Preview: New Zealand Classic Car issue No. 322

NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC CAR OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE 322

MUSCLE GARAGE

S TA R T S S U N D AY, 1 5 O C T O B E R O N

HOLDEN HQ KINGSWOOD STATION WAGON • RILEY RMB • AUDI RS AVANT ORIGINS

ISSUE 322 $9.99 INCL. GST OCTOBER 2017

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BEATRI C E' S AUTOBAHN GISBORNE STORMER STOCKSCONTIMAKEOVER OUR TIKI TOUR NUES...

SOUND THUNDER M5 MODERNRILEY CLASSIC SOUND OF THUNDER POST-WAR •• PATAGONIA SPIRITUAL JOURNEY ORIGINS POST-WAR RILEY PATAGONIA SPIRITUAL JOURNEY •• AUDI AUDI RSRSOFAVANT AVANT ORIGINS

4 4 AUSSIE BATTLER

1974 HOLDEN HQ KINGSWOOD STATION WAGON

16 CLASS, STYLE, AND SOPHISTICATION

1948 RILEY RMB

26 A PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

A TRIP FROM BUENOS AIRES TO USHUAIA, ARGENTINA

60 ORIGINS OF THE AUDI RS

WE CHECK OUT THE AUDI RS2, RS4, AND RS6

72 BRISTOL FASHION

A NEW ERA OF EXCELLENCE

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New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

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CONTENTS

322

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OCTOBER 2017

COLUMNS

40 MOTORMAN 46 KITS AND PIECES 52 MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK 78 LOCAL MARKET REPORT 92 PRICE ON

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK — SEARCH ‘NZ CLASSIC CAR ’

EVENTS 82 86 88

CATLINS COAST RALLY 2017 HISTORIC MUSCLE CARS UPDATE NELSON’S HENRY FORD DAY

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52 88 86

REGULARS

36 READERS’ WRITES 38 ONLINE THIS MONTH 58 SUBSCRIBE AND WIN 80 NEWS 90 EVENTS DIARY 94 BEHIND THE GARAGE DOOR 96 CLUB CORNER 98 AUTOMOBILIA 100 QUICK QUIZ / CROSSWORD 102 SELL YOUR CLASSIC 103 EDITOR’S PICK 104 CLASSIC CARS FOR SALE 110 LOCAL SPECIALISTS 112 NEXT MONTH

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FEATURE

1974 HQ Holden Kingswood station wagon

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New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

THE TRUST Y HQ HOLDEN HAS LONG BEEN AN AUSTR AL ASIAN MOTORING ICON, BUT AS PRICES OF NICE EX AMPLES CONTINUE TO SOAR, SO DOES THE DESIRE TO OWN ONE Words: Ashley Webb Photos: Adam Croy

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FEATURE 1948 Riley RMB

16 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

Opulence

T E R R Y C H E C K S O U T A S L E E K P O S T- WA R C L A S S I C T H AT E X U D E S C L A S S , S T Y L E , A N D S O P H I S T I C AT I O N Words: Terry Cobham Photos: Bob Reed

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FEATURE Patagonia road trip

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PATAGONIA

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AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL MINISTRO PISTARINI

A PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE WORLD Words and photos: Rob Mumford

KIWIS ROB MUMFORD AND AARON K DRIVE A CLASSIC V8 MUSCLE CAR FROM BUENOS AIRES TO USHUAIA, THE WORLD’S SOUTHERNMOST CITY, ON ARGENTINA’S NATIONAL ROUTE 3, FOR A PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL JOURNEY VIA THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND PEOPLE OF PATAGONIA. HERE, THEY SHARE THEIR STORY FROM THE VERY START — TAKE IT AWAY, ROB

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MOTORMAN

Words and photos: Donn Anderson

THE CASE FOR THE

CL A SSIC M INI W H AT I S I T A B O U T C L A S S I C M I N I S T H AT G E T S D O N N A N D E R S O N A L L S E N T I M E N TA L W H E N H E S P E N D S T I M E W I T H A 1 9 5 9 E X A M P L E T H AT WA S T H E V E R Y F I R S T ONE EVER MADE?

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lassic car status was being accorded the original British Motor Corporation (BMC) Mini as long ago as 1980, regardless of the fact that its best sales days were over. From then on, these little cars became appreciating assets, while no one at the time could imagine that they would remain in production for another 20 years, in what was the longest run-out period of any car in history.

Local assembly of the Mini in New Zealand ended in 1982. However, limited numbers of fully built-up examples and used imports continued to trickle in until 1997, by which time the car’s new retail price was more than 20 times higher than the first examples to hit our shores in early 1960.

Already Mini enthusiasts are excited about celebrations planned for the car’s 60th anniversary in August 2019, with several owners planning to ship their cars halfway around the world to Britain for what is expected to be a massive gathering of Minis, old and new.

Given the popularity of the engaging baby, you would expect a generous supply of pristine originals from which to choose, but the reality is quite different. An average of 2672 Minis were sold each year in New Zealand during the 22-year period in which the car was assembled here, and 1969 saw peak popularity as the car neared a decade of production, not only in sales but also variety, with no fewer than 15 versions available in our small market. Talk about

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British newcomer

Donn Anderson with 621 AOK, the first Mini ever made, at the British Heritage Museum in England

staying power, for, in 1975, the Mini was the fourth-best-selling new car in New Zealand, and, the following year, it was the secondbest-selling model for the distributor, New Zealand Motor Corporation, beaten only by the Honda Civic.

A grand total of 66,000 arrived here in a model life spanning four decades, with 58,793 of these put together from completely knocked down (CKD) kits in assembly plants in Auckland, Petone, and Nelson.

Such were the vagaries of BMC and its proliferation of brands that Austin and Morris Minis were assembled in two factories at the same time in different parts of the North Island. It cannot have been efficient, but then there were many peculiarities about the New Zealand motor industry.

There are enough Mini stories to fill several books — and I know, because I wrote one 10 years ago. Long before the arrival of Japanese cars, baby boomers often grew up in either the Ford or BMC camp, and, at high school, a classmate simply laughed at the arrival of the Mini in late 1959. He reckoned the “garden box” was no match for Volkswagen’s Beetle that had, of course, long predated the British newcomer.

We all have our preferences, which makes the world an interesting place, and even motoring journalists taught to be impartial have their favourites. In formative years, I sat firmly in the BMC camp, which reflected the brands I owned during my initial 12 years of motoring. My first car in 1963 was a Mini, yet I could scarcely think that 54 years later I would have owned no fewer than 10 of them.

Learning to drive long before my 15th birthday, I had the choice of an antiquated Bradford van or an early ’50s Morris Minor convertible. This was no contest, since the Minor seemed and was a proper car, and, when the family acquired one of the first Morris Minis in March 1960, this was the car in which I sat my licence. The post-war Minor and the Mini were crest achievements for the talented designer Alec Issigonis, who could be as stubborn as he was brilliant.

Issigonis was weaned on early Austin Sevens, and once said he disliked designing big cars. He engineered the Minor to be nose heavy, which he favoured for stability, but

Alec Issigonis, the brilliant man behind the design of the classic Mini themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

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MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK

Words and photos: Michael Clark

Cary the racer – with his Brabham twin-cam and a Denny helmet 52 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com