NZV8 — the remedy for your back-to-work blues

30 January, 2015

You might be back to work, but we’ve crammed NZV8 Issue No. 117 full of top-shelf content that should help you feel like you’re back on holiday. Grab your copy now. 

Headlining the feature cars is this stunning Dodge Challenger, powered by a 600hp fuel-injected Hemi, and with no stone left unturned in the owner’s quest to build the ultimate grand tourer. If tough is more your thing, how about a twin-turbo Ford Pop that runs wheel-standing nine-second passes? There’s also a super clean and supercharged GMC pickup, a show-quality CMC Torana packing a 700hp LSX, and an immaculate traditional ’32 Ford Highboy.

We also got out and about — checking out the skid-fest that was Supercheap Auto Powercruise 52, relaxing at Cruise Martinborough, and the infamous Burgerfuel Port Road Drags, which is now in its 48th year without a rain date!

If you’re planning on getting your hands dirty during the rest of the summer, we’ve also got a tutorial on how to convert your hydraulic fork-type clutch to a modern hydraulic-release bearing, as well as the latest and greatest trends from SEMA — just the last minute inspiration your Beach Hop-build needs!

Of course we’ve also got the exciting columns, a truly amazing feature shed (well, garage) filled with America’s finest, and all of the content that will keep you counting down the hours until lunch or home time. All you need to do is to pick up a copy, and pop the top off a beer (optional).

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.