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.   

Travelling companion

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.

Super Leicht Gullwing

It’s fair to say that nothing much in the classic Mercedes world gets past Mercedes-Benz Club stalwart Garry Boyce so it wasn’t surprising to learn that around 15 years ago he had sniffed out an extremely rare 300SL lightweight Gullwing as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster hiding away in the Waikato. The cars were not for sale but Garry eventually managed to persuade the owner to allow him and his restoration team to take a look at the Roadster. They discovered a very distressed but largely unmolested car. The car was so original that the body had never been off the chassis, meaning most of the parts and fittings were still present and correct, as they had been fitted by the factory.