They were not here for long. Four years later, Todd Motors and Ford had joined the fray, building factories to assemble Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Hillman, Humber, and Sunbeam cars. Austin arrived in 1946 and eventually became New Zealand Motor Corp (NZMC). At one stage, almost three-quarters of New Zealand’s automotive production was coming from the Hutt Valley. In the ’60s and ’70s, it was one of the few places in New Zealand that regularly had zero unemployment.
“Almac was in the business of building stunning automotive fibreglass bodies with a separate tubular steel chassis”
SOLE SURVIVOR
By 1990, after around 60 years of manufacturing in the Hutt Valley, it was all gone, with one notable exception: Almac Cars in Upper Hutt. Almac was in the business of building stunning automotive fibreglass bodies with a separate tubular steel chassis. Unlike the fully built-up car industry, the kit-car industry still had a few years to go before entering its twilight. It is a twilight that has, thanks to the hands of many enthusiasts, lingered on until today with a handful of companies still building kitset cars throughout New Zealand. Of these, Almac Cars is the longest surviving, and one of the most successful. It may have never happened if Alex McDonald had not met and fallen in love with a young Kiwi primary school teacher who went to work in England as part of her big OE.
Alex started work as an apprentice fitter and turner, graduating as a draughtsman for Vickers-Armstrongs in the UK. In the late ’50s, the first boom period for kit-cars was in full swing. Thanks
