NZ Classic Car

15/11/2024

Anyone who has restored a classic car will know what heck of a journey it is. Here is one classic car owner who has done more restorations than most of us and this MGB GT was just one of his many projects. With this resto, he had a lot of assistance from renowned Auckland MG restorer and MG guru, Paul Walbran.
https://classiccar.co.nz/back-from-the-brink-1968-mgb-gt/
Quinton Taylor writes, “Auckland classic car enthusiast Kerry Bowman soon realised he had a massive job on his hands in restoring his classic 1968 MGB GT. When Kerry and his MGB first appeared in New Zealand Classic Car in March 2021, in “Behind The Garage Door”, the stripped-out shell revealed some nasty surprises. Once the true extent of the hidden damage was discovered, the work would normally have been handed over to a professional fabricator. However, with the assistance of experts such as MG specialist restorer, Paul Walbran, Kerry has completed an impressive restoration and saved this car from the scrapheap.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s nearly 35 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

Auckland classic car enthusiast Kerry Bowman soon realised he had a massive job on his hands in restoring his classic 1968 MGB GT. When Kerry and his MGB first appeared in New Zealand Classic Car in March 2021, in “Behind The Garage Door”, the stripped-out shell had revealed some nasty surprises...

12/11/2024

We go all tv-cop-show in the new issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396.
With NZ’s internationally successful crime drama, Brokenwood, celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year, we thought it timely we take a good look at the real star of the show, a 1971 HG Holden Kingswood.
Nigel Young writes: “At first glance, it’s hard not to see The Brokenwood Mysteries as a local version of the British series, Inspector Morse, with Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, his HG Holden Kingswood, and his passion for country music mimicking Chief Inspector Morse, his Mark 2 Jaguar, and his passion for classical music.
Add to this the similarities with Midsomer Murders and a homicide rate disproportionate to its low-key quaint English village backdrop, and the formula is there for one of the best murder mystery series around.
These are not bad comparisons, as the success of the show around the world attests”
Find a copy of this edition wherever good magazines are sold across NZ.
You can also check out the fully illustrated content rundown of this magazine on our website classiccar.co.nz and you can purchase a copy of this current issue, books, merchandise, and back issues or subscribe anytime on Classic Car magazine’s own online shop, magstore.nz

05/11/2024

In the new issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396, one of our main features is on everyone’s favourite Corvette, the split rear window 1963 C2 model.
This distinctive, short-lived Chevrolet Corvette is now one of the marque’s most memorable models, immortalised in pop culture and movies.
Corvette owner and magazine team member Johnathan Paape writes…
“Three split-window Corvettes are a rare sight in their homeland of America, but they are a momentous sight in little ol’ New Zealand. Three years ago, I acquired a Daytona Blue 1963 split-window Corvette. It was love at first sight, and the car thrills me every time I drive it or look at it.
Last year brought an unexpected twist when I met a fellow Wellington enthusiast, who had just imported the red 1963 split-window Corvette in this trio. Amazingly, it rolled off the assembly line on a Friday with my blue car following a few days later on the Wednesday. A few months ago, rumours began circulating about yet another split-window Corvette making its way to Wellington. It was this silver beauty. However, this particular Corvette is not just any ’63 split window; it is very special, as it’s fuel injected.”
Find a copy of this edition wherever good magazines are sold across NZ.
You can also check out the fully illustrated content rundown of this magazine on our website classiccar.co.nz and you can purchase a copy of this current issue, books, merchandise, and back issues or subscribe anytime on Classic Car magazine’s own online shop, magstore.nz

01/11/2024

Now we very rarely feature any motorbikes in the magazine, but here, from our archives, is one we did feature because it’s unusual and rare-as, a rotary-engined Suzuki. Who knew?

https://classiccar.co.nz/1975-suzuki-re5/
Ian Parkes writes, “Mazda wasn’t the only mighty Japanese conglomerate to launch rotary-engined vehicles into the market in the mid-70s.
Suzuki had high hopes for its RE5 Wankel-engined bike launched in 1975. It started looking at the Wankel engine in the mid-60s and bought the licence to the concept in 1970.
Apparently, all of the big four Japanese makers experimented with the design, Yamaha even showed a rotary-engined bike at a motor show in 1972. But Suzuki was the only one of the big four to go into production. Like many others at the time, Suzuki believed that the light, compact, free-revving Wankel design would consign piston engines — with their complex, multiple, whirring valves and pistons, which (can you believe it?) had to reverse direction all the time — to history.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s nearly 35 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

Suzuki had high hopes for its RE5 Wankel-engined bike launched in 1975. It had started looking at the Wankel engine in the mid-60s and bought the licence to the concept in 1970. Apparently all of the big four Japanese makers experimented with the design, Yamaha even showing a rotary-engined bike at....

