Preview: New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 314

C E L E B R AT I N G 5 0 Y E A R S O F K I W I R A L LY I N G NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC CAR FEBRUARY 2017 ISSUE 314 PACKARD FOUR HUNDRED / OXFORD CARAVAN • BMW 2002 • 50 YEARS OF RALLYING IN NEW ZEALAND

c i s r s e a m l c sum

o b m o C PACKARD

FOUR HUNDRED OXFORD CARAVAN

ISSUE 314 $9.99 INCL. GST FEBRUARY 2017

themotorhood.com

BMW

2002

FIRST NZ INTERNATIONAL RALLY WINNER

AN ENCHANTING AUDIO JOURNEY

ENGINE MUSIC

ELLERSLIE CLASSIC CAR SHOW 2017 PREVIEW | BMW Z3’S PROMISE FULFILLED

CONTENTS

314 FEBRUARY 2017

6 FEATURE CARS

6 CLASSIC SUMMER COMBO

1955 PACKARD FOUR HUNDRED / 1970 OXFORD CARAVAN

16 THE TIME MACHINE

1970 BMW 2002

26 50 YEARS OF RALLYING IN NZ

WE TAKE A LOOK AT FIVE DECADES OF LOCAL RALLYING

56 THE SOUND OF (ENGINE) MUSIC

MEMORIES OF TRACKSIDE ENGINE SYMPHONIES

SPECIAL FEATURE

70 NANO COATING

THE ULTIMATE IN PAINT PROTECTION

70 56 2

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CONTENTS

314 FEBRUARY 2017

COLUMNS

40 MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK 46 KITS AND PIECES 50 MOTORMAN 66 INTERNATIONAL MARKET REPORT 68 LOCAL MARKET REPORT 90 PRICE ON

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK — SEARCH ‘NZ CLASSIC CAR ’

EVENTS

78 EUROMARQUE BELLE ITALIANE 2016 80 BAY OF PLENTY VINTAGE CAR CLUB ANNUAL SWAP MEET AND CAR SHOW 82 SILVER FERN RALLY 83 KAITANGATA SHOW AND RUN 84 PARKSIDE MEDIA CLASSIC

CHRISTMAS PICNIC 85 BAY OF PLENTY MUSTANG OWNERS CLUB ALL USA DAY CAR SHOW 86 MOPARS IN CROMWELL

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66 REGULARS

34 READERS’ WRITES 36 ONLINE THIS MONTH 38 SUBSCRIBE AND WIN 74 NATIONWIDE NEWS 88 EVENTS DIARY 92 BEHIND THE GARAGE DOOR 94 CLUB CORNER 96 QUICK QUIZ / CROSSWORD 98 AUTOMOBILIA 102 SELL YOUR CLASSIC 103 EDITOR’S PICK 104 CLASSIC CARS FOR SALE 110 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 112 NEXT MONTH 4

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FEATURE

1970 Oxford caravan and 1955 Packard Four Hundred

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New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

CLASSIC SUMMER COMBO—

N O T H I N G S AY S K I W I H O L I D AY L I K E A C A R AVA N — A N D W H AT B E T T E R W AY TO PULL ONE THAN WITH A CLASSIC AMERICAN CRUISER? Words: Kevin Shaw, Ashley Webb Photos: Adam Croy

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t’s summer, and all across the country, there are queues of traffic crawling out of our cities and towns as holidaymakers head off to their favourite camping destinations, vehicles and caravans packed to the gunwales. Along with mismatched plastic plates and cups and the upturned tinny on the roof, this all used to be as much a part of our holiday experience as a dripping Jelly Tip, black ironsand, and a smoky BBQ. Let’s face it — whether we care to acknowledge it or not, the humble caravan is just as deeply entrenched into the Kiwi holiday psyche as the humble bach, despite the fact that, for many, this way of life has been in rapid decline over the past few decades thanks to the growing trend towards motorhomes. Indeed, in recent times, the caravan versus motorhome discussion has become a hotly debated issue, partly fuelled by the recent revival and growing popularity of retro-style caravans — a trend that has seen a resurgence of beautifully restored caravans from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s appear all over the country.

One such is Paula and Craig Jamieson’s featured 1970 Oxford caravan ‘Memphis Belle’, which they tow behind their equally impressive 1955 Packard Four Hundred. themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

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FEATURE 1970 BMW 2002

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BMW 2002

LACHLAN SPENT SOME TIME WITH NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST I N T E R N AT I O N A L R A L LY W I N N E R , PAU L A DA M S , A N D H I S BMW 2002 TO REMEMBER THE JOURNEY THIS WEE BIMMER TOOK TO BE BACK WITH ITS RIGHTFUL OWNER Words: Lachlan Jones Photos: Adam Croy

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FEATURE

50 years of rallying in New Zealand

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50 YEARS OF RALLYING IN

NEW ZEALAND FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS — WE TA K E A LO O K AT F I V E D E C A D E S O F L O C A L R A L LY I N G Words: Paul Smith / John Coker Photos: Paul Smith Collection

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allying in New Zealand is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. Over the last five decades, it has seen a driver — Hayden Paddon — win a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), and several other drivers win international events and championships beyond our shores.

