Indholdsfortegnelse for No. 386 March/April 2023 i NZ Classic Car

Compliments of the season which, in case you were wondering, is summer. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas festivities and New Year celebrations in style, and had a well-earned break over the holiday period. If you were unfortunately affected by the unprecedented weather bomb that struck the upper North Island we hope that you and your families are safe and losses are minimal. Sadly I have to report that one classic car that we were about to photograph for the magazine was badly damaged in the flooding and subsequently written off. We certainly hope we don’t hear of any more such incidents. As I write this editorial, we are just starting to feel the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle here in the Bay of Plenty. It has already caused significant damage…

In 1901 a young Herbert Austin, who had been manufacturing shearing machines for Wolseley — the sort found in wool sheds all over New Zealand — had finally persuaded his employer to enter the fledgling car manufacturing business. Under Austin’s management Wolseley quickly became the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturer. Even so, Austin and the Wolseley owners were often at loggerheads. A few years later, Herbert was sure enough of his own ideas to set up the Austin Motor Company in Longbridge, Birmingham, so that he could do things his way. That was in 1905. For the next 82 years cars wearing an Austin badge were sold in the UK and around the world. The first Austins were good-looking cars that were marketed to the upper echelons of the British market.…

He began collecting cars in the 1970s, storing them in various barns on the property In a recent list of the world’s wealthiest people, the US still had seven of the top-10 positions with Elon Musk — eclipsed last year by Bernard Arnault, CEO and chair of LVMH and family — at position number one. Whether it be traditional business activities such as oil and motor vehicles or new technology and IT-related industries, the US has led the way in creating vast riches since the mid 1850s. The US also leads the way in how these wealthy people spend their money in their twilight years. Initiated by Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller, they almost race each other to give away their fortunes before they pass on. This philanthropic endeavour has…

At the end of part one, a severe road accident off the track had prompted Murray to rethink his ambitions as a racing driver/journalist. “I became fascinated by the psyche of racing drivers,” says Murray. “One day [March co-founder] Robin Herd asked me what I wanted to do when we were discussing how teams operated. He actually offered me a role but I wanted to do my own thing.” A plan was hatched in which Murray would manage the March team in the New Zealand Formula Pacific series in January 1978, meaning that his first time in charge was with future Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan. “That went OK and then it was back to cover another year of F2 [Formula 2] for Motoring News, and then March asked if…

Long-time Canterbury Jaguar enthusiast Clynt Inns had two dream cars growing up in the local car club scene. One, naturally, was Jaguar’s C-Type. The other wasn’t even a Jaguar. It was Alfa Romeo’s beautiful 8C, with its signature twin-camshaft, straight-eight, supercharged engine. In 2012, as the prospect of acquiring one of the rare original 8Cs continued to recede, Clynt took the plunge, commissioning Auto Restorations in Christchurch to build him one. “Why did I do it? I was pretty much fascinated with C-Type Jaguars and 8C Alfas by the time I had been in the Vintage Car Club for about 25 years, I suppose. I’ve been in the VCC [Vintage Car Club of New Zealand] now for about 55 years. They were a couple of cars that really took my…

CONVERT-A-BALL This bolt-on Convert-a-Ball pintle hitch and ball mount combo is ideal for heavy-duty towing, retaining the ability to tow with a standard coupling. It includes three interchangeable, stainless-steel hitch balls with towing capacities from 3500lbs to 10,000 lbs, and a pintle sleeve adapter (GTW 25,000 lbs). The polyurethane interior acts as a shock absorber. The double-engagement, rust-resistant locking system converts quickly from pintle to standard ball mount — no tools needed. Convert-a-Ball is made in America. Call 0800 698 227 for where to buy, or more information. FRESHEN YOUR ENVIRONMENT WITH A SCENT OF WILDCAT! Create the perfect atmosphere in your car with the new Wildcat Paper Stick Air Fresheners. Each pack comes with three discreet paper sticks full of the most delicious and long-lasting scents you can hang…

Summer Supercars by the Sea had a million-dollar harbour backdrop for cars worth maybe 20 times more than that, parked along Wellington’s Te Papa promenade on Sunday, 22 January. The capital’s anniversary-weekend car show ran between 10am and 12.30pm. Around 60 supercars graced the concourse for the Wellington Sports & Supercar Owners’ second show. Last winter’s show was at the nearby Odlins Plaza but the new venue for the summer event enabled an improved display and easier access for visitors to get among them. A few cyclists and scooter riders detoured from their promenading around the waterfront to take a look at some of the finest alternative forms of transport. It was day of the coupé, with American muscle, European classics, the sporty Japanese, and the best of British, plus…

