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Classic connections: it’s a small world after all

18 December, 2015

Life is all about connections — or degrees of separation, if you like — and I got a few reminders of just how connected things can get while putting together a recent edition of New Zealand Classic Car.

The first connection was made when we decided to feature a Mazda RX-3 to complement the article in New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 296 on Japanese performance cars that we’d already slated for inclusion in this issue of the magazine. Talking to the RX-3’s owner reminded me that the very first car I owned in New Zealand (all the way back in 1980) was also rotary powered — a 1975 Mazda RX-2. At the time, having only just started work, the Mazda had attracted me because it offered good performance for very few dollars. You have to bear in mind that following the oil shocks of the late ’70s, Rob Muldoon’s government had instituted the notorious carless days, at the end of July the previous year. In the prevailing environment of the time, nobody wanted to own a gas-guzzling rotor motor. However, I did the sums, and any potentially extra outlay on petrol would be more than compensated by the low purchase price of a rotary-engined Mazda.

The next step was to find a well-priced, low mileage example — up stepped my father: “I know this bloke in Grey Lynn.”

That bloke turned out to be Nick Begovic. Originally from Dalmatia, Nick had been in the second-hand-car-selling business all his life, and was a key member of what has been termed the ‘Dally Mafia’ — New Zealand’s Dalmatian community of car dealers and motor-racing enthusiasts.

I duly visited Nick’s car-sales yard (these days it’s a fruit and veg shop) situated just up the road from one of his favourite haunts, Western Springs Speedway. There I purchased the RX-2 that I ran as my everyday driver for the next few years.

I didn’t catch up with Nick, an active member of the former MotorSport Association of New Zealand (MANZ), until we met at Pukekohe during the running of the 1983 NZ Grand Prix, a race that was eventually won by David Oxton. Later, Nick introduced me to Nigel Roskilly, at that time chief time-keeper at Pukekohe, and I ended up wielding a stop watch for a several races under Nigel’s supervision. Of course, Nigel — in the guise of controversial columnist, Gabriel — would end up working for me when I took over as editor of this magazine.

Like Nigel, Nick Begovic is no longer with us, having passed away in January 2013, but motor-racing enthusiasts who were around back in the day still recall ‘Big Nick’ with fondness.
So many connections — and they all merged together when I received this month’s Motorsport Flashback column, and read Michael Clark’s comments about David Oxton’s son and his brief tribute to the recently deceased Robin Curtis. Coincidentally, yet another connection — I’d only been talking to Robin a few months before about pilfering some of his vintage motor-racing photographs.

Brushing that link aside, I then contacted motor-sport photographer extraordinaire, Terry Marshall, for a few images to illustrate Motorsport Flashback. Terry, following an advance look at the text of Michael’s column, duly made a few connections of his own by providing a photograph that linked Robin Curtis to David Oxton. Clever lad!

Big Nick watches on as Dave McMillan celebrates his first heat win at the 1983 NZ Grand Prix / Image: Terry Marshall

It all ended there — or at least it would have done until I noticed that the photograph also showed Nick Begovic, Terry thus making the final connection without even knowing that it existed. Talk about a small world!

This article was originally published in New Zealand Classic Car Issue No. 296. You can pick up a print copy or a digital copy of the magazine below:




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Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.