COMMITMENT

When Errol and Elaine Uttinger purchased a rolling ’47 Ford body from the lower South Island 17 years ago, they didn’t know what they were going to do with it. What they did know, though, was that whatever they did, it needed to be something different from any other ’47.

Lifelong drag racers and hot rodders — with Errol being a long-time president of the NZHRA — for them, the build was the culmination of years of experience, knowledge, and ideas.

“It sat in the garage for a year before we took it to a panel beater in Tauranga to do some work on it, but his everyday business took priority, so we went in search of a panel beater who had a passion for the kind of work we wanted done,” recalls Errol. What they found wasn’t just one passionate person but two: Shannon and Johnny at Iron Rides in Te Puke. The result wasn’t just twice as much effort and attention to detail as they expected