The Ford Thunderbird. The name has a music that is just so evocative of all that is good and pure about the golden era of the American automobile. While for many people the name will conjure up images of the cars first, they were actually named after an ancient North American mythical creature that created both thunder with a clap of its wings, and indeed, most of the physical world. That soaring eagle imagery is surely another reason that the Thunderbird resonates so deeply with both American culture and the landscape. Despite the legacy of freeway congestion and smog that was dawning in the ’60s, the dream of endless freedom of the highway still burned strong — and Ford created a car that remains today the best way to live…

Tony Gilbertson of Hastings has been a car guy for most of his adult life and he has built an impressive portfolio of vehicles owned over that time. A good portion of them have been Ferraris. These included a 308 GT4, 308 GTB Quattrovalvole, 328, 348 TB, and a 355 TB. He has only owned one Lamborghini and he has no intention of selling it. It will probably be the last supercar he ever owns. Lamborghini created space for the concept of supercars in the popular consciousness with the Lamborghini Countach, the poster child — and literally one of the great posters — of the ’70s and ’80s. While Ferrari built cars that boasted high speed crafted with Italian flair and sophistication, in the battle of the bedroom wall, Ferrari’s…

How did a young Elam School of Fine Arts student with no particular passion for cars end up taking arguably the most evocative automobile photographs ever seen in this country? Random chance is the answer. In 1974 Murray Cammick was a 20-year-old Auckland University student who had a passion for rock-band photography. This took him regularly into Auckland’s inner city on Friday and Saturday nights. His prey was the rich array of live rock venues that everyone took for granted back then. They included such legends as Mainstreet, The Glue Pot, His Majesty’s Theatre, The Windsor Castle, and many more. Murray’s prime love was the music scene and still is. Exiting the clubs and rock venues as the bands packed up Murray often found himself on Queen Street late at…

In the 1970s, Bodie and Doyle were the stars of The Professionals, a TV favourite even for people who didn’t enjoy the pair power-sliding their V6 Capris from one gruesome London crime scene to the next. On the local race tracks we had our own power-sliding Capri-mounted professional, who single-handedly made the name of the German city that produced the car familiar to motor sport fans here. SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT Paul Barrett Fahey’s Cologne Capri was the saloon car legend’s final racing car. After a career alternating from small and chuckable to big and grunty, he spent his final seasons giant-killing once more. A few years earlier it had been in a four-valve Escort, initially with a 1.6-litre FVA and then a 1.8 FVC engine, that led to some…

In 1964, or thereabouts, New Zealand changed from yellow and black plates to the black and silver plates that can still be seen on many old cars today. Reflective black-on-white plates were trialled in 1986 under the registration series MC1–MX999 and they were formally introduced in November of the same year, beginning with the number NA1. The white reflective background apparently made the black digits easier to see. Older plates were still usable but had to be upgraded to the reflective version if they became damaged and needed replacing. Sceptics still maintain the new reflectorised plates were introduced primarily because they were easier to read on speed-camera images. Small displays of individuality were accommodated with the introduction of personalised plates in 1988, and I was their 239th customer, buying ‘59CAD’…

Historic Muscle Cars and Saloon Cars president Tony Roberts was delighted with the success of the sixth edition of Taupō International Motorsport Park’s Historic Grand Prix(GP) held over the weekend of 21–22 January 2023. No doubt Tony would have been chuffed even without his win in Class A in the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Historic GP race driving his McLaren M10A, the feature race for the meeting. Taking top honours was Brett Willis, winner overall in his Lola T332, after finishing second and third in the first two races and winning the feature race. “The Historic Grand Prix [HGP] was a cracker,” says Tony. “Eleven cars lined up for the HGP. It was a good event.” Tony says the event was “a hangover” that was kept on when Tony…

At one stage, General Motors was rolling these cars out by the hundreds from its brand-new factory in Upper Hutt. They hit the spot for New Zealand motorists, making them a a familiar and friendly sight on New Zealand roads. But half a century on almost all of the few Holden Specials that have managed to survive are either in museums or private collections. Nick Tait lives in Upper Hutt but his car was not one of those assembled locally at Trentham. It was built in Australia almost six decades ago. Despite the passage of time it is still in its original condition; it has not been upgraded or souped up, which has probably contributed to its longevity, and it remains his daily driver. Nick’s car was an entry-level Holden…

