This is a tale I’ve told before, but I like it so here it is again. As a young lad growing up in the 1960s, the first time I ever came across the Zagato name was when I read Ian Fleming’s book On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. In that book, the Bond girl who would [...]
Many of us have owned the same classic car twice in our lifetime. Some of us have regretted going back as our rose-tinted memories can mislead us as to how good that first experience actually was. I am guilty of this and must say that twice I have re-purchased a past vehicle and both times [...]
So positive was the reaction that a committee was formed, and negotiations began to secure local body support and obtain a track licence. The key to its success was the involvement of four key motorsports people, already known within motor racing circles, who had the event experience to put this together. They then established a [...]
Fahey’s RS2600 had proven its capabilities against the American muscle cars throughout the 1974 season but lacked the power of the big V8s. Although a Cosworth GAA at 328kW (440bhp) was still at least 75kW down on the best local V8s, as a package weighing less than a ton the Capri possessed a huge weight [...]
I first met Warwick Mortimer in October 2003 while supervising a photoshoot at Sylvia Park in Mt Wellington. At that time 16 years ago, the maze of ex-Army storage buildings (built on the site during the 1940s) were earmarked for demolition, with work on the present-day shopping mall due to begin a few months after [...]
Fulvio Bacchelli driving a Fiat Abath 131 won the 1977 Rally of New Zealand, but considerable attention went on the Finnish driver Ari Vatanen who took part in a Ford Escort RS1800. Vatanen finished second after having dropped from first place on day one to 32nd following an off-road excursion. Vatanen, who was to become [...]
Auckland, New Zealand in the late 1940s/early ’50s was an international backwater, still suffering from the deprivation and restrictions of the post-war retrenchment. In hindsight it was a rather colourless era. The importation of goods was tightly controlled, and quite corrupt, with some officials often taking ‘favours’ from those wanting to bend the rules. Behind [...]
As Ferrari owners, Jo and John’s trip to Italy in 2015 wouldn’t have been complete without visiting Maranello to tour the factory, spend time and money in the factory shop and see where Enzo Ferrari used to dine in the famous Cavallino Restaurant. The couple expected a ‘normal’ town that happened to be the location [...]
You may remember the British car brand Austin. Up in smoke along with most of the rest of the British motor industry due to doing just about everything wrong that was humanly possible to do wrong. “Orstin of England” latterly produced dull but honest family transport, and the popular image of an Austin owner would [...]
Gavin Bain was only 14 when his father took him to see the start of a VCC rally in front of the Canterbury Museum on Rolleston Avenue. He vividly remembers seeing the cars lined up in front of the impressive gothic revival building. “I thought, crikey I wouldn’t mind something like that!” The thought, however, [...]