Wheel Love

John Reisima lives in Flemington, a small rural spot in Central Hawke’s Bay. While he normally drives his fleet of trucks for his company Reisima Transport, he also keeps a retro car in the garage for special occasions –a 1981 Mitsubishi Mirage, in nuggety copper-brown.

“WE ORIGINALLY got the Mirage for our son, Ben, when he turned 16 –so about 13 years ago. He learned to drive in it. I bought it from a guy in Dannevirke – I think we were only the second owners.

When I paid for it I wrote him a cheque for $850, but he called me just after we’d arrived home with the car to say that I’d only made the cheque out for $8.50, so I had to send him the rest of the money. Ben used to drive the car to school in Waipukurau and he needed it to have a wing mirror, so I fitted one on the driver’s side. It always used to whistle when you were driving so you had to keep the window down and have a finger on the mirror to keep it quiet.

It can be quite a hard car to start – especially on cold mornings. Ben would push it out of the garage and then roll it down the driveway to get it going. These days I keep the Mirage here and take it out occasionally. It mostly gets used for weddings – including Ben’s wedding last year – and parties or other special occasions.”

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