking Dad to bring the Clipper to a trip we were doing when I was at Cambridge Street School. I now realise that with just 27 seats it probably wasn’t entirely suitable for the job, but I can still remember the pride I felt when he pulled up outside the school in this really cool, ash bus.”
In the early 1980s, as charter work increased, a Bedford VAM and two Seddon coaches joined the eet; 1972 and 1975 models, the impressive-looking Seddons were Hawke-bodied with V8 Perkins’ engines and came from Cresswells of Cambridge.
When Graham su ered a severe stroke in 1984, the rm was run by his second wife, Dawn Magowan, and Kevin West while Graham was recovering. Doggedly determined to stay mobile, Graham became a South Waikato Vintage Car Club member with his tiller-controlled Villers-powered Harper three-wheeler and his Fiat Bambinas.
In the earliest of the school tendering rounds, all of Couper’s 10 contracts were won by Murray and Judy Haycock of Tokoroa Buses. e Waikato Times said a “10 cents per kilometre lower o er” had made the di erence and the paper reported the fact that Dawn and Graham did not blame the successful tenderer, saying the Government’s ‘idea’ had put them out of business.
Ultimately, when Putaruru schools closed for the 1987 year, 55 years of the Couper family’s passenger transport heritage disap- peared into history.
• Thanks to Kevin West, Shirley Barton (Couper), Beverley Forrest (Couper), Ian Murphy, Alan Webb, Alex Dunn, Chuck Hausmann & Clive Otway Collection.
Top to bottom: Graham Couper; early days at Barnett Street depot with Cadillac service car, Bedford and two Internationals in the background; Leyland Royal Tigers from Newmans dominated the fleet in the 1970s; Ansair Flxible from Newmans was No 8 in the Couper Motors fleet.
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