Indholdsfortegnelse for No 393 May/June 2024 i NZ Classic Car

A recent television news item got me wondering what is going on here. The Hiringa Energy spokesman touted the benefits of hydrogen as a fuel for heavy transport; it was installing four refuelling points in Taranaki, and it was continuing building its $450 million production plant, partly funded by the previous government’s Provincial Growth Fund. The news item featured an expert claiming that it was not economically viable to establish the hydrogen plant and refuelling infrastructure required, given the rapid advances in battery technology. I understood the verdict on electric power for trucks on our hilly terrain was far from settled – and don’t we have a looming electricity supply issue? I’ve been following the development of repowering the good old internal combustion engine with hydrogen. JCB and Cummins have…

If you were to enter Mike Gillard’s home garage, you wouldn’t find much out of the ordinary. A Mk3 Zodiac, clearly well looked after, sits on axle stands in a state of partial disassembly, while a Mk3 Zephyr tucked away in the background appears to have been stripped of every removable panel and piece. Nothing too unusual for your average Kiwi petrolhead, right? Looks can be deceiving. It’s hard to find the best place to begin telling a story like this; there are plenty of starting points between the ’70s and now, but 1987 would be as good a year as any, at the Pukekohe Swap Meet. “I was desperate to find a Raymond Mays head,” Mike recalls. “I found a cardboard box, cut a hole in it, and put…

AN ELECTRIFYING MOMENT Laurie was helped locally with painting the cars. The green car didn’t need a major overhaul of the fibreglass, but he was not so lucky with the red one, which was stripped and required repair work, while major repairs were needed with the blue car. “NZ Composite Tech here in Cromwell, run by Doug Rayner, did an excellent job. He’s a really talented guy specialising in fibreglass. He did the repairs and painting on the red car, and on the blue car out of Wellington, which had extensive damage and he did a great job,” says Laurie. The red one acquired a full box chassis somewhere along the line and its personalised plate is a giveaway: “My initial idea was to put a modern motorcycle motor in…

Approved for production by Volkswagen’s newly appointed executive officer Heinz Nordhoff in May 1949, the first vehicle rolled off the production line in November that year. The Type 1 was the ‘Beetle’ car. Like the car, the van became a design icon, universally known to generations, and spawned a myriad of forms, from commercial transporter to multi-glassed bus. The Type 2 also encouraged a number of post-war forward-control designs. Volkswagen called the rear-engine van the ‘Type 2’ to differentiate it from the Type 1 or ‘Beetle’ saloon, when the company’s forward-control light-commercial vehicle range debuted in 1949. ‘Otto’ is Wellington husband and wife Andy and Ali Bray’s 1965 Type 2 Volkswagen panel van; full name ‘Otto von Vannington’. When Andy and Ali were discussing possible names for the VW, they…

In June 2023, my wife and I visited the US again. My wife is American and we have a five-year-old, so spending time with grandparents motivates our trips across the Pacific. Of course, being a car nut and even more than that, a US car nut, I have other motivations to visit the Land of the Free. Our recent visit spanned two months, including a road trip from Denver, Colorado, to Washington State and then down the length of the West Coast. Further, on returning from Europe, we visited North Carolina, Las Vegas, and California. With all this tripping around, I was fortunate enough to visit all sorts of car museums and related places of interest. New Zealand Classic Car published my reports about the two previous museum visits, but…

They were not here for long. Four years later, Todd Motors and Ford had joined the fray, building factories to assemble Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Hillman, Humber, and Sunbeam cars. Austin arrived in 1946 and eventually became New Zealand Motor Corp (NZMC). At one stage, almost three-quarters of New Zealand’s automotive production was coming from the Hutt Valley. In the ’60s and ’70s, it was one of the few places in New Zealand that regularly had zero unemployment. “Almac was in the business of building stunning automotive fibreglass bodies with a separate tubular steel chassis” SOLE SURVIVOR By 1990, after around 60 years of manufacturing in the Hutt Valley, it was all gone, with one notable exception: Almac Cars in Upper Hutt. Almac was in the business of building stunning automotive…

