Innehållsförteckning för August 2024 från NZ Hot Rod

Celebrating Twenty Years IN the middle of 2004, out of the blue, Rob Campbell approached us about buying the magazine, and we did. Our first magazine we published was in August 2004, and it was NZHRM's first that was produced digitally and in full colour. Twenty years have passed since then, and it's gone quickly. In that time, we have never missed a deadline, and my heartfelt thanks go to Liz, Glenn O'Connor, our Art Director for the entire 20 years, our team of freelance correspondents, all our loyal and advertisers and readers. Here are a few milestones we've marked along the road. We survived the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) that started in mid-2007 and was officially over by June 2009. However, it took until 2016 for median household incomes…

THE first thing that hits you when you lay your eyes on this 1932 Ford is to try and imagine the power-to-weight ratio of this combination. That thought is generated by a bare-bones ‘32 Tudor powered by a blown 354” Chrysler Hemi. Chris Gallagher is a true hot rodder, meaning that what he owns has to run well. And he owns quite a few. The last count being 14, and almost the same number of projects are currently in the build process. Of course, every one of them is his favourite. Some have special names or meanings to their name; this one is known as Thunderstruck. I will explain later. Blenheim-based Ray Fenton owned a stock-as-you-can-get 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan and had it for sale at the 2006 Kumeu Swap…

I GOT some feedback from Taf Mathie's flashback photos in the March mag. In particular, the ‘34 Coupe with the front fenders reversed and brazed to the rear of the body. Taf's photo was taken around 1966. The ‘34 was known as Atom Ant. It was designed and built, and we use the term loosely by a Christchurch mechanic named Barry Lee. The body was channelled so deep Barry had to remount the firewall upside down just to clear the original pedals. The rear of the body was cut off one inch behind the rear of the roof, and six inches cut off the entire bottom of the car. Replacing the rear sheetmetal was a trunk-shaped piece of folded sheetmetal (covering a gas tank) between the two reversed front fenders.…

HAVING been to many Goodguys events in the past, to be honest, the Fort Worth LMC truck-sponsored Spring Lone Star Nationals show in April was a little underwhelming. Based in the infield of the impressive Texas Motor Speedway, participant numbers were way down this year. The event had been rescheduled to coincide with the huge Pate Swapmeet (the 2nd largest swap in the country, behind Hershey), which created a conflict of interest for many, and with hurricane season approaching, the weather was foreboding. As it turned out, there was only one brief inclement patch, but when you have so many choices of events at your fingertips, I guess it is easy to waive one, knowing that something else will be run the following weekend. That said, there were definitely some…

JIMMY Murdoch always wanted a 1940 Ford Pickup. Ideally, one that went around corners and then come to a stop way better than a stock ‘40 Pickup and one that wouldn't owe him an arm and a leg. If you are like-minded, read on, as this is a lesson on achieving exactly that. This build didn't start with a 1940 Ford Pickup which is why the title of this story is such. It began with a cab that was not from a 1940 pickup. Jimmy purchased a threeton 1938 Barrelnose truck cab from Taranaki-based Keth Shotter, who'd imported it from Australia. The cab came with doors and was relatively rust-free. What makes it distinctive is the doors have quarterlights and it has a large rear window compared to a stock…

IN May 2007, John had a 1955 Ford F100 Pickup Cab imported from the USA. Soon after, he imported a stock ‘55 F100 chassis, which came with the required paperwork and title to create and build a road-going Pickup. What we have here is a complete build of a brand new (with old body parts) ‘55 Ford F100, which became fully registered and certified upon completion in January 2011. The chassis was sandblasted and then painted, and to follow was all the running gear. The diff is a Ford 9 “with 3.0 gears. The spring eye bushes, king pins and bushes have been replaced, and John lowered the front suspension by removing some spring leaves & repacking them. Next, the rear was lowered by moving the rear/front spring mounts up…

ALTHOUGH still at school in 1973, I'd hang around with local hot rodders like a pesky fly hovering over someone's picnic. One such hot rodder who took pity was Rodger Gregge, a member of the newly formed Garden City Rod & Custom Club, as well as the Track Starter at Ruapuna Drags. At the time, Rodger had a ‘47 Ford coupe and a ‘47 Ford sedan, both Flathead powered. One day, he took me ‘round a few Christchurch rodders’ places in the coupe. He was very patient with me and my dumb-ass questions, like how fast could the coupe go and could it do skids, and knowing that he didn't suffer fools, I could sense him gritting his teeth like he was chewing on a chair leg. But at the…

Missed me HI TEAM, I'm not sure why we weren't included in your fastest Kiwis list, but as you can see (from the attached run result - Ed), we did a 205mph pass on Feb 18th this year. Could you correct this in your next edition, please? Cheers, Graham Carter. Hi Graham, thanks for the update and yes, we'll include you in our next list. Please send me your courier/post address so I can send you a 200mph hat. Congratulations and welcome to the club. Cheers, Paul. An Honour HI PAUL, I just want to thank you again for the magazine feature. It was a real surprise to see the Model A on the front cover. My children and sister plus two brothers are very impressed with your article. Myself,…

