Innehållsförteckning för No 391 January/February 2024 från NZ Classic Car

My first Ford was a 1935 V8 Coupé at the age of 16. It had a completely original black body with apple green pinstripe and apple green wire wheels. It was soon followed by a 1939 V8 Coupé, also in black, but with plenty of extras. I painted down the sides a lovely hand-mixed soft shade of pink. Lorraine, my then girlfriend at the age of 16, made a pink and black skirt and blouse combination to match the ’39 Coupé. Great Sunday afternoon drives out to Little River and beyond. My third V8, a red 1936 V8 Roadster, was a beauty which inspired me to replicate it some 35 years later when I purchased a total wreck in 1982. The second generation Roadster took me 13 years and four…

The unsung Morris Eight was one of the most popular cars sold in New Zealand during the second half of the decade before World War II. Although the classic Austin Seven predated the Morris by 12 years, the Morris Eight made a huge impression on an expanding small car market in the 1930s and was likely inspired by the popular Ford Model Y. While the Austin came with a 747cc four-cylinder engine, the Morris boasted a 918cc power plant and a 2286mm wheelbase compared to the smaller Seven’s 1900mm. Not until 1939 did the arch British rival have a similar size economy model with the 2235mm wheelbase Austin Eight. In the meantime, Morris was racing away in the sales charts. Our family grew up with the Morris brand. Father had…

The story has been well told, in print and the more recent film, of how Bruce McLaren and Teddy Mayer created ‘McLaren’ in a shed with a dirt floor shared with graders, assisted by the team they built of more determined, talented young men, not one of them more than 25. It was the start of something big. Timaru’s Wally Willmott was the first employee, and Mayer’s mate, Tyler Alexander, was a close second. That made Hamiltonian Howden Ganley recruit number three. Howden is the sole survivor of that original band of brothers, which included Eoin Young and Whanganui’s Bruce Harre, followed soon after by the first driver to be signed, none other than a young Chris Amon. So it was only logical that as the dinner plates were gathered,…

I’ll start by saying “back in the good old days”, to get an unregistered car or motorcycle back on the road, it was simply a matter of taking a few details down to your local post office and registering it, paying a small fee, getting some new number plates (if you didn’t have the old ones), and walking out. I did this on many occasions back in the 1960s and 1970s, usually with either Austin Sevens or Morris Eights. One such exercise in the early 1970s involved a 1936 Morris Eight four-door sedan that had been abandoned in the basement of a house in Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore since approximately 1965. I purchased it from the fellow who had bought the house. Once I got it home, a fresh…

We are currently experiencing the largest change in the automotive world since Henry Ford introduced the production line to auto manufacturing. Electric cars are everywhere and new models seem to be released every other week. One of more interesting manufacturers is Rivian, in Illinois. They produce full-size pickup trucks and SUVs and nothing else. The pickup trucks are about the same size as a F150 with a decent sized frunk (front boot), large but not deep tray with spare wheel or additional storage in the floor of the tray. There is also side storage that goes from one side of the truck to the other behind the rear doors. The side storage doors can withstand 180kg – a shade over the weight of even most American pickup owners – standing…

Four New Zealand and five Australian Formula 5000 racing series drivers and their cars descended on Monterey in Northern California to attend the popular event at the hillside circuit near Carmel-By-The-Sea, a town made famous by its onetime mayor, Clint Eastwood. If motor racing is not your main game then the famous Pebble Beach Concours is an alternative, just up the coast. The reunion celebrated 70 years of Chevrolet Corvettes. The New Zealand contingent consisted of Glenn Richards (Lola T40), Tony Galbraith (Lola T332), Tony Roberts (McLaren M10A), and Alastair Chalmers (Chevron B32). Tony Roberts attended in 2014 and 2018. An invitation for last year was also considered but the on-going effects of Covid scuppered the trip. Tony and wife Sue encountered a few surprises this year, cutting the trip…

