WINNING SUPERBIRD
Rumbling south down the descending terraces of Dunedin’s Blackhead Road, with an impressive sea vista in the distance, is the right way to picture yourself cruising in this big American classic. The invitation to do just that in one of these rare and distinctive cars came to me from Dunedin collector Gary McNeill.
TThe eye-catching orange and black colour scheme, the jaw-dropping wing, plus the sheer size of the car draw many curious looks. The wide sloping bonnet goes on forever and disappears from sight. Nascar Superbird driver Richard Petty was always worried about hitting the cars in front during a race and had a mechanic stand at the front to get a gauge on it. It’s an attention-getter without doubt.
Being left-hand drive, the view of on-coming traffic as we cruise down this relatively narrow roadway is of the close-encounter variety. Inside, it’s basic black with a few extras, while the big seats make it a comfortable cruiser.
Gary enjoys collecting American classics, and his garage sports some very interesting examples, including a ’50s Chevrolet 3100 pickup truck, which is ‘one of the family ‘(, Issue No. 329), along with a rare De Tomaso Pantera GTS (, Issue No. 347). He tries to get each of his cars out once a month, when time permits, to join mates for a