Those who remember it will wonder what happened to this car. The good news is that the car still exists, well, most of it at least, in Taranaki. WHERE IT STARTED The story starts in 1960 when Ferris saw what was believed at the time to be the legendary 1951 British Grand Prix-winning 375 Ferrari driven by the Argentinian José Froilán González in an Auckland car yard. A local expert, Allan Morris, has recently researched this and believes the car was actually the No12 car driven by Brazilian Chico Landi, which only lasted for a lap or two. When its GP days were over, the car was converted into a sports car before being bought by AJ Roycroft for his son, Ron Roycroft, in 1955. In New Zealand, it was…

Custom car builders from all over converge on Motown (Detroit) each year for the fabled Detroit Autorama hot rod show. It showcases the very best examples of their craft, competing for the show’s supreme award, the coveted Ridler Trophy. This year, the Ridler was awarded to Dave Kindig and his Salt Lake City, Utah, team for their scratch-built all-alloy car, based on a 1950s Chevrolet Corvair concept. In New Zealand, we are used to seeing both classic and custom work being carried out in the same panel shops. It’s a healthy sign of a growth in skills in a quality industry, brought home recently by the number of shops in which I have seen both types of work being carried out. Long may it continue. I’ll admit to being a…

Whether it was their first car, a Mini for mum, road trips with a car filled to bursting with people and luggage, or boy-racing escapades, everyone has a Mini story. In August 2024, this automotive icon will be 65 years old. Released in New Zealand in February 1960, the Mini was a runaway success just six months after its release in the UK (August 1959), where it was a sensation. Local assembly spanned 22 years, with 67,829 cars sold. The car was marketed through Dominion Motors as the ‘Morris Mini-Minor’, and the Austin Distribution Company, as the ‘Austin Seven’, but when these companies were combined in 1970 into the New Zealand Motor Corporation (NZMC), following British Leyland’s formation in England, it became known simply as the ‘Mini’. “Josh also admins…

Launched in 1984, the Mercedes-Benz W124 series was the result of an intense engineering programme begun by the company in 1976, encompassing an advanced level of technology and performance ahead of most of its rivals, giving it an enviable reputation for reliability. It became revered as one of the best Mercs that the company ever built. The innovative new design also incorporated a first for the company in plastic panels for the underbody and suspension to keep a clear airflow under the body and aid aerodynamics and subsequent fuel efficiency, resulting in the lowest drag coefficient (cd) in the industry at that time of 0.28 (200/200D model). With fuel consumption figures of just 9.4 litres per 100km for the three-litre six, it achieves figures little higher than many two-litre engines.…

On hearing these words separately, the listener may envisage a country scene with an American red barn in the first case, and the verb ‘to find’, meaning ‘to look’ in the second. Taken together, however, the words take on mystique, giving rise to visions of hidden treasures behind a creaking old door, cobwebs hanging from ceilings, and old forgotten cars lying hidden under dusty cloths and behind haystacks. This romantic image is enough to set off heart palpitations in the most fevered car enthusiast. FINDING THE HOLY GRAIL The Holy Grail, nirvana, the needle in the literal haystack. The hope of all hope to find a long-forgotten treasure in the shape of an Austin-Healey, a Jaguar, a Mustang, a ’32 Ford, or an old Chev. To be Indiana Jones and…

Of course, there are many others as well, all riding on the coattails of the extraordinary thirst for nostalgia. But, despite the crowds that gather to bask in yesteryear, watching old racing cars isn’t for every fan of the sport. Take my mate Terry. He knows his motor sport intimately and savours a car being expertly balanced on the absolute limit. For Terry, historic motor racing doesn’t cut the mustard, and, while he loves old racing cars, he refers to the exercise as “high-speed demonstrations” – that’s when he is not calling those of us who partake “rest home racing drivers”. Most ‘old fart’ racers know that the chance of a professional career has gone if it was ever there – I say ‘most’ because, once the lights go out,…

