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Little ‘Pirate’ up for grabs

25 March, 2015

It was at the first New Zealand Drag Nationals at Kopuka on a dry summer’s day in 1967, where Bob Rossiter’s ‘Pirate’ dragster faced off against the team of Lucas and Saunders in their matching flathead-powered rail job called ‘77 Sunset Strip.’

The Pirate, running on an exotic homemade brew of sodium peroxide, nitromethane, and magnesium sulphide, sat on the start line spitting flames of multicoloured gas out of the weed burners. Neither pilot would inch forward to stage, with some saying it was the longest pre-stage driver psych-out in drag-racing history. But then, just before there was a full meltdown, they both pulled up to the start line and the starter excitedly leaped into the air and dropped his flag.

The cars left in a plume of tyre smoke, clutch dust, and black coal, and the capacity crowd all stood to see the two cars careen toward the finish in the midst of all the dust.

The Pirate won the day and Bob Rossiter was crowned New Zealand’s first National Top Eliminator. All these years later the Pirate (and Bob) still exist, and the rail is lovingly looked after by the good folk of the Southward Car Museum after it was purchased in 1968 by none other than Len Southward himself.

Fast forward a few decades or four and another famous drag racer/fabricator/hot-rod builder by the name of Graeme Berry steps in and does the impossible — he builds an exact model-car scale replica of the Pirate dragster, perfect in every single detail imaginable. This very model, donated to the Scroungers Car Club, will be going up for Auction at the 13th Annual Hot Rod Blowout on Sunday, March 29, 2015. If you want to own a piece of drag-racing and hot-rod history, bring your cheque book and get a bid in on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Pinnacle Porsche

15 May, 2025

We were stopped at the side of the road, setting up the next photograph, when a faded Toyota slowed alongside and stopped. The window was already down to give the driver a good look.
“That’s my dream car,” he said, speaking for more than a few of us.
He drank in the gleaming red paint, shining in the sun, and the car’s purposeful swoops and curves. He exhaled half a lungful of cigarette smoke, gave a hang 10–style thumbs up and drove off.
On the side of the road, against a clear blue background, the Porsche stood out in all its stark red glory. It’s the classic 911 shape on steroids. It has the fat, even pouty, front lip of the G series 911s, added to comply with 5mph bumper restrictions in the US. It also has the oversized haunches to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tyres – a first for Porsche, which also confirmed its supercar credentials – and, most noticeably of all, that enormous whale-tail spoiler. They made it look as if Porsche had abandoned its restraint.

Motorman: When the top trio took to the road

9 May, 2025

What sort of cars did Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme drive when they weren’t on the race track? Motorman knows
Most top racing drivers do care about safety levels of road-going cars for everyday motorists and their all-round abilities behind the wheel. Jackie Stewart for one denied finding everyday driving boring. He took pride in giving his passengers the smoothest possible ride, and encouraged all drivers to actively engage in the task. They also make interesting choices for their transport away from competitive motoring.
Thirty years ago I spent a day with Chris Amon driving on lower North Island roads and I can remember those informative few hours as vividly as if they were yesterday. In 1983 Chris accepted a challenge from Toyota New Zealand to improve its locally assembled cars in a relationship that extended well beyond the end of New Zealand-built Toyota vehicles in 1997.