I first met Tom Hooker on one of my trips to Indianapolis to attend the Indy 500. At that time Tom was running his successful engine-building business in the industrial area called Gasoline Alley, but he was originally from Whanganui. I noticed a sticker on his motorbike – McLaren Old Boys – and we were [...]
Rod’s uncle worked for the Holden and Chevrolet agent in Stratford and he bought a brand new colonial cream and black 1957 Chevrolet to show Rod’s father. It made a huge impression on the 8-year-old boy who told his sceptical father that one day he would own one. Fast-forward to 1973 and Rod acquired his [...]
Chrysler Australia first introduced the Valiant nameplate with the first generation, R Series, cars in 1962. These early cars were simply rebadged, locally assembled US Plymouth Valiants. And, while V8 engines were the dominant factor for most US muscle cars of the era – not to mention Ford Australia’s iconic GT-HO Falcon – in Australia, [...]
Hidden deep within any of local tier one meetings, the long-standing Gold Star Clubsport Championship and the even longer running Motorkhana Championship remain on the New Zealand calendar. It is the very entry level of the sport and, along with beginner’s karting, provides a wonderful baptism to motorsport without the risk of over spending. The [...]
I offer no apologies for my love of side-valve Ford V8s. They were the first serious car I had anything to do with and I delved into the oily mysteries of them with dumb enthusiasm. It was a mate who bought the first that I had anything to do with. It was a ‘38 De [...]
It started in 1979 when Graham bought a Ford F1 ‘Bonus’ pickup truck in original condition, and with a coat of greenish-grey paint that Graham never liked. It stayed that way for many years until he decided to give it a tidy-up. As so often happens, one thing led to another and his wife, Eileen, [...]
Nick Smith is an Otago-ite to the core — proud of his heritage, proud of the bond that goes with a business handshake. He is of the Smith family that owns the Otago Daily Times, and a number of other successful media outlets. A love of cars runs in the family — his brother, Sir [...]
The current almost computer-controlled Formula One races, plus the attendant casts of thousands, is a far cry from the sport I started watching in the late ’50s. It seems hard to remember the heroes of yesteryear with their almost primitive team set-ups being as successful as they were when compared to the complexity of today’s [...]
Born in Coventry to a family already steeped in that city’s automotive industry, it was perhaps inevitable that Morley Faulkner would also end up working within that same industry. Morley’s grandfather, Bill Smith, worked alongside William Lyons building Swallow side-cars in Blackpool and would also be involved with the cars that would later be regarded [...]
I recently came across a photograph taken at Siverstone in the UK, probably in late 1959 or early 1960. It appears to have been shot just seconds before the start, but look where the ‘officials’ are standing! They are both to the side and the rear of the field. I can spot four Mk2 Jaguars, [...]