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1 November, 2015

This month’s special Targa edition (New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 299) is packed full of great cars, and includes the comprehensive Official Targa New Zealand Programme complete with maps, full driver profiles, and car directory.

Read all about a freshly prepared Porsche 911. When the owner of this Porsche decided upon a fresh new look for the 2015 Targa New Zealand event, he drew inspiration from the International Race of Champions (IROC) Porsche 911 raced by Denny Hulme in 1973.

We also take a look at three modern day GTs taking part in this year’s Targa Tour event — a BMW M3, Nissan GT-R, and a Mercedes-Benz C63 coupé.

If Targa competition isn’t your cup of tea, then flick through and read all about a very special, beautifully restored Citroën H van. This van is a popular sight on Auckland’s waterfront as it serves up the best organic coffee in town by the roadside.

As always, there’s lots of current news items, as well as our usual Trade Professionals, Motorsport Flashback, and Behind the Garage Door projects to read about, plus much more.   

You don’t even need to venture to your local supermarket or bookshop to pick up a copy — just grab a print copy or a digital copy of Issue No. 299 below.


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.