MISSED IT BY THIS MUCH …
“I missed it by just this much!” was an expression that was making the rounds in New Zealand in 1965. It came into prominence thanks to the hit comedy TV series Get Smart, being a statement regularly made by Agent 86. That year, 1965, was a fairly important year in this country’s automotive history. At Massey University in Palmerston North, Phil Andrews was nervously watching as the prototype farm vehicle he had designed was being put through its paces. If it passed these tests, it was likely that the government would give him the go-ahead to produce 1000 vehicles a year. The vehicle did pass, the green light was given, and under the leadership of Noel Turner what is now touted as New Zealand’s first mass-production utility vehicle, the Trekka, rolled off its Otahuhu assembly line in December of the following year.
Running up a Kiwi rotary
The Trekka was not the only New Zealand prototype being considered for mass production in 1965. In Whangarei, a gentleman by the name of Hamilton Walker was working hard sorting
