OFTEN thought, but not often asked, is the question, “How did you get into hot rodding”? For some, especially those with the Gold Card, it is a thought-provoking question requiring deep thinking before an answer is forthcoming.
When I asked Bert Van Wijk, he was quick to answer. When he was a young up-and-coming scholar at St. Johns College, Hamilton, in the ‘60s, the trigger was when he got hold of some hot rod magazines that some of his schoolmates had bought along, and he was “hooked for life”.
Another who would follow a similar path was Gary “Grease” Martin. When I talked to him four years ago, he told me that across the road from his parent's home in Hamilton were these young guys who would come roaring down the street late afternoon in a mix of ‘37, ‘38 & ‘39 Ford Sedans. Each night, and on until the early hours, the neighbour's shed filled with the noise of bashing and hammering along with a fair amount of Waikato Draught being consumed, I would presume. Early in the morning, the sound of a flathead V8