DUNEDIN-BASED Hurricane Rodders turned on a ripper winter rod run over the recent Kings Birthday weekend. It was based in the township of Twizel, the largest town in the heart of the McKenzie Country in the South Island. Picturesque Twizel is close to five lakes and ringed by mountains in every direction. Hurricane Rodders, founded in 1968, has a long history of winter rod runs; some were called “Ice is Nice”, with destinations including Alexandra, Queenstown, Cromwell, Twizel and others. Memories abound of the mid-'70s Alexandra run, particularly the one where both front wheels simultaneously fell off Bill Wright's ‘34 Chev two-door. It was late on Friday night while en route to Alex via the Pig Root road in Central Otago, in the middle of winter with the outside temperature…

LOOKING for something more family-suited, Ian Aitken of Southern Street Rodders sold his beloved ‘38 Ford pickup in the late ‘80s and asked Craig Stare to keep on the lookout for a ‘57 Chevy coupe on his next California visit. After viewing a few project cars and basket cases, with missing trim and holes in the rusty floors, Craig came across a mild-custom ‘57 Bel Air with metalflake paint and a custom grille. It looked like a refugee from the sixties, but it was actually pretty sound. Buy now! It was back in Christchurch around 1990, and Ian and his wife Nikki drove it for a few years. It was quite comfy, with later model front seats that came with the car. Ian knew he was gonna go thru’ the…

THERE is no doubt that hot rodding is a subjective matter. The variety and diversity of this hobby really mean that no one is right or wrong with what they build, which is the beauty of it all. Whether it is a pro shop or a home builder, as we hone our craft, it is then when we zero in on a particular style or genre we enjoy the most. Some shops or builders have their own style or traits, and it is those with vision from the start who can pull off a pleasing result no matter the style chosen. A lot of the time, many people kind of know what they want but don't understand what it takes to achieve that end goal and that's okay. The 1932…

WHILE researching early hot rodding in New Zealand, it quickly became apparent that for many decades there has been very little in the way of printed history on rodding from Wellington and the surrounding areas. Many years ago, I stumbled upon long-time racing enthusiast Peter Bennett. He sent me a CD with a wealth of pics of early sixties Wellington hot rods. At this stage, we had some great pics but very little information and found it very hard to unearth a lot about the first hot rod club in Wellington: “The Charioteers”. Recently, the photos surfaced from NZHRM's archives “begging” to be published, and I became determined to make it happen. I quickly learned that many of these early rodders had now passed on. Two of these lads who…

Retirement Rodding AT the end of May, Mark & Greg Stokes were invited to display some vehicles at a wee car show at the Logan Campbell Retirement Village. The connection was that Hayden Bennett, the second owner of the original Morrari is a resident there. Between Mark & Greg, they turned up with the Starliner towing the Morrari, Tania Foster's 36 and, of course, the Cop Shop Coupe. For a few hours on that Friday, residents and their respective families were treated to a flashback in automotive times and you could see the enjoyment on their faces. Since then, we have heard of many similar things happening throughout the country with rodders doing similar displays and or rides. It is one way of giving back to our elders, but it…

AS part of Hot Rod Publishing's 20-year celebration, we present NZHRM's Most Significant Kiwi Deuce 5-Window Coupes. We've done it “just because we can”, and to assist us, we've assembled a panel of guest judges who are well known for their experience, good taste and opinion. They've chosen their favourites in each category, and here are the winners: Chopped ‘n channelled Resto Rods Racing Rods Highboys Off the Record The Best in America And just out of interest, we note that a scant five 1932 Ford 5-window coupes made the list of “America's 75 Most Significant ‘32 Ford Hot Rods”, and they are: We'd like to unofficially top that list up with three more, just because we can:…

MEGUIAR'S MotorEx is Australia's largest and most prestigious car show, featuring over 400 vehicles worth over $40 million. It showcases the best custom and modified cars in a stunning display of colour, chrome, creativity and style. It's a top show that's not to be missed!…

FOR as long as most people have ever known Greig Covell, he has only had one arm but has achieved more than a lot of people in the hot rod world than guys with two arms. My ears pricked up many years ago at a Bay Park drag meeting when this guy with one arm was explaining to someone how he built the headers on his 100E van with the welding wire held in his mouth and gas torch in the only hand. The hood was up, and a quick look at the neat welds certainly gave me the impression that this guy was obviously a mix of a contortionist, an acrobat, and a person with a lot of patience, but more importantly, he wasn't having a disability get in…

IN late 2012, Te Kuiti Rod & Custom Club member John Fitzwater was on the lookout for a hot rod to purchase. While searching various American websites, he found a 1935 3-window Coupe for sale on eBay. The car's builder and owner, Jessie Spry, was based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and had listed his ‘35 Ford 3-window Coupe for sale. After an exchange of photos and a few phone calls, the purchase was made. Steve Curle at Kiwi Shipping arranged the shipping, and when it arrived in New Zealand, the Coupe was exactly as Jessie had described it. “Perfect” was how John described it on seeing it for the first time when it landed in the Port of Tauranga on the 9th of November 2012. Once it was cleared of…

JOHN'S good friend Charles Kean spotted this 1955 Ford F100 in a sorry state in San Francisco, USA, in 2012. It was still at the original owner's house, whose Christian name was “Henry”, so this F100 is affectionately named after him. Henry had plans to replace the original Y-block with a big block Ford mill, and his grandson would assist him in the repower. Sadly, before it was done, Henry passed away from cancer, and his wife locked the F100 in the shed where it sat for 33 years; her grandson wasn't allowed to enter the shed again after Henry passed away. Eventually, Henry's widow had to move into a Retirement Home, so the F100 was put outside so the house & shed could be rented out. It was then…