NZCC #330 Preview

AM LEWIS

— N Z’ S F I RST M A STE R AG E NT FO R PACK AR D

AWARD-WINNING

1967 SHELBY GT500

TVR 290 S4 RELIANT SCIMITAR SS1 MIDLIFE CRISIS

THE AFFORDABLE SPORTS CAR T H AT S T R U G G L E D

ISSUE 330 $10.99 INCL. GST JUNE 2018

themotorhood.com

PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN GTS THE BEST YET

B M W 2 0 0 2 — T H E U LT I M AT E D R I V I N G M A C H I N E

CONTENTS

330 JUNE 2018

4 1967 SHELBY GT500 THUNDERING THOROUGHBRED

16 1994 TVR 290 S4 BLACKPOOL ROCK

28 BMW 2002

THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE

40 AM LEWIS

NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST MASTER AGENT FOR PACKARD

68 PORSCHE 718 CAYMAN GTS MID-ENGINED PERFECTION

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COLUMNS 50 56 62 94

MOTORMAN KITS AND PIECES MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK PRICE ON

EVENTS 82 84 86 88 90 91

FERRARI CHALLENGE CLASSIC ALPINE TOUR NORTH CANTERBURY CLASSIC TOUR PACKARDS AT WARBIRDS OVER WANAKA OTAUTAU CAR SHOW 30TH GREAT USA DAY

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REGULARS 38 48 76 78 92 96 100 104 105 110 112

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FEATURE 1967 Shelby GT500

T HT HU UN ND DE ER RI IN NG G

FEW MUSCLE CARS ARE AS ICONIC AS THE 1967 SHELBY G T 5 0 0 . D E S I G N E D B Y O N E O F T H E W O R L D ’ S G R E AT E S T AUTOMOTIVE PERSONALITIES,

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THOROUGHBRED

IT WAS ONE OF THE FASTEST AND MOST POWERFUL CARS OF T H E E R A , A N D O N E T H AT S T I L L G E N E R AT E S G E N U I N E A P P E A L A N D W O N D E R AT T H E M E N T I O N O F I T S N A M E …

Words: Ashley Webb Photos: Adam Croy

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hroughout Hanlo Reyneke’s childhood — every Sunday for about nine years — he asked his friend Tjaart’s father for a ride in his AC Cobra, but it never happened. That was until one day, a few years later, Tjaart called Hanlo at work and asked him if he wanted to drive the Cobra. He was taking it to an event, he would drive up to the front door, and he needed someone to drive it away afterwards: Hanlo was the only other person trusted to drive the car. He obviously jumped at the opportunity, locked up shop straight away, and rushed to the location.

The very first time he got into the car was in front of a few hundred people. He tried to find the accelerator pedal by pressing everything in front of his feet but with no success, as he hadn’t realized that it was

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located to the right, behind the wheel tub, requiring some tricky foot manoeuvring to find it. Feeling a little stressed and embarrassed, Hanlo started stepping harder in all directions, only to fully step on the throttle and cause the crowd to go wild at the roar of the V8 engine.

But the embarrassment didn’t end there.

He drove it to Tjaart’s dad’s house in a neighbouring town, only to be told to take it across town to another garage. On the way, he decided to take the scenic route via the beach road. Feeling on top of the world driving the Cobra, Hanlo experienced his second low point of the day by running out of petrol right in front of a busy tavern.

Again with hundreds of people staring at him, Hanlo got out, pushed the car out of harm’s way, and called Tjaart’s mum (he didn’t want to call the dad) and asked if she could bring him some petrol. She turned

up 15 minutes later with a can of petrol, but it was immediately obvious that she’d had a few drinks before she got there and wanted to go for a joy ride.

Hanlo did eventually get the car to where it was supposed to be.

Success story In February 2003, Hanlo moved to New Zealand from South Africa, and, after purchasing a few basic necessities, a car, and a television, he had only $4K left in the bank.

One day, in 2004, his mother, Lynn, said that she had found a house that she thought he should buy in Tuakau, which caused him to almost fall off his chair, because buying a house wasn’t something that he’d even ever thought of, as he had no money and knew nothing about fixing houses.

She then proceeded to show him photos of a dilapidated house that needed

Hanlo was also of the opinion that the ’67 is simply the bestshape Mustang ever built; plus, it was the first time that Carroll Shelby had shoehorned the monstrous 428ci (7.0-litre) V8 engine into a Shelby

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FEATURE 1994 TVR 290 S4

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Words: Mark Tate Photos: Craig Brown

B L A C K P O O L

R O C K

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FEATURE 1975 BMW 2002

Words: Terry Cobham Photos: Adam Croy

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2002 themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

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NICK WILLIAMSON’S FIRST CAR WAS A BMW 2002, AND, AFTER M E T I C U L O U S LY R E S T O R I N G O N E F O R A C L I E N T, H E C O U L D N ’ T RESIST THE URGE TO MAKE AN OFFER TO BUY IT

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n the early 1970s, Mercedes and BMWs were notoriously easy cars to steal, and, once that fact was combined with the BMW 2002’s especially sporting characteristics, it became an obvious choice for any German gangster.

Now, maybe Germany didn’t have too many gangsters in that era, but it did, unfortunately for BMW, have the coincidentally similarly initialled Baader-Meinhof Gang, and these people were not so much gangsters as they were terrorists.

It does seem to be fact that Andreas Baader, who gave his name to this infamous group and one of its leaders, was also a motorhead.

He enjoyed driving fast and recklessly, and BMW 2002s were his chosen steed. When the forces of the law caught up with this group after their bank robberies, bombings, and assassinations, they were often using BMW 2002s, usually stolen ones.

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The gang even employed two mechanics whose job it was to ‘adapt’ these cars for use after they had been stolen.

Such was the popularity of the 2002 within this group that it was at times referred to in the media as a ‘Baader-Meinhof Wagen’.

The German police were so convinced of this that they would set up roadblocks and only stop passing 2002s. It was such a widely attached connection that some law-abiding German BMW 2002 owners took to using a bumper sticker that read Ich gehöre nicht zur Baader-Meinhof Gruppe (‘I do not belong to the Baader-Meinhof Group’). This would not have been an association the directors of Bayerische Motoren Werke would ideally have sought, but for others, especially the younger members of society, it was almost seen as hip to own a 2002. Eventually, this did no harm at all to BMW’s reputation or sales, and, therefore, its rising ability to make a desirable car.

An instant classic Today, 50 years after its introduction, the BMW 2002 has entered the charts as a classic car. Just try buying one now; even more surprising, try buying a nice one that won’t break the bank. It does happen, though it’s rare that one’s mechanic wants to buy one’s car.

That’s what happened when Nick Williamson, general manager of International Motorsport in Auckland, finished a full restoration on a client’s 1975 BMW 2002.

Quite possibly — as is often the case with cars we feature — it’s a return to an old love.

Nick’s first car was a 2002, and it was time to find another one. Understandably, he simply couldn’t resist the temptation of this plain and simple, bog-standard 1975 2002 — our feature car.

By 1975, BMW had not only sorted out the beautiful 2002, which is as desirable today as it ever was, but it had also sorted itself out