First up is Ivan and Julie Webster’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, one of two examples that gleam in their garage. This one was restored some years ago and still looks fresh. The couple scored a top-10 finish with the Camaro at the 2024 Cromwell Classic Car & Hot Rod Festival, adding a splash of green to the Central Otago landscape. Our next selection is a mighty 1970 Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1, fresh from the Falcon Fairlane Car Club of Christchurch’s 2024 show. Christchurch contributor Nigel Young found this immaculate Holden, which apparently has never been damaged. Owner Wayne Smith and partner Jo aren’t prejudiced about car makes either, as Jo took along a recently acquired Ford Escort Mk1 that she had driven down from Auckland. Wayne found his Torana in…

Our passionate and skilled craftsmen meticulously breathe life back into your vehicle, seamlessly repairing and restoring it to its former glory. Trust us to revitalise your prized possession.” – D A Classics & Customs. In the highly competitive field of New Zealand classic and custom restorations, reputations are won or lost on the ability to maintain consistently high standards of workmanship. A company managing to achieve this is D A Panel beating Ltd, of Rangiora near Christchurch. Is your classic or custom car restoration stalled, or in need of a refresh, or perhaps you are looking for experts to rebuild that recent import project out of Europe or the ‘States? THE COMPANY TO SEE FOR YOUR RESTORATION Owners, Dave and Aisha Addison head a team of specialists with a wide…

Crowds flocked to Ardmore Airport on Sunday, 10 March to see warbirds from two world wars take to the sky, along with military trainers from the era and more modern jets in a display organised by the New Zealand Warbirds Association. The association’s motto of ‘Keep ’em Flying’ meant that these rarely seen aircraft kept the crowd entertained in the air along with displays on the ground. These latter displays included many classic sports and racing cars or models, including those representing the various cars that over the years competed at Ardmore in the NZIGP on a circuit using Ardmore’s runways and link roads. Spokesperson for the New Zealand Warbirds Association Mike Wood was delighted with the success of the parade. “The Warbirds Association Open Days have been running for…

Every week, we upload new content onto our New Zealand Classic Car magazine website from our 33 years of article archives. Some uploads of the past few weeks include: Free to read online Enjoy some Kiwi and international motor racing art https://classiccar.co.nz/romancing-the-automobile-and-motor-racing-in-art/ Free to read online Rare and valuable Mazda goes straight on show after a restoration https://classiccar.co.nz/rare-rotaries-gather-in-the-south-2/ Free to read online The TVR Tasmin: lightweight and powerful wind-in-your-hair motoring https://classiccar.co.nz/tvr-tasmin-proper-wedge/ Free to read online Restored 17 years ago, this Holden Monaro still delivers for its owners https://classiccar.co.nz/southern-comfort/…

The Toyota Corona Amon Sport was one of the first mainstream Japanese cars with a fuel-injected engine, and it was an upmarket model in its day. My car is likely to have been assembled in Thames. It is a sedan with a manual gearbox and manual window winders. My car has had only two owners during its life, because it was a company car for the first four years. I bought it second-hand in December 1992, with around 90,000km on the clock, from Jones Motors in Pahiatua. I do not have a record of the purchase price but from memory it was around $12K to $14K and fairly expensive at the time. But I have certainly had value for money. The car has now done just under 250,000km, and it…

Send your letters to editor@classiccar.co.nz We recently received this letter from a member of the Aussie Invader Team, Mark Read. Mark is the author of a book about the racing career of the team’s Rosco McGlashan, who raced at Mermere Drag Strip and Mark has recorded Rosco’s comments below. (The book, ‘Rosco, The Fastest Aussie on Earth’ will be reviewed in the next New Zealand Classic Car, issue 394 -Ed The ‘History of Meremere Dragway in New Zealand Part 2’ reminded me of the fantastic people I have met in drag racing, going back to the early 1970s and the three or four trips we made across the ditch with Wally Pushkey and his V8 motorbike ‘Krazy Horse’, and a brilliant team of Queensland mates. I still smile when I…

As a fitting celebration of 25 years of endurance competition, Corvette Racing came back from two laps down to snatch a stunning victory in the Le Mans Grand Touring (LMGT) division of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most prestigious and challenging endurance races in the world, yet it took Corvette Racing only two years to achieve on-track success, winning the same class in 2001 by an impressive 34 laps ahead of its closest competitor in its standout blue C5-R race car. Earlier that year, Corvette Racing won the 24 Hours of Daytona, even out-performing the prototypes for an impressive overall race victory. Since its historic first victory, Corvette Racing has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans…

