NZCC #341 Preview

EX- RACER GRAEME L AWRENCE REMINISCES ON A REMARK ABLE CAREER

JENSEN

INTERCEPTOR CLASS POWER

MUSCLE GARAGE RETURNS MAY 19 ON

ISSUE 341 $10.99 INCL. GST MAY 2019

themotorhood.com

MG TA

20 -Y E A R ROA D TO CO N CO U RS

CITROËN SM

A S PEC TACU L A R FR E N C H – ITA LI A N CO LL A BO R ATI O N

DATSUN 240Z JA PA N E S E E -T Y PE

TR I M M I N G O R R E N OVATI N G TH E I NTE R I O R O F YOU R C L A SS I C

CONTENTS

341 MAY 2019

6 JENSEN INTERCEPTOR

ELEGANCE AND POWER FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC

16 CITROËN SM

ELEGANCE AND POWER FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE BORDER

24 LUNCH WITH …

MICHAEL CLARK TALKS TO GRAEME LAWRENCE

30 MG TA

BETTER THAN NEW

40 NORTON COMMANDO BEST OF BRITISH

44 PEUGEOT HISTORIC TOURING CAR A NOT-SO-RETIRED RACER

46 DATSUN 240Z

A BRIGHT RAY OF THE RISING SUN

54 TECHNICAL FEATURE THE INTERIOR OF A CLASSIC

60 MERCURY MONTEREY HEAVY METAL

6 2

New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

CONTENTS

341 MAY 2019

16

30 40

24

46

COLUMNS 64 72 78 86 90

MOTOR SPORT FLASHBACK MOTORMAN KITS AND PIECES NEWS NATIONAL EVENTS HAWKES BAY TARGA SCHEDULE 94 CITROËN 100 YEARS ANNIVERSARY RALLY 96 PRICE ON 104 LOCAL MARKET

54

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK — SEARCH ‘NZ CLASSIC CAR ’

REGULARS

72 4

New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

42 53 98 100 102 108 110 112

READER’S WRITES SUBSCRIBE AND WIN CLUB CORNER BEHIND THE GARAGE DOOR AUTOMOBILIA EVENTS DIARY LOCAL SPECIALISTS CROSSWORD / NEXT MONTH

60

FEATURE

1974 Jensen Interceptor MkIII

ELEGANCE + POWER THE JENSEN INTERCEPTOR — A ‘NO REPL ACEMENT FOR DISPL ACEMENT’ AMERICAN V8 ENGINE NESTLED IN AN I T A L I A N - D E S I G N E D , G E N U I N E LY L U X U R I O U S , B R I T I S H - B U I LT TOURING C AR Words: Ashley Webb, Stuart Bilbrough Photos: Adam Croy

6

New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

J

ust over a year ago, I sat with Stuart Bilbrough watching our photographer, Adam Croy, take fantastic photos of Stuart’s 1958 Studebaker Champion. Those photos would grace the front cover and pages of the April 2018 issue of this magazine, No. 328.

Readers may remember the crux of the Studebaker’s story being the car’s incredible originality and very low mileage.

As we watched Adam applying his masterful talent behind the camera lens, Stuart told me that he was thinking of selling the Stude’, as his passion for the car was in the low miles and well-documented New Zealand history rather than a long-time desire to own a Studebaker.

(This aside, Stuart also loves the Golden Hawk and Avanti.) We estimated a price range that it could possibly fetch and from which parts of the world the most interest would come.

themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

7

FEATURE 1970 Citroën SM

S Y S T E M E M A S E R AT I — I F I T H A D N ’ T B E E N R E A L , M AY B E L A DY PE N E LO PE WO U LD H AV E D R I V E N IT Words: Terry Cobham Photos: Adam Croy

16 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

— THE CITROËN SM

I

t sits there almost like something from the future, which it isn’t, and not from the past, which it is. French chic absolutely — as French as Chanel’s little black dress; as mad as a bottle of absinthe, and probably just as much trouble;

a transport testament to France, the country that brought us sophisticated stuff such as the guillotine, the pencil sharpener, Etch A Sketch, the frameless parachute, and the world’s first air-powered submarine — all useful to a greater or lesser degree.

themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

17

FEATURE 1938 MG TA Tickford

30 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

BETTER THAN NEW JOHN HANCOCK’S 1 9 3 8 M G TA T I C K F O R D GARNERED THE HIGHEST SCORE OF ALL THE CARS ENTERED IN THIS YEAR’S CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE AT T H E E L L E R S L I E CL ASSIC CAR SHOW. IT’S EASY TO SEE HOW Words: Ian Parkes Photos: Adam Croy

themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

31

FEATURE

1972 HLS30-series Datsun 240Z

GREEN MAGIC A DATSUN GAME CHANGER

46 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

THE CHRIS STEPHENS D AT S U N 24 0 Z I S A BRILLIANT EXAMPLE O F A M O D E L T H AT C H A N G E D T H E W AY WE THINK ABOUT JA PA N ES E C A RS Words: Donn Anderson Photos: Adam Croy

I

s Japan about to become the new force in the classic car movement, and, if so, will it be led by a top-selling sports car that launched in 1970? When it hit the market, Datsun’s original MkI 240Z coupé was clearly the best-looking production car ever produced in Japan, yet this front-engined, rear-driver was more than just good-looking.

Among several Japanese classics, Aucklander Chris Stephens has this pristine 1972 HLS30-series 240Z. With younger classic car enthusiasts coming through, he sees a growing trend for preserving and nurturing cars from the ’70s and ’80s — and, in this part of the world, many of these will be mainstream Japanese. As ageing classic car followers die off, the stage is filling with increasingly youthful people who grew up and are familiar with vehicles of more recent vintage.

Modern cars have changed so much, and, as Chris says, “People don’t know how a car works, and they don’t want to know.” He recalls growing up fixing cars and remembers attending to his Morris Marina while on his OE to Europe with his wife in the early ’80s. Residing in the posh Mayfair district of London, the Marina gearbox needed reconditioning. With ‘Residents parking’ sticker firmly in place and the Morris immobile at the kerb, Chris jacked up the car, removed the heavy gearbox, and carried it to the nearest tube station, travelling by underground to north London where the parts could be rectified.

Prior to this, and fresh out of university, Chris spent a year working for the New Zealand Motor Corporation in Wellington, so the interest in cars came at themotorhood.com | New Zealand Classic Car

47

Be in to win a Teng Tools 1/2” Drive Torque Wrench TH I S M O NTH SU BSC R I B E , R E N E W, O R E X TE N D YOU R SU BSC R I P TI O N TO NE W ZE AL AND CL ASSIC CAR AND BE IN TO WIN A TENG TOOLS 1/2” DRIVE TORQUE WRENCH! EX- RACER GRAEME L AWRENCE REMINISCES ON A REMARK ABLE CAREER NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC CAR MAY 2019 ISSUE 341

WORTH

$182INTERCEPTOR JENSEN INTERCEPTOR • MG TA • CITROËN SM • DATSUN 240Z • MOTORMAN MINI • GRAEME LAWRENCE • MERCURY MONTEREY

JENSEN

CLASS POWER

IDEAL FOR BOTH TIGHTENING AND FINAL CHECKING OF THE TORQUE. IT FEATURES A REVERSE LEVER ON THE RATCHET TO EASILY CHANGE DIRECTION, EMITS A CLICK WHEN PRESET TORQUE VALUE IS REACHED, AND IS SUPPLIED IN A PRACTICAL STORAGE CASE. • ACCURACY +/- 4 • TORQUE RANGE: 40-210NM (30-160FT/LB) • LENGTH: 465MM

MUSCLE GARAGE RETURNS MAY 19 ON

ISSUE 341 $10.99 INCL. GST MAY 2019

themotorhood.com

MG TA

20 -Y E A R ROA D TO CO N CO U RS

CITROËN SM

A S PEC TACU L A R FR E N C H – ITA LI A N CO LL A B O R ATI O N

DATSUN 240Z JA PA N E S E E -T Y PE

TR I M M I N G O R R E N OVATI N G TH E I NTE R I O R O F YOU R C L A SS I C

SIX MONTHS

ONE YE AR

$54

$98

$169

SAVE

SAVE

SAVE

$11

$33

T WO YE ARS

$94

TO SUBSCRIBE

1-year digital sub only $49

W W W. M AGS TORE . NZ OR 080 0 727 574 Offer ends Sunday, 19 May 2019. Terms and conditions: 1. New Zealand delivery addresses only. 2. Offer available on subscriptions purchased through Parkside Media only. 3. Offer available on New Zealand Classic Car magazine print subscriptions only.

Teng Tools 1/2” Drive Torque Wrench worth $182. 5. See www.magstore.nz for full terms and conditions

S U B S C R I B E T O D AY –