ALL THE BEST FROM THE ELLERSLIE CLASSIC CAR SHOW
EJ HOLDEN SURVIVOR ISSUE 339 $10.99 INCL. GST
MINT-CONDITION CONCOURS WINNER
MARCH 2019
themotorhood.com
BUGATTI
FRENCH AND S O ‘ O H L A L A’
FORD CAPRI
50 YEARS ON
McLAREN
FIRST M6GT ROAD CAR
LU N C H W ITH WA LLY W I LLM OT T, O R I G I N A L M C L A R E N M EC H A N I C
6 ELLERSLIE CLASSIC CAR SHOW THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST FROM THE SHOW
12 1962 EJ HOLDEN
ELLERSLIE CLASSIC CAR SHOW SURVIVORS CLASS WINNER
16 FORD CAPRI 50TH ANNIVERSARY FORD’S EURO TRENDSETTER HALF A CENTURY ON
28 FERGUSON TRACTOR
IF A ‘CLASSIC’ TRACTOR EXISTS, THE FERGIE’S IT
34 1962 CHRYSLER VALIANT THE ’60S CHRYSLER CLASSIC
38 AUTO ELECTRICS
NOT AS FRIGHTENING AS IT SOUNDS
44 HISTORIC TOURING CARS TOURING CAR CHAMPIONS REUNITED
46 LUNCH WITH WALLY WILLMOTT MICHAEL CLARK SITS DOWN WITH AN ORIGINAL TEAM MCLAREN MECHANIC
52 BUGATTI TYPE 59/50S REPLICA BUGATTI’S WORK OF ART, RECREATED BY A KIWI
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New Ze aland Classic Car | themotorhood.com
CONTENTS
339 MARCH 2019
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Ellerslie Classic Car Show
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New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
SUNSHINE BLESSES BEST COLLECTABLES BRIGHT SUNSHINE AND THE GLEAM OF CL ASSIC CARS POLISHED TO PERFECTION BROUGHT RECORD CROWDS TO THE ELLERSLIE CLASSIC CAR SHOW THIS YEAR Words: Ian Parkes Photos: Adam Croy
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hether it was the pentup demand after wet weather put off many potential visitors last year or the lure of a host of newly restored or imported classics, organizers estimated that visitor numbers to the 2019 show on Sunday, 10 February were up about 10 per cent on the previous best turnouts. Spokesman David Burke-Kennedy says that it is impossible to get accurate numbers, as more than 1000 complementary tickets go to exhibitors; sponsors; and, of course, the car club members, whose cars make the event New Zealand’s biggest and best car show. Even though the event is technically an amateur affair, organized by a committee of car club representatives, David has frequently heard from others who have been to the world’s most famous concours events that the Auckland show — and the cars in competition — are absolutely world class.
Everything under the sun More than 70 clubs take part, giving classic car buffs, and their partners, more than 700 classic cars to inspect up close and hundreds of enthusiastic owners to talk to. Surprises lurk around every corner; this year, they included a collection of SL Mercedes, not to mention half a dozen concours winners, and a contender for all-time greatest in the Mercedes 540K Special Roadster, a Peking to Paris rally car — and that was just the Mercedes display. You could also spot a couple of charabancs; a double row of Packards; flamboyant ’60s Americana paired with matching caravans; a Model A Ford truck that looked as if it hadn’t had a day off work in the past 90 years; ’50s Rileys; Armstrong Siddeleys; themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car
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FEATURE
Ford Capri 50th anniversary
FORD CAPRI
50
TH
ANNIVERSARY
16 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
F O R D ’ S
E U R O
T R E N D S E T T E R
“ T H E C A R YO U A LW AY S P R O M I S E D YO U R S E L F ” Words: Quinton Taylor Photos: Quinton Taylor, Adam Croy, New Zealand Classic Car archive
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reat cars can surprise their creators, and, despite the confident slogan, Ford Europe was well and truly caught out by the success of the Capri. Designed in 1969 as a European alternative to the successful American Ford Mustang, the Capri’s last-minute entrance on the final day of the 1969 Brussels Motor Show captured and presented 1970s chic like nothing else in the market, especially for the price. Ford had cleverly identified a market sector for a cheaper, stylish, sport coupé able to seat four as a viable alternative to a two-seat sports car — a concept that the manufacturer would progressively develop over a 15-year period. Earlier Capris had been Cortina-derivative coupés, but this new European, with its own striking coupé styling, set the standard on the road and the racetrack. Its success was in part due to Ford basing it on proven mechanical bits sourced from its vast parts bin and a modified Cortina Mark II platform, along with a tempting array of trim and mechanical options. Engines ranged from a 1298cc four-cylinder engine with a modest 39kW up to the 69kW 1996cc Essex V4, which, with a different head, also powered the Transit van — hardly shattering performance options, but the best was yet to come. Ford’s sporting intentions were quite clear when it also displayed another version of the Capri at its launch, powered by a detuned Formula 2 Cosworth BDA 1600cc engine. Sadly, it wasn’t offered in the production Capri.