29/10/2024

In the new issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396, our cover story is on this rare and stunning early Nissan Skyline.
But this is no ordinary Skyline, this model we feature is a 1972 Nissan Skyline GT-X KGC10 ‘Hakosuka’. These cars are considered to be the pinnacle when it comes to Japanese motorsport history and this Skyline has been totally rebuilt and restored by several talented Kiwi businesses.
Owner – Steve Radich “Even before [the car] arrived in New Zealand, I had developed a project plan with what I deemed the best of the best in their respective fields. I wanted to do as much as possible but also wanted to make sure we achieved the highest quality finish possible. I think this is the highest quality example of the Hakosuka in the world. I stripped the car down to a bare shell within days and started restoring everything, whilst moving the body and drivetrain to the professionals.”
Find a copy of this edition wherever good magazines are sold across NZ.
You can also check out the fully illustrated content rundown of this magazine on our website classiccar.co.nz and you can purchase a copy of this current issue, books, merchandise, and back issues or subscribe anytime on Classic Car magazine’s own online shop, magstore.nz

25/10/2024

Every country has its own classic car TV stars. Many of ours are Holdens like the Brockenwood Holden as featured in the current issue of the magazine.
Here’s another Holden Kiwi TV star, the Holden HZ panel van from Outrageous Fortune and Westside, the Sandman. Check out this article from our archives of this cool-as, bright-red wagon.
https://classiccar.co.nz/westside-story/
Ben Selby writes, “To some, a Sandman is a pagan god who sprinkles sand on you to help you get a good sleep. Others will think of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. But to Holden fans, and classic car fans in general, a Sandman is first and foremost one of the coolest Holdens ever. To young Australian and New Zealand men of the day, the Sandman’s cocktail of sun, beach, camping, surfing, late-night yahooing and all the dusky promise of judiciously applied shag-pile carpeting, was too good to resist.
When the original HQ Sandman was launched in 1974, Holden’s marketing team went all out to boost this image. Every Sandman that left the factory till 1980 sported a bright paint scheme, stripy decals, and a huge Sandman emblem in a psychedelic font blasted across the tailgate. You could never accuse a Sandman of being subtle.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s nearly 35 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

For the young Dave Blyth, the Sandman was always the coolest car and he finally got one when he was 50. “I have always had a rule. When you turn 50, you buy or can afford to buy the car you lusted after when you were 20. I was 20 in 1979 and the HZ Sandman came out in 1978. It was the coolest of t...

20/10/2024

The new issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396, is on sale across NZ from today. This new issue includes our FREE, huge, wall poster. Pick up a copy at your favourite magazine retailer or head to Classic Car’s own online shop, magstore.nz to purchase a copy.
You can check out the fully-illustrated content rundown for this current issue on our website, classiccar.co.nz
On magstore you can also source back issues or subscribe to a digital or print version of the magazine. We mail and deliver worldwide.

18/10/2024

DKWs are not that common here in NZ but they are in South Africa. Here is a tale of a couple of South African Kiwis who are big fans of the unique German cars and have been collecting and enjoying them for decades.
https://classiccar.co.nz/put-a-ring-around-that/
Quinton Taylor writes, “Provenance is a valuable part of a classic car and DKW/Auto Union collectors Brendan and Bobbette Odell have a detailed documented history of a special car in their growing collection of these little two-stroke wonders. Brendan’s hometown of Pretoria enjoyed more than its fair share of the marque, where their reliability and performance made them popular..
“There used to be a joke going round in South Africa that there were more DKWs in Pretoria per square mile than anywhere else in the world,” Says Brendan.
The Odells redressed that balance a little when they shifted to New Zealand as they brought some of the cars with them.
One of their DKWs also accompanied them to Tonga. Brendan’s green 1959 Auto Union 1000 two-door went with them from South Africa to Tonga from 2010 to 2013 where he worked for the local airline. It then travelled on with them to New Zealand. It is one of just 10 right-hand drive cars of the two-door basic model remaining worldwide.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s nearly 35 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

Provenance is a valuable part of a classic car and DKW/Auto Union collectors Brendan and Bobbette Odell have a detailed documented history of a special car in their growing collection of these little two-stroke wonders. Brendan’s hometown of Pretoria enjoyed more than its fair share of the marque,...