But the sport had much more humble beginnings. Apart from motor racing, the early days of New Zealand’s motor sport scene consisted of car trials and timed events designed to keep to the legal speed limits. Then, in the late ’60s, the influence of European ‘special-stage rallying’ (rallying on closed roads on which drivers could go as fast as possible) started to take over.

New Zealanders took to this new form of motor sport like ducks to water. Our smooth, flowing gravel public roads, and the abundance of well-maintained Government forest roads, saw the early days of rallying quickly build to events that attracted up to 135 starters.

Inaugural event The first New Zealand event on record, based on international

speed-timing principles, was the 1966 Rally of the Pines, organized by the Hamilton Car Club. It is reported to have taken place near Taupo, the scene of many early car trials. The Auckland Car Club also organized a similar type of speed event, in August 1966, called the ‘Midnight Madness Rally’. It ran through the night-time, using back roads between Port Waikato and Huntly. Blair Robson won this event in a Mini.

The following year, on May 21, 1967, the Hamilton Car Club organized the Rally of the Pines event again, held in the forests north of Taupo. The emphasis was now more on driving, with the 41 entrants able to experience speed and conditions they would not normally encounter on public roads. Drivers in these early events made use of little more than road-going cars. The 1967 event was won by Bill Purvis, in, of all things, a Ford-engined Morris Minor 1000.

Drivers voted the event a resounding success, and word soon spread about this new test of man and machine.

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MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK

Words and photos: Michael Clark

Left: Bandini in the winning Ferrari P4 leading the thirdplaced Ferrari P4 Right: Henry Segrave poses with the Golden Arrow on Daytona Beach

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DAYTONA BEACH IN FEBRUARY D AY T O N A B E A C H — I T E V E N S O U N D S E V O C AT I V E

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he unusually hard, compacted sand and wide beach at Daytona had been noted, and, as early as 1902, it was being used for car and bike races — but it was land-speed record attempts that really captured the public’s attention at the turn of last century. Not only was the beach wide, it was long — some 37km — and, in 1904, William K Vanderbilt set an unofficial record of 92.307mph (148.554kph) there.

This didn’t escape the notice of British speed pioneers Sir Henry Segrave and Sir Malcolm Campbell, and, in March 1927, at Daytona, the former set a new world record in his 1000 HP Sunbeam at 203.80mph (327.97kph), becoming the first to crack 200mph. Two years later, aboard the magnificent Golden Arrow, the American-born Irishman was back at Daytona, where he nudged the record to 231.45mph, or 372.48kph.

Campbell broke five land-speed records at Daytona but, by the early 1930s, had concluded that the surface was not as smooth as the Salt Flats of Bonneville,

and he took his Bluebird off to Utah. In September 1935, he set his final speed record there, becoming the first man to exceed 300mph, averaging 301.345mph (484.955kph) for the two passes.

Daytona might have been done for record attempts, but city officials, anxious not lose their main claim to fame and to keep the restaurants and hotels busy during the off season, organized races on a 3.2-kilometre (5.1-mile) track in 1936.

A year earlier, a young aspiring racer had moved his family to Daytona from Washington DC to escape the Great Depression. He was nearly penniless, but Bill France was a hard worker and already using his entrepreneurial skills to fund his racing. The races were primarily for street-legal sedans, and France was prominent until he realized that his future was as a promoter. After the war, crowds had grown to the point that it had become obvious that a permanent track was needed, and, in 1953, he announced plans not just for a mere circuit but a superspeedway. themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

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NEXT MONTH 315th issue and past issues

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he judging is complete, the results are finalized, and the country’s largest and most prestigious classic car event — The 44th Ellerslie Classic Car Show — is over for another year.

We take a look at this year’s winners.

MOTORMAN — After driving both the MG F and MG TF on British and New Zealand roads, Donn Anderson explains why the last of the real MGs should not be dismissed.

KITS AND PIECES — Built by the book: Patrick Harlow takes a look at the Haines roadster.

20 YEARS AGO

10 YEARS AGO

FIVE YEARS AGO

Fabulous ’58 Ford

Road racers — Lotus

Formula Junior racing in New Zealand

February 1997

February 2007

TO PURCHASE BACK ISSUES ONLINE, GO TO: Photo ID: Packard — 1. 1940 Super 8 woody wagon 2. 1949 Super 8 3. 1947 Super Clipper four-door sedan 4. 1952 Pan American 5. 1953 Caribbean 6. 1958 Hawk 7. 1954 Panther 8. 1958 sedan

February 2012