It was the magazines crammed full of photos of the Cologne Capris doing battle with the 3.0 CSL BMWs and Porsches that fired his imagination The Group 5 class of saloon car racing gave birth to legends, including one of the most iconic cars in endurance racing: the BMW 3.0 CSL, better known as ‘The Batmobile’. Jonathan Hogg was a teenager growing up in England in the ’70s when the Group 5 legends were torturing the tarmac of European race circuits. Without regular TV coverage it was the magazines crammed full of photos of the Cologne Capris doing battle with the 3.0 CSL BMWs and Porsches that fired his imagination. While memories typically fade, the Group 5 Special Production Cars category, which ran from 1976 to 1982, remained vividly etched…

This year’s festival coincides with a momentous period of change for Invercargill city, including the completion of the $165M revamp of the city centre. The new city-centre development adds topspin to the groundwork that Bill Richardson Transport World owners Scott and Joc (Jocelyn) O’Donnell have done in creating a supportive environment that makes Invercargill the best as well as the most logical place to host the biennial four-day George Begg Festival — a festival of motor sport that is well on the way to becoming the southern version of the famously fun Goodwood Festival of Speed. The city now boasts two world-class museums, which were founded on decades of Bill Richardson’s efforts gathering an eclectic array of vehicles and memorabilia of all types. It includes collections such as the display…

In 1973 Stephen, the owner of this featured Mini de Joux, went to a gravel hill-climb held at Hoopers Inlet on the Otago Peninsula. The event was won by John Rush driving a car he had never seen before, it was a de Joux GT, better known as the ‘Mini de Joux’. At the time he had no idea that it was a car designed and manufactured in New Zealand. Its handling and performance caught his attention, and he thought that one day he would like to own one. The Mini de Joux first appeared in a 1965 edition of the Motorman magazine as a series of sketches and a clay mock-up. Early interest was high but potential buyers would have to wait until 1969 before the prototype rolled onto…

When it comes to iconic classic American metal, Ford’s Thunderbird has pretty much flown under the radar. Built to compete with General Motors’ Corvette, the original Thunderbird, named after a North American mythical creature, was built to be the Blue Oval’s answer to the emerging sports car market. It is said that Ford’s top brass saw the Corvette and asked, “Why haven’t we got something like that? ”As a result, the first-generation T-bird was designed as an actual sports car, with a two-seat layout, handsome lines, and a lively V8 engine, which in some cases was supercharged. “The Thunderbird’s first generation was a full-on sports car,” says Thunderbird owner and enthusiast Jason Bough. “It was the first dedicated two-seater sports car for Ford and it actually outsold the first Corvette…

Greg Murphy and Paul Radisich will add their star power to the drawcard for the retro motor sport scheduled for Invercargill’s Teretonga Park Raceway from 30 March to 2 April 2023. The man behind the George Begg Festival, Invercargill businessman and motor sport enthusiast Scott O’Donnell, says attracting that the duo is a bonus for those keen on attending the festival, which is designed to recreate the atmosphere and excitement of motor sport’s heyday. “It really takes things up a notch,” he says. “Murph and Radisich are among the best drivers in New Zealand motor sport. To attract drivers of their calibre to the George Begg Festival is a real vote of confidence in our long-term vision, which is to create a retro motor sport event that appeals not just…

A Volkswagen show happened on Sunday, 11 December, exactly a fortnight before Christmas 2022. Wellington’s fifth-annual “biggest, little VW show”, Dubby Day, again took over the car park for the day at the Parrotdog Bar, Lyall Bay. Classics from the greater Wellington region and beyond graced the concourse. Organiser Andy Bray was very happy with the numbers, estimating 38 had parked up — my total was 40 including the Type 2 Kombi and a camper, the welcoming crew at the gate. There appeared to be more Kombis — the generic Type 2 vans — and campers taking part in 2022 than in 2021. Andy didn’t mention the weather, which was fair enough, as it was nothing to complain about; the show’s history of fine days continued uninterrupted. A 1985 Audi…

Kicking off the event, the Alpine Street Machines’ Friday cruise to Bannockburn and back on the Friday was easily the biggest in the festival’s history. Some 380 cars created a wondrous spectacle for unsuspecting fellow road users that day, potentially tempting some to take a closer look in Cromwell over the weekend. Club member Shane Bingham was thrilled to announce the cruise alone raised more than $200 for the Cromwell Volunteer Fire Brigade. Saturday’s car show, organised by the Southland Ford Falcon Club at the Alpha Street reserve, drew perhaps 1000 or more gleaming examples of interesting cars and applied restoration skills. In the bright Central Otago light, chrome and flashing paintwork dazzled the eye everywhere you looked. It really seemed as if everyone with a classic or a hot…