Vintage treasures on the side of the motorway

24 November, 2014

If vintage cars are your thing, then the North Shore Vintage Car Club’s annual swap meet was the place to be on Sunday, November 23. Held at the club’s impressive facility just off the motorway in Albany, Auckland, the event saw a great mix of machinery from days gone by.

The North Shore Vintage Car Club’s facility is located just off the motorway near Albany

Despite what seemed to be a lack of real promotion and various date clashes, a great number of vehicles — old and older — turned out, with the large grassed area out the front of the clubrooms serving double duty as both a show area and home to various swap sites.

Unlike most swap meets where you’ve got to be there before the sun is up to nab a bargain, there were still some great deals around towards the early afternoon, even though the event had started to wind down. From old books, to rare parts, to the bizarre and a little odd, there was a bit of everything on display — minus the household knick-knacks and preserves that seem to clutter most swap meets these days.

Plenty of old and rare car parts were up for grabs at the swap meet

As you’d expect, it was the vintage vehicles that took pride of place, however a great mix of hot rods, classic cruisers, and muscle cars were also present along with a few more modern classics. With the cars come the people, and as you can imagine, there was an interesting mix of young and old.

With a great location, plenty of interesting cars on display, as well as the ever-impressive NSVCC spare parts shed open for viewing, the event made for a relaxed, family-friendly day that everyone could enjoy. We know we’d happily head back along next year for another look, and suggest you do too.   

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.