Attractions Exhibitions, museums and other vehicle-related curios Marlborough OMAKA CLASSIC CARS A unique collection of vehicles giving insight into New Zealand Motoring from the 50s to the 80s. 90 cars on display at any one time. omakaclassiccars.co.nz / 03 577 9419 / Aerodome Rd, Blenheim Coatings Heatproof, cosmetic, chrome, and specialist coatings & water transfer printing Auckland HIGH PERFORMANCE COATINGS Exhaust coatings, piston coatings, turbo coatings, and much more hpcoatings.co.nz / 09 267 1007 / Unit 0/62 Mahia Road, Manurewa, Auckland HP COATINGS New Zealand’s leading performance coating specialists, serving you over 20 years hpcoatings.co.nz / 09 267 1007 / Unit 0/62 Mahia Rd, Manurewa, Auckland Consumables Oils, additives fluids, fuels and workshop consumables Auckland RECHARGE BATTERIES Battery revitalizer and conditioner recharge.net.nz / 0800 36 66 36 / PO Box…

Thanks to Trekka enthusiast Todd Niall, the intriguing tale of this quirky utility vehicle’s singular rise to stardom as New Zealand’s only genuine ‘mass-produced’ car, has been properly told. It’s a story of the founding dynasties of the New Zealand motor industry, political intrigue, and government manoeuvring, recounted in his book The Trekka Dynasty (Iconic Publishing, Auckland). It’s a great read. For decades, overseas funds were really the only way you could legally bring a new car into New Zealand. That’s because after World War II, the government was becoming increasingly jittery over the worsening balance of exports payments and import licensing was restrictive and competitive. Arthur and Noel Turner made a healthy living out of re-building and selling well and truly used cars in Auckland prior to the war.…

It began its life as a member of a fleet of vehicles used on Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Tour of New Zealand in 1963. It featured in ‘Royal Rollers & Fancy Fords’ by John Stokes in issue 385 of New Zealand Classic Car. That story provoked a steady reaction from readers as to the current whereabouts of various royal tour cars. One of them was Canterbury car enthusiast Bert Govan. He read the feature, saw his car in a photograph, and called to say he had this tour car in his garage. A backup car for the royal tour, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III arrived on board the SS Port Nicholson in late November 1962, joining two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, two Austin Princesses, a convertible Ford…

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Archie is a forester who owns a rural property on the edge of Taupo township. Early in his working career, he was a mechanic and he still enjoys working on the old cars he cut his teeth on. A favourite of his was the Volkswagen Beetle because of its simplicity of design and relative ease of repair. While Archie was doing his apprenticeship the beach buggy era was in full swing and Bugs of all shapes and sizes were appearing in just about every motor magazine he picked up. At the time he thought it would be a fun car to build but, as often happens, life continued and the dream of building a beach buggy would remain just that. That is until 2015, almost 50 years after the beach…

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The Southern Classic meeting is on again, once again organised and presented by the Classic Motor Racing Club of New Zealand at Timaru’s Levels Raceway, from 9–11 February 2024. This classic and historic motor race meeting is an annual invitation event for people who enjoy classic racing or simply watching classic cars in action. The 2024 meeting will be the 19th Southern Classic hosted at Levels by CMRC and once again the organisers are looking forward to seeing some exciting cars and racing over the three days. This year’s event features national and international Formula Juniors, Formula Libre racing cars, Vintage & Historics (VCC) together with Pre-78 Classic Saloons, Historic & Vintage Racing Association (HVRA), South Island 2K Cup, Small Saloons, and Large Saloons. The South Canterbury Car Club is…

The Kelly family of Dunedin loves Minis, but there is another car in their garage which dad Mike and son Josh just can’t part with, despite it having topped 324,000km. Until recently their 1987 Holden Commodore Berlina shared its duties as a daily driver for both until replaced by more modern cars, as Josh explains. “It’s an Australian built Holden Commodore which mum and dad bought in 1997. It was sold new in New Zealand but I haven’t been able to find out how it [this Aussie market car] came to be sold new here. Dad has been a Holden mechanic for 50 years and couldn’t find out why, but there it is.” A 1987 VL 3-litre Commodore sedan, the range used two examples of Nissan’s excellent RB series in…

