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Impressive line-up of F5000s at New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing

12 January, 2015

We’ve been looking forward to it for ages, and now it’s just around the corner. The highly anticipated New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing (NZFMR) is being held over the weekends of January 16–18 and January 23–25 at Hampton Downs.

Our excitement is in response to the amazing features that the festival is to play host to in its celebration of renowned Kiwi racer Howden Ganley. These features include Formula One cars, Formula 5000 racers. More than six Formula One cars will be in attendance, but it is the F5000s that are the main talking point. With over 50 confirmed, the NZFMR will host the world’s first Formula 5000 World Series, the winner of which will be crowned after the final race on the festival’s second weekend.

Other features we don’t want to miss include Can-Am cars, the ex-Denny Hulme 1973 McLaren M23, a show and shine, 12 race classes with over 350 racers, eight Australian Trans Am racers competing with the Historic Muscle Cars, parade laps of significant cars, and (weather permitting) a Spitfire and RNZAF display. 

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.