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Porsche to restore one of the first-ever 911s

7 February, 2015

The Porsche 911 is nothing short of an icon. Its silhouette transcends countries and generations making it instantly recognizable from the first generation through to the current ‘991’ series. As one of history’s most revered sports cars, with hundreds of thousands sold since 1963, the second-hand market holds a 911 to suit nearly any budget. Rarities are common — the Carrera 2.7 RS comes readily to mind — and one of the first 911s manufactured would definitely fall under this category. However, that hasn’t stopped Porsche, who have come across one of the very first 911s ever built. Chassis number 57 sits within the Porsche Museum workshop in Stuttgart, ready to undergo a complete restoration.

Is there anyone better to undertake such a project? The 911 might not look like much now, but watch this space, and the video below — the meticulous restoration is guaranteed to be the best possible tribute to such a car’s history.

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.