Holden as the designer and manufacturer of the Monaro, HSV who took the Aussie coupé and made it into a sports car, and GM, which supplied the powerplant My family loves trivia. Whether it is the five-minute quiz in the Dominion Post, the 15 questions twice a day on Stuff, watching The Chase or Jeopardy, or playing Trivial Pursuit, we just love the random, the unusual, the historic, and the quirky geography. My poor, long-suffering wife has had to endure many an hour of listening to us haggling over potential answers and random related facts we may have acquired over years of trivia contests. Truth is, she is the smartest of us all and typically knows the answers before all of us. One trivial fact is that the word trivia…

Sonja Ireland took over her first Wayfarer when she was 19 years old. Her father had purchased a mushroom-growing business in Whangaparaoa and the Wayfarer came with the assets. It had been used for taking mushrooms to produce markets and would have kept doing so had Sonja’s dad not bought himself a Holden Kingswood to take on that task. Obviously, he was more of a GM man than a Chrysler fan. It was not long before the cool ute became part of Sonja’s identity. Its Alpine stereo was quite the thing to have back then. WATCHING THE MARKET Some years have now passed since the Wayfarer was sold and she had been keeping an eye on the market for another. “Not seriously searching for one, just keeping an eye on…

The original Porsche Boxster was the right car at the right time. A sports car which harked back to the glory days of two-seat, mid-engine Porsches like the 550 Spyder and 718 RS. Porsche showrooms throughout the world, but particularly Stateside, just couldn’t sell them quick enough. “It sold like hot cakes,” says local Boxster enthusiast Guy Pickering. “The comparisons and design inspiration from the 718 RS and 550 are obvious. It was a shift back to a mid-engine layout like the 911 GT1 racing car, which it shared its headlights with. The 986 is a timeless iconic design, with beautifully balanced 50/50 weight distribution, an amazing chassis, phenomenal Porsche braking system, and a glorious sounding flat-six engine. What’s not to love?” he says. He has to ask because some…

Steven Chappell has been tinkering with engines for as long as he has been able to hold tools. He is an aircraft engineer who served his time with British Airways. New Zealand was just supposed to be a stopover on his big OE but to date, he has not got around to leaving. On arrival, he managed to earn some spending money working on motorbikes but with the skills he had, it was not long before he got a job working for Air New Zealand. His first love has always been motorbikes and he has built many racing bikes over the years. In more recent times he has migrated to cars because “it just seemed a good idea at the time”. Along with this came a discovery of this country’s…

The Roscoes Rewinds & Repairs Autospectacular Dunedin also celebrated 60 years of Honda cars along with the Corvette anniversary. The current Lego craze was evident with displays of Lego vehicles in the Kids Toy Spectacular, and there was an old-school treat, a ’40s, ’50s, ’60s Pinup Pageant, plus some great crafts and trades stands. Always well supported by exhibitors and the viewing public, organisers Otago Classic Motoring Club and Otago Ford Falcon and Fairlane Club produced another great show. No surprises that the Best in Show and People’s Choice awards went to Mike and Kerri Ramsay’s outstanding Ford pickup. Many reputable restorers from Ashburton to Otago contributed to the overall result. Committee member Ashley Boorer commented: “Yep, even one of our old club members, Brendan Patrick, who has Tinwald Canvas…

CHECK NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC CAR’S NEW WEBSITE CLASSICCAR.CO.NZ 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 One of the best developed and engineered cars from the British Motor Corporation, the Austin 3-litre saloon deserved better sales and a more appreciative legacy. https://classiccar.co.nz/working-class-austins-upper-class-contender/ Free to read online Living the American Dream The search for an Airstream caravan led a Kiwi to a trio of American classics which ended up surpassing his Airstream dream.  https://classiccar.co.nz/living-the-american-dream-2/ Free to read online On the road with a GT40 For a time, NZ had a genuine GT40 on its shores. Donn Anderson got to take it for a spin with motoring…