15/10/2024

The new issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396 is on its way. As a bonus, this upcoming issue includes a FREE, huge, pull-out wall poster.
Print and digital subscribers will commence receiving their copies this coming week and the magazine itself will be on sale nationwide at your favourite magazine retailer from next Monday, October 21.
From that date you will also be able to purchase a copy from our own NZ Classic Car online shop, magstore.nz
At magstore you can also source back issues or subscribe to a digital or print version of the magazine. We mail and deliver worldwide.
The next issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396, is coming soon. Print and digital subscribers will commence receiving their copies this week and the magazine will be on sale at your favourite magazine retailer from next Monday 21 October. This new issue includes a FREE, huge, wall poster.

13/10/2024

The 1972 Ford Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV
'The complete untold story'
Pre-orders for this new book close this month!
Do not miss your opportunity, pre-order TODAY!
Pre-order yours here www.theGTHOregister.com.au

Books are scheduled for release 30th November 2024 with delivery before Xmas.
THE DEFINITIVE BIBLE CELEBRATING THE 1972 FALCON XA GTHO PHASE IV

Pre-order yours here www.theGTHOregister.com.au

11/10/2024

It must be Red Convertible Month on classiccar.co.nz!
Here’s an article from our archives on the mighty Triumph Stag – well eventually mighty thanks to loyal fans like Glynn and Alison Gaston from Dunedin.
This article was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the model and this couple restored their Stag to a level the manufacturer could only dream of.
https://classiccar.co.nz/stag-roars-again/
Glynn Gaston told Classic Car, “Then I saw a Stag and I thought, Ah, this is nice. This is what I would like. So I looked at different ones for about two years, I suppose, and then this one came up in Taupo.
I had a friend of a friend pop around and have a look at it for me. He said it was pretty rough and needed a lot of work done to it but it appeared to be quite straight and didn’t seem to have much rust. ‘Right,’ I said. ‘I’ll take it’, so that was that.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s nearly 35 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

The Triumph Stag pictured here has been lovingly restored from what was once, in the owner’s words, “a horrible, terrible job”. Owners Glynn and Alison Gaston hail from Dunedin and along with their grandchildren now enjoy cruising in the Stag after a three-and-a-half-year restoration. In 2011,...

08/10/2024

In the current issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the September/October 2024 issue 395 we have an article on a very attractive and classy Italian convertible.
The Alfa Romeo Spider is always a head-turner when you glimpse one on the road and in the current issue of Classic Car, we enjoy exploring and driving a pristine example owned by a passionate Alfa fan. Alfa Romeo’s Spider is about as classic as you can get in a two-seat sports car, its combination of great looks, fine engineering, and driver appeal means many of those ensnared can never escape.
Ian Parkes writes “There is something serene about Donald Osborne’s long relationship with his Spider; he has always been a fan of Alfas but this has the kind of charm of someone reunited with a high school sweetheart.
Italian cars, and especially Alfas, have always had the X-factor for Donald, their style, often advanced technology, and driving spirit raised them above the other cars of his youth.”
Find a copy of this edition wherever good magazines are sold across NZ.
You can also check out the fully illustrated content rundown of this magazine on our website classiccar.co.nz and you can purchase a copy of this current issue, books, merchandise, back issues or subscribe anytime on Classic Car magazine’s own online shop, magstore.nz

04/10/2024

As the saying goes, there are only two things you can’t avoid in life, so when ya do make that final road trip, why not do it in a classic car?
This article from our archives on ‘59 Cadillac hearse shows us that even our final journey can be as a classic car fan – way to go. This restored and pampered Caddy is a real credit to its owners too.
https://classiccar.co.nz/the-ultimate-journey-1959-cadillac-commercial/
Christopher Moor writes, “Simon Manning had a clear idea of a dream hearse: a 1959 Cadillac. He found one but it took eight years of restoration to give this handsome classic a new life in New Zealand, where it would once again ferry those entering the next life.
Simon says every part of this American import received attention in the restoration, right down to the last nut and bolt. During the photo shoot, photographer Ross de Rouffignac said the workmanship looked flawless through both his naked eye and his camera lens.”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s 34 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

usaclassiccars

An indication of where some of the money went is in the skilled, painstaking workmanship of David Wilkens, who told me he spent a considerable number of the total of 800 hours in removing all the small dents from the chrome work. About 60 per cent of the body eventually required rust removal or repl...

