NZ Classic Car

There’s nothing quite like the atmosphere of the New Zealand Classic Car Magazine Ellerslie Car Show. Sleek lines, curvaceous shapes, white-wall tyres, the smell of natural leather and fresh car polish takes us back to a time when things were less co

There have been many articles in the best automotive magazines in the world, including New Zealand Classic Car (May 1997, issue 77), about the Citroën DS. Its name derived from Déesse (French for ‘goddess’), whose innovative design was styled by Ital

In August 1962, a group called the OAS (Secret Army Organization in English) plotted an assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle, who they believed had betrayed France by giving up Algeria to Algerian nationalists. Near dusk on August 22

This, 2020, is a big year for Mazda, as it celebrates its centenary. Here we feature one of its most significant and defining developments, a car that helped introduce the rotary engine to the public as a dramatically different way to motivate a vehi

Mazda began in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co Ltd, renaming itself as ‘Toyo Kogyo Co Ltd’ in 1927. Yes, it made cork sheet before moving into manufacturing machine tools in 1931. Financial troubles led to more rethinking and with the help of Hiroshim

Sometimes you just have to shake your head in wonder at the way things are. How can two of the most beautiful and delightful cars from the classic and modern eras be so rare? Beauty is subjective, sure, but the owner of both of these Alpine 110s, Don

As they were good enough to be owned and raced by former heads of design and engineering at Formula 1 (F1) teams Williams, Ferrari, March, Wolf, and Tyrrell, the U2s deserve their now-legendary status. Sport Cars category racing is often considered a

It was here the often-used term ‘rolling sculpture’ was coined by curator Philip C Johnson, director of the Department of Architecture and Design, when he said, “An automobile is a familiar 20th-century artefact, and is no less worthy of being judged

Garth grew up in a “Ford house”. He was, and very much still is, a self-described “Ford guy” but realized early on that in drag racing he needed to go to the opposition. “The Ford stuff was all custom made so you were doing the development work [your

The offer by phone call in 1990 was dead easy to accept. Geoff Manning was ringing to ask if I would like to spend some time with the only genuine Ford GT40 to have driven the roads of New Zealand. There was little time to ponder since the car was de

JP Paalvast is a breakdown engineer at the Waipa sawmill and lives in Rotorua with his wife and family. Fixing things for other people is a great way to make a living, but taking something that is really only good as a boat anchor and turning it into

Kiwi Bill Stone was like many aspiring young racers — quick, good with his hands, and skint. He became a disciple of that wily old fox Roly Levis, a contender for the best driver we’ve produced who never tried his hand in Europe. Roly’s cars became B

On 5 March, Graham McRae will turn 80. His health has suffered in recent years, so it is timely to reflect on his extraordinary list of achievements since he burst onto the national motor racing stage in late 1968 with the self-designed and built twi

A minor correction to the article ‘Three Times Five’ in Issue #349. I purchased a new MX-5 from the Dunedin Mazda agent more than three years prior to the date in your article. Early in 1989 I had read an article in Road and Track magazine about a pr

In 1965, I bought my first Mark I Zephyr sedan. It was a 1953 model, black with a light-green top; twin aerials, spot light, whitewall tyres, and, yes, a sun visor. I’d advertised in the Wanted to Buy section in an Auckland newspaper seeking a Zephyr

Send your enquiries, questions, and comments to carsforsale@classiccar.co.nz Germany may have created the very first car, but it was France that took the idea of the internal-combustion transport to its heart, contributing greatly to motoring as we k

As the value of Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth Group A race cars is going up seemingly by the day I had to ask the Motueka-based owner of one of the few still in regular track use, Brett Stevens; should the right offer ever come along, would he contempla

Mustangs and Mazdas stole the show at the annual Intermarque Concours d’Elegance this year. A 1969 Mustang Boss 302, owned by Paul Hildebrand, won the premier Masters Class competition with 548 points out of a possible 590. Two more ’69ers, both Acap

Paihia serves up great scenery and sparkly sunshine on blue water — ideal for top-down motoring and a large helping of seafood. The Bay of Islands Classic and Sports Car Club is far from the only outfit to organize a relaxed Sunday park-up event, but

Moonshine Rod and Custom Club’s 21st annual American Vehicle Day on 2 February was a day that may be remembered as the one with all the topless beauties. Just about every convertible on the Trentham Racecourse concourse was displayed with its top dow

Neil Longman took top honours at the 14th annual Josephville Hillclimb, winning the Stewart Quertier Trophy for the fastest time of the day with a 26.56-second run. Dave Harris in his Johnston Formula Ford has the record, set in 2016 at 25.39 seconds

Thousands of bikers attending the annual Burt Munro Challenge in Invercargill this month were given a special treat with the early opening of the new permanent George Begg Exhibit at the Classic Motorcycle Mecca, which is part of the Richardson Trans

After more than 30 years, the format of Wellington’s British Car Day changed in 2018 to welcome all European cars. The third British and European Car Day took place at Trentham Memorial Park on Sunday, 9 February. Its organizers would have breathed a

Peter Martin, event director for Targa New Zealand says the return of the WRC to New Zealand in September means 2020 is going to be a big year for motorsport in New Zealand and URG is doing its bit by adding the Targa Bambina event back into the Targ

The Classic Alpine Tour (The CAT) for 2020 has a refreshed theme with four days touring throughout the regions south of Queenstown. The event is designed for classic sports cars of European origin of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Friday evening, 27 March,

For three generations, my family was involved in the car industry in New Zealand through their ownership of Campbell Motors, which held the New Zealand franchises for Peugeot, Renault, American Motors (Rambler and Jeep), Hino, Daihatsu, and Toyota. B