As I pull up the drive of the Dawber family property it is not long before my eye is caught by the late afternoon sun glinting on the chrome work of an unfamiliar car slowly being enveloped by grass and moss. The chrome parts I can see are set off by a patchwork quilt of [...]
Ford Escort RS1800 Mk II, chassis #BBATTJ 69903, was completed at Ford Motorsports, Boreham, UK as a works rally car and registered on February 1, 1977 as STW130R. Built, in effect, to RAC Rally specifications, the Escort’s first works drive would be at the Rally de Portugal in March 1977, with Swedish rally ace Björn [...]
The P1800 story really began in 1953, when Assar Gabrielsson of Volvo was shown around Chevrolet’s Michigan factory. At that time, Chevrolet had only just set up for the all-new Corvette. Gabrielsson was so intrigued by the Corvette’s fibreglass body that he also visited Glasspar, a fibreglass specialist based in California. While Volvo were probably [...]
In spite of the rain that day, thousands lined Queen Street to welcome the Royal couple as they drove by to the civic reception at the Auckland Town Hall. The car in which they travelled was one of six Royal Daimlers purchased specially for a royal tour – but not this royal tour. In March [...]
I have always been a bit of a petrolhead. Even while growing up in a small rural town, trucks caught my attention every time they passed by. My parents were also into cars, and anything with a bit of noise that appeared to have a good turn of speed attracted my interest. All that interest [...]
Any reference to Lotus automatically conjures up the name of Colin Chapman, the Englishman who founded his car manufacturing company along with Colin Dare in 1952. Under Chapman’s direction Lotus won seven Formula One titles, six drivers championships and an Indy 500. However, for a period in New Zealand in the early and middle 1960s [...]
Those with long memories will recall that the Escort badge first appeared on a Ford Prefect ‘estate car’ in the late 1950s. The adventurously-styled Anglia replaced the Prefect in 1959 and it, in turn, was replaced in 1968 by the new Escort, a new standard in the small car market. Launched at the Brussels Motor [...]
I was stumbling around in the ruins of a castle deep in the Pennines in northern England when my reveries of knights in armour were interrupted by the sound of a dog barking. So few people ring me these days that it took a moment or two for me to realise it was my ringtone [...]
The popularity of these types of vehicles increased as social norms changed, with bigger families, slowly increasing family incomes, and improved roads encouraging travel. We saw thousands of wagons in town and country, weekdays and weekends. They were in daily use as working vehicles but were especially noticeable at holiday times, loaded to the gunwales [...]
I had gone to see Tim to discuss the upcoming Hawkswood Festival of Speed Sealed Sprint. Tim has not only competed in this epic hillclimb since day one but has also had the pleasure of working on many of his clients’ cars that have competed, and in many cases have achieved the fastest times of [...]