03/10/2024

A classic car event like no other has just been announced, the Aryburn classic car festival, March 21–23, 2025, in Queenstown.
https://classiccar.co.nz/ayrburn-classic-car-festival/
This prestige classic car event will be the must-attend car show of the summer. More details to come but start planning your attendance now.

The Ayrburn Classic Car Festival will take place on the scenic grounds of the Ayrburn Winery in Arrowtown, Queenstown Lakes District, on Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March 2025, coinciding with Otago Anniversary Weekend. Set to become New Zealand’s premier classic car event, this festival promises to be...

01/10/2024

Can you help this NZ Classic Car magazine reader?
Chris is looking for help finding the perfect birthday present for his wife, a Carless Day sticker from the 70s, have you got one?
Chris says "I was hoping to get the genuine stickers off the glass, any of the days would be fine not just Tuesday. If people have multiple days I'd be happy to purchase them from them."
If you can help, PM us and we'll pass your details on to Chris.

01/10/2024

We are currently building the next issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the November/December 2024 issue 396, and it will be in shops before the end of this month.
Here is one article in this upcoming issue to keep an eye out for, a feature on this 1965 Morris FG60 truck.
Owning an important historic racing car such as the Begg FM5 requires a period-correct transporter, and the Rush family has acquired this impressive beast that fits the bill.
To make sure you never miss your copy head to our own NZ Classic Car online shop, magstore.nz to subscribe.
At magstore you can also source back issues, buy the current issue, or subscribe to a digital or print version of the magazine. We mail and deliver worldwide.

24/09/2024

Back in the day, it was always with great delight that when any manufacturer's new model arrived on our shores, we set about making it go quicker. Such was the case with the Fiat 125. The Torino Motors marketing team started with something good and then set about making it even better – with a hat tipped firmly to the South African modification kit ‘Scorpion’.
Our Motorman Donn Anderson recalls how impressed he was with the 125T in the early 1970s in the current issue of NZ Classic Car magazine, the September/October 2024 issue 395.
Donn tells us “By the time the 125T arrived four years later, a standard 125 retailed for $4249 and the 125T $4829 – a bargain when the modifications and equipment additions were considered. Local assembly of the base model began in 1970, and the following year a larger extractor grille appeared on the rear quarter panels. High-backed front seats appeared in 1972, and although the 125T enjoyed a build programme of just a few months the New Zealand-built standard 125 lingered on until 1974, a year after production ended in Italy.”
Find a copy of this edition wherever good magazines are sold across NZ.
You can also check out the fully illustrated content rundown of this magazine on our website classiccar.co.nz and you can purchase a copy of this current issue, books, merchandise, back issues or subscribe anytime on Classic Car magazine’s own online shop, magstore.nz

19/09/2024

The Ford Es**rt was an instant success when launched in the 1960s, embraced in every market. It soon became apparent that this was no ordinary family car and the ability to race, rally, and modify was embraced by many, as well as Ford themselves of course.
Here’s an article from our archives of a ‘68 two-door model that has been restored and slightly modified. It sure is a great outcome. shttps://classiccar.co.nz/escort-services-1968-escort-1100-restomod/
Vaughn Wilson writes, “The Es**rt started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold new in Britain. At some point, it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration.
By the end of 2014, it was finished but not completed. Its Wellingtonian owner bought it sight unseen from the UK and it landed here in early 2020. It was soon dispatched to Macbilt in Grenada North, Wellington for them to work their magic.
Macbilt had two instructions: to get the car through compliance for use on the road; and to improve the vehicle and finish the project so it drove as well as it looked. Looking at the car now, it has an amazing presence and stance. It can’t help but attract attention and a bevy of admirers. ”
Read this online article from NZ Classic Car magazines’s 34 years of archives, just uploaded to our new look NZ Classic Car website.

The Es**rt started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold-new in Britain. At some point it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration. By the end of 20...