Several tuning companies thought that the Capri’s GT styling deserved more power and shoehorned the Zephyr Mark IV’s three-litre Essex V6 into some. In late 1969, Ford brought out its own V6 version, the 3000GT. The Capri’s reputation as a potent open-road cruiser with a penchant for power slides was sealed. Not long after, Ford went motor racing, and both Ford Britain and Ford Germany developed their own versions. Racetrack success came almost immediately. Dieter Glemser won the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) in 1971 with a Weslake Capri RS2600, its engine good for 194kW. It was the start of some epic battles between Ford Capri RS2600s and Schnitzer BMWs. In 1972, Jochen Mass took the ETCC title in an RS2600 Capri. In 1973, BMW returned with its ‘Batmobile’ winged car. Ford replied with a bigger engine and wings for the RS3100, the potent Cosworth V6 lifting power to 335kW. The German Ford racing department was disbanded in 1974, and the Capri development was left to privateers. In 1978, Ford joined forces with tuning company Zakspeed, creating a turbocharged, 1400cc powered car producing 390kW, to challenge the dominance of Porsche in Group 5. Surprisingly, there has been quite a scrap over who actually designed the Capri. The contenders are Americans Gil Spear and Phil Clark, and arguments from both camps over ‘Project Colt’, as Ford called it, have made it into publications from both groups. themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car
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FEATURE 1962 Chrysler Valiant
34 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF ‘ VALIANT’: POSSESSING OR SHOWING COUR AGE IN HOPELESS SITUATION, AS IN, ‘IT WAS COUR AGEOUS OF THE AUTOMAKER PLYMOUTH TO NAME A CAR “ VALIANT” IN THE ’60S AND ’70S BECAUSE THE TERM USUALLY REFERS TO A HERO OR DESCRIBES A REALLY DETERMINED EFFORT THAT DOESN’T END WELL’
VALIANT EFFORT Words and photos: Quinton Taylor
belongs to myself and my daughter, and we have owned it for 37 years,” Cecilia explains. A new dual brake system has recently been added for safety and, as usual for a car of its age, various items have been replaced, such as a radiator and spark-plug leads. Cecilia thought it might also at one time have had new pistons fitted to its Chrysler Slant Six six-cylinder engine.
Cruising in the ‘S’
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ith their varied membership and their connections, car and motorcycle clubs have the ability to get behind community causes, often making a substantial financial difference to those organizations. In 2018, we met an individual with connections to many of those groups: Heart Kids Otago service coordinator Cecilia Sullivan-Grant, MNZM. In addition to her strong community-focused life, Cecilia has another interesting side: a surprisingly deep knowledge of classic and vintage cars, and a passion for warbird aircraft.
Chrysler classic Cecilia let us in to see a car that, although rare, does not lead a cosseted life in her garage. “It’s a 1962 ‘S’ series Chrysler Valiant, which my former husband, Peter, and I bought from Leo Leonard in Timaru. The fact that it was back when Leo Leonard still had a car-sales yard tells you how long ago it was. Our car now
The 1961 Chrysler Valiant R- and S-models were big cars when they arrived on the Australian market. In the US, they were known as ‘Plymouth Valiants’ and were Chrysler’s first attempt at a compact model. For the time, the styling of the R- and S-models was quite edgy and advanced. Later models added a more conservative touch, along with an expanded model line-up of cars; wagons; pickups; and, of course, the Charger coupé. It wasn’t a bad start for the production set up by Chrysler. In Australia, production of the new Valiant R (RV1) model got under way at Tonsley Park, Adelaide, in South Australia in 1961. The new car was well received, and, with its 225-cubic-inch Slant Six engine more than a litre larger in capacity than those that its opposition, Ford and Holden, could muster, it was the leader in the horsepower stakes by a big margin. The S (SV1) arrived in March 1962, with mainly cosmetic changes, and the more familiar AP5 Valiant arrived in 1963. It was the first car in Australia to have an alternator instead of a generator. Now nearly 60 years old, the Virgil Exner design has lasted well. Its distinctive styling was eye-catching in its day, and still has a standout quality guaranteed to attract attention, as these cars are a rare sight on the road. We think that it’s not a bad-looking car for a bigger ’60s American design, and, with a respray and the chrome in good condition, this particular car has survived well. The tidy interior looks good; noticeable is the very shallow metal dashboard with a minimum of controls and gauges. The roomy interior is upholstered in blue vinyl, with bench seats front and back. While the first US-imported R-models had a floor-change, the S reverted to a column gear shift. themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car
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FEATURE Ferguson tractors
The little grey Fergie N O H E AV I E R TH A N A H O RS E A N D PLO U G H — BUT IT COULD DO SO MUCH MORE Words: Terry Cobham Photos: Adam Croy
28 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com
A part of our landscape They were once everywhere — here on the farm; towing the mowers around sports grounds, parks, and schools; towing the boat to the ramp; or maybe just quietly rusting under a tree or falling-down shed somewhere. Even so, in 2019, there’s still a fair few of them around doing odd jobs on lifestyle blocks, or, like the examples in this story, just parked up and well kept.
There’s children books, music, and videos about them; they have featured on a New Zealand stamp and even on our five-dollar note; museums have examples on display; there’s a craft brewery with one in the foyer; and, of course, that black-singletand-gumboot-wearing Fred Dagg used one for almost everything. In the mid-’70s energy crisis, whatever needed power, Fred was just going to “Run it off the back of the Fergie”. Sir Edmund Hillary fitted some with extra wheels, by adding one more to the outside of each of the existing wheels, then fitted caterpillar tracks and became the first person to drive to the South Pole. If there could be such a thing as a ‘classic’ tractor, then the Fergie is as classic as you can get.
behind the horse-drawn plough. This was to stand him in good stead down the track. But, before the plough would play a more significant role in his life, he would first work as a bicycle and car mechanic, race motorcycles and cars; and design, build, and fly Ireland’s first aeroplane — indeed, at the same time, become the first Irish person to fly a plane. He would also become the owner of a vehicle dealership Harry Ferguson
Irish and clever The founder of the Ferguson company was also a classic in his own right. Harry Ferguson was born in County Down, Ireland and, as the son of a farmer, spent a good deal of time walking themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car
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