We’ve taken the hard yards out of Christmas shopping

11 December, 2014

We all get bombarded with the, “What do you want for Christmas?” and the, “You’re so hard to buy for” comments. Well we’ve found a way to put all of that to rest. We’ve rounded up heaps of cool stuff that we want for Christmas and have put it into a series of handy Christmas gift guides for you to download, print out, and leave lying on the coffee table or stuck on the fridge. Christmas sorted.

NZ Performance Car Christmas Gift Guide

New Zealand Classic Car Christmas Gift Guide

NZV8 Christmas Gift Guide

Merry Christmas from NZ Classic Car magazine

The Classic Car magazine team is taking a few weeks’ holiday from the work computer and heading to the beach for some kickback time.
Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful summer holiday to all our readers, followers, and fans. Enjoy this special extra time with the family. We will be posting archive articles again in mid to late January.
Have fun, be good and be careful out there.

Two engines instead of one?

Popping two motors into a car is not only complicated, it doesn’t always end well. Donn Anderson recalls early attempts, including John Cooper’s ill-fated original Twini Mini built 58 years ago

For a boost in performance, better traction, and perhaps improved handling to some, two motors seems an obvious solution. It would also eliminate the need to develop a larger engine replacement from scratch, but would that outweigh the not inconsiderable technical difficulties?
The idea of using a pair of engines dates back at least 86 years to the Alfa Romeo Bimotor single seater racing car that was officially timed at 335km/h, or 208mph. Taking a lengthened Alfa P3 chassis, the Italians fitted two supercharged straight eight 2.9-litre and 3.2-litre engines, one in front of the cockpit, and the other behind the cockpit.