“I was entranced by this emerging culture, and it hooked me and my mates in a vice-like grip. It could be summed up as American popular culture once again conquering our mind, body, and souls” Drag racing and hot rodding do not spin everyone’s crank, that’s a given. But in the early ’70s, particularly around Auckland and possibly Christchurch, a fascination for hot rods and quarter-mile racing burst out of the woodwork. I was entranced by this emerging culture, and it hooked me and my mates in a vice-like grip. It could be summed up as American popular culture once again conquering our mind, body, and souls. There was a lot to like at the time. The staid English script that had underwritten our youth was looking particularly fossil-like. We…

Half a century ago, the stylish Fiat 850 Sport Coupé was the way to go for canny buyers seeking a car that was out of the ordinary and didn’t cost a fortune. Yet, all these years later, boasting handsome lines that have hardly dated, the little Italian is difficult to find. Torino Motors, the New Zealand Fiat concessionaire at the time, imported the two-door fastback fully built-up and also assembled the Coupé locally over its eight-year model life, yet you will still struggle to find an example for sale. The Car Jam website counts only 14 in its system. The North Island–based Fiat Owners Club of New Zealand has only three members with Fiat 850 Coupés in the North Island and a recent internet search failed to find even one…

Essentially a sporting variant of the regular 190E saloon, it was built for Mercedes-Benz to contest the World Rally Championship (WRC). Well, that was until Audi blindsided everyone with its AWD Quattro, which laid waste to the competition. Mercedes changed tactics and instead entered the 2.3-16 in the German touring car series, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), where it was immensely successful. HOMOLOGATION SPECIAL As the 2.3-16 was a Group A homologation special, it was required that Mercedes-Benz produce 5000 road-going variants, something which the German manufacturer easily surpassed, with close to 20,000 produced by the end of production. These comprised the 2.3-16, launched at the 1983 Frankfurt motor show, and its replacement, the 2.5-16. There is a common myth that the 2.5-16 was developed with Cosworth engineering, but, according to…

Twizel’s seventh Show and Shine Car Show attracted around 330 cars and was an excellent show. “I love it when all these amazing vehicles roll into town,” said show organiser Peter Docherty. Son David arrived from the UK to help. He owns a sign-writing business in the UK called ‘The Sign Post’ and designed the show’s artwork, T-shirts, banners, certificates, stickers, and plaques. The eye-catching attractions on show ranged from Paola Euglietta’s ’79 rat rod–look Mini Deluxe, to a stately ’31 Studebaker President Model 90 and a stunning red ’56 Mk1 Zephyr Consul Six, featuring on its bonnet the January 1997 issue of New Zealand Classic Car with this very car on the cover. The judges’ winner overall, taking out Best in Show as well as Best Engine Bay, was…

Marlborough is in something of a drought, but it provided perfect weather for the Marlborough Hospice Vehicle Show on 17 March. The Waterlea Racecourse in Blenheim was once again jam-packed with cars of all ages, shapes, and sizes. From Graeme Wiblin’s 1909 Schacht through to the latest Suzuki Jimny, there was something for everyone. There also was a selection of old clinker boats, and motorcycles. The Mini was the theme and the show featured a display of these icons of British motoring, including BMW versions. Rarities included a ute, a woody wagon and a rare South African Wolseley Mini. Grandpa Simpson was there selling his many model cars. Once again, a generous donation from this event was given to Hospice Marlborough.…

Trust committee chairperson Jeremy Smith said that the atmosphere was “absolutely amazing” as thousands flocked to Napier over four days from 15 February, enjoying warm weather with a chance to dress up in period and kick up their heels. The city’s Art Deco golden period was from 1919 to 1939, and the festival was a welcome opportunity to celebrate and help preserve an iconic city style. A serious earthquake in 1931 damaged much of the city, with the loss of 256 lives. The festival helps towards the preservation of the city’s iconic structures. An estimated 320 cars and their well-dressed occupants joined the festival parade. Vintage Car Club members David and Christine Mehrtens left their 1924 DI model Delage in Dunedin this year, but are seriously planning how they will…