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Sink your teeth into NZV8 Issue No. 119

9 March, 2015

They say things get better with age, right? Well, this month’s issue may well be the best yet, and it’s just one issue shy of NZV8’s tenth birthday. Think of it as a delectable entrée to the main course filet mignon that will be next month’s tenth-birthday issue of NZV8.

For starters, we get up close with the latest of Matamata Panelworks’ show-stopping creations — a 1965 Ford Mustang fastback — into which thousands of hours of custom work have been poured to create the stunning masterpiece you see here. To find out more about the car, you’ll have to pick up a copy, but believe us when we say it is one of the finest cars we’ve ever had the pleasure of featuring.

Of course, we can appreciate that this sample of finely crafted Mustang perfection won’t appeal to all palates — let Francis Noble’s super-tough Holden HZ ute cater for the hairy-chested amongst you. Boasting a GM 572ci crate motor, topped by a BDS 8–71 supercharger, the largest tubs this side of King Henry VIII’s bathroom, and the finest shade of West Auckland matte-black paint, this street-legal tyre shredder is the final say in tough. Period.

This slick 1950 Mercury is not only a marvellous example of ’60s kustom culture, it also happens to be the giveaway car at Repco Beach Hop 15. That means that you — yes, you — could be driving it home from Beach Hop. Get reading, and start dreaming — it might be time to dust off that lucky rabbit’s foot, and start crossing those fingers.

The feature-car selection is rounded off with a smooth line-up, including Kathryn McDonald’s 1969 Valiant VF — a street-legal dragster that could run a 10-second quarter mile on the school run! We’ve also got a sweet hot rod, in the form of a 1937 Chevrolet Coupe, and Inky Tulloch’s wild GT3-spec Camaro, purpose-built to destroy lap times across the globe.

In case you weren’t able to make the trek down to the Taranaki to check out Americarna 2015, we did the hard work for you — pick up a copy to soak up all the very best that Americarna had to offer.

Muscle Car Madness is another big one, as this year marked the 25th anniversary of the event — it may as well be a public holiday down in Canterbury! We were there to check out the crazy cars and happenings that such an event has to offer, and once again, were not disappointed.

The race-heads are also treated to a full event report on round four of the Central Muscle Cars series, held at the Highlands Festival of Speed. Featuring competition from across the ditch, in the form of Australian Touring Car Masters, this round was most definitely a season highlight.

All the tasty special features are there too. We’ve got the scoop on drag racing in the Middle East — the drag-racing scene in their part of the world is something else, and has to be seen to be believed! Legendary engine-builder David Vizard is back at it, and this time he’s got an article on flow-bench testing, and how to extract every last drop of power from your cylinder heads.

We also look into ethanol and how it’s produced in little old New Zealand, and take a peek into a shed that would do any petrolhead proud — anything with a ’50s American diner in it is good in our books!

NZV8 Issue No. 119 — on sale for only $9.99, or online at giveamag.co.nz, pick a copy up and treat yourself — it’s well worth it.

Ford’s Mustang – the endlessly hip American dream machine

28 May, 2026

Fifty or so years ago, the only place in New Zealand to see a Ford Mustang was on the racetrack. In a local market severely constrained by a lack of new motor vehicles, the new North American Ford was a dreamy icon boosted by considerable motorsport success.
Import licences for cars were limited, and if Kiwis travelled abroad, the amount of currency they could take with them was restricted. What’s more, those funds could not be used to buy a car for importation back home. Yet it was OK to spend the money on heavy drinking at a London pub, Gucci shoes, sable fur coats, and excessive stays at the Hôtel Martinez at Cannes in France.
However, any rare Mustang that landed on our shores would not be destined to pose around Auckland’s then trendy Queen Street on a Friday night but would more likely be found in the care of well-known racing drivers on the starting grid at local motor racing tracks.

Chrysler’s classy cruiser

22 May, 2026

I first saw our feature car, a 1970 V8-powered Regal 770 hardtop, towing a trailer carrying the tidy Ford Anglia classic racing saloon in Broadspeed racing colours that has featured in these pages. The coupe is comparatively rare here, which means anyone contemplating purchasing one of these big two-doors is sure to see prices continue to climb. The latter Charger has claimed much of the Aussie Chrysler limelight, but the simpler and classier lines of this car, which appeared dated soon after its introduction, now have a more timeless appeal.
Former owner, Balclutha motor engineer, Mike Verdoner, remembers the car well. He believes it came from Dunedin originally.
“I’m not sure about the car’s history, but I bought it off its owner at Kaitangata. Unusually, it was advertised in the local newspaper, the Clutha Leader, which was a surprise as these usually go for a lot more money on the internet. I had it for quite a few years. It needed a little bit of work to tidy it up, so I had to decide whether to spend the money on it to do it up, which could have been twenty grand. Its value at the time was not like it is now, so I sold it to Ewan. It’s probably now worth three or four times what I sold it for.”