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A day of fast-paced fun at the Metalman Targa Rally Sprint

14 February, 2015

The Targa NZ series is the country’s most well-known road rally series, attracting a vast and varied line-up of cars and competitors — from granny wagons hotted up in the backyard, to cutting-edge racing weapons. There is now a Targa event to appeal to new competitors — the 2015 Metalman Targa Rally Sprint.

The one-day event, to be held on Sunday, March 8 at Ardmore Airport, does not form part of the Sanction Series, making it appealing to a wider audience. To race in the event, you will need a minimum of an M-grade licence, but co-drivers do not need to be licence holders — great for taking sponsors, service crews, friends, and family for a flat-out blast through the countryside!

Multiple stages will be run amidst the picturesque Papakura and Clevedon areas in South Auckland, allowing for alterations to the set-up and testing of competitor cars.

The course follows Monument Road from Clevedon to Hunua, and Ardmore Quarry Road from Hunua to Ardmore. These stretches of road will be repeated four times, with approximately 80km of Special Stage in total. The roads are typical of Targa event stages, making them a great introduction for the Targa Bambina and Targa NZ events held later in the year. The Targa Rally Sprint also gives the opportunity to get acquainted with standard rally safety notes, route books, time cards, and general rally protocol — a great introduction to the Targa experience.

The event has been designed to be family friendly, promising a day of entertainment, and a BBQ in the afternoon. Entry is limited, so you’ll need to head over to Targa NZ’s site to register now.

Photo captured by Owen de Mooy.

 

NZ Classic Car magazine, March/April 2025 issue 398, on sale now

23 February, 2025

An HQ to die for
Mention the acronym HQ and most people in the northern hemisphere will assume this is an abbreviation for Head Quarters. However, for those born before the mid-’80s in Australia and New Zealand, the same two letters only mean one thing – HQ Holden!
Christchurch enthusiast Ed Beattie has a beautiful collection of Holden and Chevrolet cars. He loves the bowtie and its Aussie cousin and has a stable of beautiful, powerful cars. His collection includes everything from a modern GTSR W507 HSV through the decades to a 1960s Camaro muscle car and much in between.
In the last two Holden Nationals (run biennially in 2021 and 2023), Ed won trophies for the Best Monaro and Best Decade with his amazing 1972 Holden Monaro GTS 350 with manual transmission.
Ed is a perfectionist and loves his cars to reflect precisely how they were on ‘Day 1,’ meaning when the dealer released them to the first customer, including any extras the dealer may have added or changed.

You’re the one that I want – 1973 Datsun 240K GT

21 February, 2025

In the early 1970s, Clark Caldow was a young sales rep travelling the North Island and doing big miles annually. He loved driving. In 1975 the firm he worked for asked Clark what he wanted for his new car, and Clark chose a brand-new Datsun 240K GT. The two-door car arrived, and Clark was smitten, or in his own words, he was “pole vaulting.”
Clark drove it all over the country, racking up thousands of miles. “It had quite a bit of pep with its SOHC 128 hp (96kW) of power mated to a four-speed manual gearbox,” he says. Weighing in at 1240kg meant the power to weight ratio was good for the time and its length at almost 4.5 metres meant it had good street presence.
Clark has been a car enthusiast all his life, and decided around nine years ago to look for one of these coupes. By sheer luck he very quickly found a mint example refurbished by an aircraft engineer, but it was in Perth.